DVF Power Ring

If you love big diamond rings but solitaires aren't your thing, then this Diane VonFurstenberg Power Ring by H. Stern is a good alternative. From the Power Ring Collection, the DVF Power Ring features 18 karat white gold in a interlacing pattern with Pavé diamonds filling every available space and totaling 4.6 carats total weight. Some think it looks like a constellation, and I think it looks more like diamonds within a diamond, but however it strikes you it's sure to make a bold statement. Have yours here for $19,000.

George Michael Set To Buy The Diamond Skull

Ever since Damien Hirst unveiled his $99 million diamond bedazzled skull, I have wondered who would be the first to be rumored to make the skull their own. Never in a million years would I have guessed George Michael but rumor has it that he and his partner Kenny Goss had a private viewing of Hirst's work last week. The skull, an 18th century piece bought by Hirst in a north London shop, is covered with 8,601 diamonds totaling 1,106.18 carats.

Hirst and Goss have an art collection that is valued at £100 million and already own a Hirst work, Saint Sebastian, Exquisite Pain, a preserved black calf pierced by dozens of arrows and tied to a steel post. The couple also plans to launch the Goss-Michael Foundation, a non-profit organization for promoting young artists. Although if they buy this piece they probably won't have a lot of money left.

Unique concept in luxury shopping at Dubai Festival City from Damas

Damas, the leading international jewellery retailer in the Middle East, unveils a unique concept in luxury shopping through its new outlet in Dubai Festival City. The sleek and stylish Damas Les Exclusives Multi-Brand Boutique, the first of its kind in the region, houses ten of the world’s top jewellery brands and offers its clients a whole new shopping experience.

Mr. Tawhid Abdullah, Managing Director of Damas and the brain behind the new retail concept, remarks, “For 100 years, we have maintained our competitive edge by consistently seeking new ways to create greater value for our ever-growing clientele. Damas Les Exclusives Multi-brand Boutique is our answer to the need for a unique setting where our highly selective customers can take pleasure in the world’s finest gold and diamond jewellery. We invite everyone to visit our new shop and have a rare encounter with luxury.”

From the imposing façade of the boutique featuring ‘larger-than-life’ jewellery images and showcases of exquisite pieces, one is introduced to the shops-within-a-shop concept of the boutique. Ten international jewellery brands are featured in their own virtual boutique set up inspired by the brands’ individual identities as seen in stand-alone boutiques across the globe.

Damas Les Exclusives Multi-Brand Boutique offers a unique mix of international jewellery brands, carefully selected to represent varying jewellery designs and styles, each one with its own distinct characterand identity.

Annamaria Cammilli is hailed as the “Lady of Flowers.” Her jewellery creations reiterate the mesmerizing power of her blooms that put everyone under a spell. The brand presents gold in its richest and original colours with enormous care for details, thereby transforming each jewel into something absolutely unique.

Baraka, widely known as the foremost Italian jewellery brand for men, stands out for its stylish blending of precious materials such as gold and diamonds with other materials like steel and rubber to come up with sleek and elegant pieces.

Fope jewellery comes from one of Italy's leading design houses and is based in Vincenza. Intricate designs and beautiful craftsmanship are the hallmarks of Fope's quintessentially fine Italian pieces.

Gemtique is a Swiss brand synonymous with coloured gemstones jewellery. Its floral designs make the most of the rainbow hues to bring out a touch of natural harmony. All Gemtique pieces are exclusively set with precision-cut signity genuine gemstones for maximum brilliance and luster.

Love Diamond is considered one of the best diamond jewellery in the world with its ideal cut and perfect symmetry and showing eight hearts and eight arrow patterns – a feat in diamond cutting.IoSi comes from the renowned Italian house Scavia whose philosophy of the ‘extraordinary declined into the everyday,’ became the stimulus for a new range of jewellery. Designed with the sensitivity of someone who loves women in their varying individualities, IoSi transcends boundaries of age, image or lifestyle.

Some facts about Gold

The chemical symbol for gold is Au, from the Latin aurum, which means 'shining dawn'. Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn which links to the warm, yellow colour of gold. Gold and Copper are the only two non white coloured metals.

Gold and copper were the first metals to be discovered by man, around 5000BC, and together with silver these three metals are found in the metallic state in the earth's crust. Gold is still mined in its metallic form in over 60 countries around the world.

Gold is referred to as a precious and a noble metal. Gold has an excellent chemical stability with a high resistance to corrosion and oxidation. However, this is just one of the many properties that gold possesses, which when considered in combination with each other have led to a number of exciting and often unique industrial applications.

The purity of gold is measured in Carats. A Carat was originally a unit of mass (weight) based on the Carob seed or bean which was used by ancient merchants in the Middle East. The Carat is still used for the weight of gem stones where 1 carat = 200mg. For gold is is used to measure the purity where pure gold is 24 carats. The following table shows the range from pure gold at 24 Carats to less pure at 9 Carats.

In Europe 18 and 14 carat alloys are most commonly used in jewellery, however 9 carat is popular in Britain.

In many countries the law requires that every item of gold jewellery is clearly stamped with its caratage. Jewellery in many countries is stamped or hallmarked with its caratage. The hallmarking system was developed in London in the 14th century at Goldsmiths' Hall.

World's largest diamond mine

This diamond mine in eastern Siberia - Mirny is the largest diamond mine in the world. It is so deep that the surrounding air zone is closed for helicopters after few accidents when they were sucked in by downward air flow.

Look for the tiny red arrow in the following photograph; it's pointing to a 220-ton rock-hauling truck more than 20' tall.

Bird Poops on Bush

As President Bush took a question Thursday in the White House Rose Garden about scandals involving his Attorney General, he remarked, “I’ve got confidence in Al Gonzales doin’ the job.”

But it seems a sparrow didn't agree and simultaneously flew overhead and left a splash on the President’s sleeve, which Bush tried several times to wipe off.

Pointed Diamonds

One of the earliest cuts of diamonds was the pointed diamond, sometimes referred to as a writing diamond. Polished with very few facets, almost the entire original eight sided crystal of the diamond is left intact. There are usually four facets which lead to a pyramid shape. Popular in the 15th - 16th centuries, this cut flourished for generations.