Customs Seizes $6 Million in Counterfeit Van Cleef & Arpels Jewelry

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In June, 720 pieces of counterfeit Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry were seized by Miami customs officials, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced.

The jewelry that was seized has a manufacturer’s suggest retail price around $6 million.

CBP officers said they selected the shipment for inspection and noticed that the merchandise was imitation jewelry that “bore a false, non-genuine copyright clearly piratical to the federally recorded copyright.

In 2014, watch and jewelry category topped the CBP’s list of most-seized counterfeit items by value. China is the leading source of counterfeits, followed by Hong Kong. If we go by CBP reports, officers seized about $3.4 million worth of counterfeit goods around the country each day in 2014.

This brings us to a million dollar question, where does this counterfeit jewelry is sold? Most easy channel would be to sell them online. We take great care while selecting the vendors from whom we buy jewelry making sure everything at our store is genuine and guaranteed PURE.

A Rare Plant Might Transform How We Find Diamonds

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There are many ways for exploration of the Kimberlite pipes for diamonds, but according to new paper by Mr Stephen E. Haggerty, a rare plant Pendanus candelabrum could serve as a signpost for diamond indicator kimberlite, which might eventually lead to easier and less expensive diamond exploration.

Pendanus candelabrum

Pendanus candelabrum

The author of this paper Mr.Haggerty added that the plant only grew along the kimberlite and not over the adjacent ground. Mr Haggerty believes, this knowledge could make diamond exploration in West Africa a lot cheaper and this could dramatically change the exploration dynamics for diamonds.

Kimberlite is an igneous rock, best known for sometimes containing diamonds. Kimberlite pipes are the most important source of mined diamonds today.

Mr. Haggerty was uncomfortable with some press coverage of his paper, including headlines such as “There’s a Plant That Shows You Where Diamonds Are Buried.”

He stresses that, finding a kimberlite pipe does not mean you have found a profitable mine. Only 1 percent of kimberlite pipe discoveries result in economic diamond mines.

Mystery Diamond Color Treatment Stumps GIA

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Mystery-diamond

Even GIA doesn’t have the answer of Mystery Diamond Color. There are around 500 diamonds with uncommon color which is marked as Mystery Diamond by GIA.

The Gemological Institute of America reported that “as many as 500 diamonds may have been subjected to a new mystery color treatment that temporarily improved the stones’ color as much as three grades.”

GIA believes that the treatment temporarily masks diamond’s body color, resulting in a color grade that can be up to three grades higher than it would be normally.

According to spokesperson Stephen Morisseau, GIA first became aware of the tricky treatment after grading some 500 stones submitted by Israeli manufacturers over a series of month.

Mr. Morisseau says that “We reasonably believe these stones were treated in some way” and he also added that “We don’t know what the treatment is, we are actively researching it?”

GIA said in lab alert “We ask anyone who has purchased or holds these diamonds to please resubmit them to any GIA location for review. GIA will expedite the service, and no fee will be assessed.”

L.Y.E Diamonds, E.G.S.D. Diamonds, Romok Abramov, and Yair Matatov these four companies are banned by GIA. After this action by GIA only one company replied which was Romok Abramov? Abramov says ““All the stones mentioned in the GIA report are not mine, I Never saw any of those stones and don’t have any idea if they were treated.”

The World Federation of Diamond Bourses involved and sent statement expressing concern about the incident. The president of WFDB Mr Ernie Blom said that “This is clearly unlawful behavior, we will have no tolerance whatsoever for this type of alleged illegal activity. We are pleased that the GIA publicized this development so that diamantaires can be on their guard.”

Pearls

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Pearls have been around for decades. They are a staple of fashionable women and one of the hallmarks of what is traditionally considered “elegant” and “sophisticated” style. The strand of pearls which were once defined as classy, are they still in fashion? The answer is YES!

Unlike most other gemstones which are mineral, Pearls are organic and are formed by living organisms. A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. Though Pearls occur naturally in the wild, their occurrence is very sporadic and limited.

ocean-pearls-oysters

You may find them in form of Fresh water pearls, akoya saltwater pearls and south sea pearls.

Freshwater Pearls – Which are not rarest but they are finest for the collection and preferred by jewelry makers.

Akoya Saltwater Pearls – Have been synonymous with classic beauty and elegance.

South Sea Pearls – The smoothness and roundness of these pearls are exceptional. These are the rarest and extraordinary pearls you will find in jewelry.

Freshwater Pearls

Cultured freshwater pearls are pearls that are farmed and created using freshwater mussels. Quality of cultured freshwater pearls is evaluated through a grading system of a series of values, based on luster, shape, surface, color and matching. The process begins by choosing a suitable donor mussel and cutting a strip of tissue from the mantle is known as GRAFTING. This strip of tissue is then cut into 3mm squares. These squares are delivered to a technician who performs the operation. Unlike saltwater bead nucleation, this process is not considered difficult, and technicians need only minimum training to perform the operation. After the maximum numbers of grafts have been performed, the mussel is flipped, and the procedure is performed once again on the other valve of the shell.

shells-pearls-oysters

Freshwater pearl harvests are typically bought while still in the shell. After harvest the pearls are delivered to a first-stage factory, which is responsible for cleaning and sorting the pearls by size and shape. After the pearls are treated, they are drilled and then polished with a mixture of cornmeal and wax.

pearls

Akoya Saltwater Pearls

If you’re looking for the classic set of pearls, look to Saltwater Akoya cultured pearls. These pearls were first to ever be cultured in the early 1900s. For the past 100 years, Akoya pearls have been synonymous with classic beauty and elegance. They are the roundest of all pearl varieties, and are known for their sharp luster and pink overtones.

The Akoya oyster is the smallest pearl-producing oyster used in pearl culture today, so Akoya pearls also tend to be small, ranging in size from just 2 mm to about 11 mm in size. The average pearl size is harvested at about 7.5mm in diameter.

ocean-shells-pearls-oysters

Almost all pearls available in the market are cultured.  Most natural pearls are odd-shaped because the irritants that caused the oyster to begin creating the pearl are not round.  Beautifully round, lustrous natural pearls would cost many hundreds of thousands of dollars a strand.

White-pearl-strand

South Sea Pearls

South Sea cultured pearls are exceptional quality pearls with a whitish, almost silver color. It is much larger than the average pearl. The smoothness and roundness of these pearls are exceptional. These are the rarest and extraordinary pearls you will find in jewelry.

South Sea pearls come from the white-lipped variety of the pinctada maxima oyster. This oyster is much larger than the oysters that produce Akoya and Freshwater pearls, so the pearl that it produces is much larger as well. Because of the rarity and sensitivity of this type of oyster, cultivation of these pearls is much more difficult, making them more expensive.

black-color-pearl

South Sea pearls are among the largest commercially harvested cultured pearls in the world. The average size of a South Sea pearl is 13 mm, with most harvests producing a range of sizes from 9 mm to 20 mm. The South Seas lie between the northern coast of Australia and the southern coast of China. These waters are the native habitat of a large oyster known as Pinctada maxima. This oyster grows up to 12 inches in diameter, and can be nucleated with a much larger bead than other saltwater oysters such as the Akoya.

SAMSUNG CSC

These types of Pearls are very precious and prestigious treasure you can ever give. Visit our store to shop our pearl jewelry or visit us online at keepsakesjewelry.com

 

Elizabeth Taylor’s Trust Sues Christie’s

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Elizabeth Taylor’s estate is suing Christie’s, the auction house, over the $8.8 sale of the “TajMahal” diamond, a gift to the late actress from Richard Burton on her 40th birthday.

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The TajMahal diamond was sold by Christie’s along with the rest of Taylor’s jewels and wardrobe in New York following her death in 2011. The collection, which was dubbed the “Crown Jewels of Hollywood,” broke all expectations and brought in $183.5 million to benefit the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

TajMahalPage

But the trustees of her estate have now filed a complaint alleging breach of contract.They claim the anonymous buyer of the TajMahal diamond returned it months after determining that it actually does not belong to the wife of a 17th century Mughal emperor.

According to the complaint auction house had only stated that the diamond was of Indian origin, but it still agreed to cancel the sale. Christie’s then requested that the estate return the proceeds of the sale.

Christie’s violated its own policies when it rescinded the sale, the trustee’s complaint states. “Despite facing no credible threat of legal liability, Christie’s nonetheless rescinded the sale of the diamond. In doing so, Christie’s not only deviated from its usual business practices and its own established policies, but it violated its obligations to the trust, all in an effort to appease the buyer.”

Taylor’s trustees claimed the auction house also refused to pass on $3 million from the sale of another gem called the Bulgari Ring.They said: “(Christie’s) failed to pay the trust the proceeds from the sale of the Bulgari ring in an attempt to strong arm the trust into returning the proceeds that the trust rightfully received from the sale of the TajMahal diamond.”

In a statement Christie’s said: “Christie’s was pleased to create a landmark auction event on behalf of the Elizabeth Taylor Trust that produced over $183.5 million in proceeds for the beneficiaries of the trust – the friends and family of Elizabeth Taylor.This suit stems from Christie’s seeking the return of a small portion of these proceeds due to the cancellation of a single item from that sale, and Christie’s looks forward to a speedy resolution of this matter.”