jewel

On Monday, Tiffany will launch its first iPhone app, not surprisingly focused on the acquisition of engagement rings.

The app seems to have the potential to be useful to those earnestly seeking engagement rings, and those looking make trouble for the soon-to-be betrothed.

I'd divide these categories roughly by gender, and say that this app could be the most useful for the menfolk.

He, who is most likely uneducated on the subjects of the on-hand impact of one carat versus two, not to mention shape, setting, metal or design, will be able to see rings in their actual size. (With price range.) Also, there's the "ring sizer" -- he only needs to snag a ring from the beloved for a few moments, place it on the iPhone screen, and line it up with circles corresponding to ring size. He can also make an appointment for a consultation right through the app.

Hong Kong's fall sales have been great for records, for Christie's in particular. After several were broken at the art auction this week, the gem scene was ignited. A pink diamond no larger than a chickpea went for $10.8 million, according to Bloomberg News. The stone had the second-highest rating available (potentially flawless) and a weight of 5 carats. It shattered the per-carat record set back in May. Back then, Hong Kong property investor Joseph Lau picked up a 7.03-carat blue diamond at an auction in Geneva for $10.5 million.

The pink diamond was sent under the gavel by Graff Diamonds, a London-based jeweler. The stone was sold to a phone bidder who beat out Liu Yiqian and his wife, Wang Wei. But, those two have bought enough already, right?

Overall, the 255 lots sold (an 89 percent sell rate) brought in HK$372 million, with the action pushed forward by mainland Chinese, a growing trend in the auction world this year. Donald May, a ruby and sapphire dealer based in Hong Kong, attended the auction and told Bloomberg, "There's a lot of mainland Chinese buying; either they didn't know what the items are worth or they wanted them so badly that price didn't matter." He believes that prices were pushed way out of control.

There were other records set in Hong Kong, as well. A sapphire weighing 16.65 carats, set by Van Cleef & Arpels, brought in HK$18.6 million, also setting a per-carat record.

[Photo courtesy of Christie's]

Economic conditions aren't so dismal that records can't be set. Sotheby's just moved a flawless, rare blue diamond for nearly $9.5 million – proving that taste can prevail even when wallets are generally gripped shut.

The rectangular blue diamond weighs 7.03 carats and sold at the highest price per carat ever fetched at auction – a whopping $1,349,752 (including the commission to Sotheby's). It's also the most paid for a "fancy vivid blue diamond" ... I didn't realize that such records were tracked. The winner chose to remain anonymous (can you blame him or her?) who was bidding by phone. The auctioned ended with a veritable telephonic battle that lasted 15 minutes.

The record until the blue diamond went under the gavel was $7.9 million for 6.04 carats. It was set in October 2007 in Hong Kong. Sotheby's sold the last record-breaker, as well.

In all, the auction house moved $35.7 million in gems and jewelry from 266 lots – not counting another 80 that didn't sell.

David Bennett, the chairman of Sotheby's jewelry department covering Europe and the Middle East, remarked, "It is fantastic in this market and shows that these rare things are very much in demand."

No, David. What's fantastic is that such items are in demand and that people are still willing to pay for them!

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Since August, billionaire art collector Eli Broad has been trying to sell a six-room, two-bedroom tower apartment at the Sherry-Netherland, the Fifth Avenue hotel, shown above. The place is listed with Stribling for $15 million.
Mariska Hargitay sold her eight-room duplex in the 1887 O'Neill Building for $8.15 million. She paid $7 million for the penthouse last year.
--Rumor has it that Hugh Jackman has picked up Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy's triplex at 176 Perry Street for somewhere above $25 million. It was listed at $40 million when it was our estate of the day last November.
Is the four-bedroom Park Avenue apartment belonging to the late William F. Buckley overpriced? His son says so. It was our estate of the day on Friday.
--A defense of the Plaza, when a 16th-floor one-bedroom Plaza suite goes to contract, the building's 181 private apartments will be sold out. The Observer checked out some of the apartments and was only disappointed by the Plaza's hotel-condo units.
---- Courtney Sale Ross' duplex at 740 Park Avenue is being quietly shopped around for a price said to be over $60 million.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Another property on the market for $75 million in New York. We'll be checking this one out tomorrow morning.
--Jessica Alba is leasing a two-bedroom apartment at 20 Exchange Place while shooting the film "An Invisible Sign of My Own."
--The longtime penthouse residence of Kitty Carlisle Hart is officially in contract after a relatively short time on the market. The 10-room duplex co-op at 1185 Park Ave hit the market last month with an asking price of $20 million.
--If you buy one of the last unsold residences at South of Fifth in South Beach the developers will throw in a new Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, valued at $260,000. The units are $6 million to $8 million and range from 2,500 to 6,200 square feet.
--One Plaza buyer is now ready to take a loss on his investment. Oscar Schafer, the managing partner of OSS Capital Management, has lowered the price of his 17th-floor, three-bedroom condo from its $18 million June price to $14.5 million.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Actress Melissa Joan Hart (best known as Sabrina the Teenage Witch) has listed her Sherman Oaks home for sale at $3.25 million. The listing is here.
-- Jewel and her cowboy husband, Ty Murray have put their Hollywood Hills home on the market fort $1.75 million. The listing is here.
Joe Maloof, president of Maloof Cos., has listed his Brentwood home at $4.995 million. The Maloof family owns the NBA's Sacramento Kings, the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and a huge liquor distributorship in New Mexico. The listing for the home is here.
Actor David Lander, known best as Laverne and Shirley's pal Squiggy has listed his Woodland Hills home at $999,900. The listing is here.
--Producer-director known as McG has picked up a three-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills for $5.75 million.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--A large, four-bedroom contemporary house in Beverly Hills that was owned for many years by actor Matthew Perry has been listed for $12,500,000. The listing is here.
--Actor J.K. Simmons has placed his five-bedroom house in the Hollywood Hills on the market for $1.995 million. The listing is here.
-- via TMZ, Adult film actress Jenna Jameson and mixed martial arts fighter Tito Ortiz reportedly have purchased a newly built, 3,889-square-foot house in his native Huntington Beach, Calif. that had been on the market for $3,399,000. Her home, which was our estate of the day in August, is still on the market for $2.7 million.
--A Hollywood Hills home once owned by Halle Berry is on the market for $4.995 million. The listing is here.
--Another round of 'Which celebrity's house is this? this time with a 4,877-square-foot house in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, which just came on the market for $4.75 million. The listing is here.
--Actress Jane Sibbett sold her 16.96-acre ranch in Los Angeles' Topanga area for $3.95 million not for the $4.25 million that has been reported. It was listed at $5.2 million when it was our estate of the day in April.

From the Real Estalker:
--Nicolas Cage has listed the Gray Craig estate in Rhode Island. It is our estate of the day later today.
--Halle Berry and her Canadian-born model boyfriend Gabriel Aubry are buying a home in St. Hippolyte, around one hour north of Montreal. The modern home on 68 acres was was listed at $1,850,000 and comes with a private lake.
--Bianca Jagger has been evicted from her rent stabilized apartment in New York City on Park Avenue. She stopped paying rent claiming that the 18th floor unit had an asbestos and fungus contamination. She appealed an earlier decision that required her to pay back rent but her tourist visa requires her to maintain her main home outside of the United States and NYC rent regulation laws require that a rent stabilized unit be a "primary residence."
--The NY Post's Page Six has reported that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have five units in their NYC East Village building, one for the gym, one for a playroom for their daughter, two for staff and one for the couple.
--Trouble in the Hills? Seems the prospect of filming the MTV reality TV show at Audrina Patridge's new home on Bryn Mawr Drive.
--Rumor has it that the The Jonas Brothers are moving into a new house in the East Gate section of Bel Air. The property includes a four bedroom main house, a three bedroom guest house, a large office suite and a swimming pool but it is not clear whether or not the singing brothers bought or are leasing.

From Newsday's Real LI:
--Rosehearty, Rupert Murdoch's Colonial mansion on Centre Island has been pulled off the Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty website, as well as the MLSLI Web site. The listing agent Barbara Candee of Daniel Gale says Murdoch and wife, Wendi, are currently deciding what they want to do with the property for the short term. It was our estate of the day in July 2007.
--A charming Art & Crafts home on Sag Harbor's historic Main Street has been listed for $3.995 million. The five-bedroom home was built circa 1920, and has been featured in Hamptons Cottages & Gardens magazine. The listing is here.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Steve Martin is asking up to $28,100 a week to rent out his villa on the Caribbean island of St. Barthelemy. He bought the house last spring. The listing is here.
--Hilary Swank is in contract to pay $3.5 million for a two-bedroom apartment at the Superior Ink condominium building.

The highly anticipated 72.22 carat "Perfect Pear" diamond was withdrawn from the Sotheby's Hong Kong auction on April 10th after the final bid failed to reach the reserve price. Originally the stone was expected to sell for upwards of $13 million but the highest bid maxed out at only $9.4 million. That didn't seem to dampen interest, however, as within just a few hours of the auction closing the stone was sold to a private buyer for an undisclosed amount.

Experts say the bidding prices were likely lower than expected due to confusion over the exchange rate of different currencies. Hm, does that mean they got their $13 million after all? Seems like people spending that much money would have a handle on that kind of thing.

Wedding dresses come in all shapes and sizes from sleek and stylish to large and marshmallow-like, and from hand-embroidered to mass-produced. And although jewels aren't that uncommon in small doses, what about 4 pounds of jewels? A designer in Hong Kong has created a wedding dress with 9,999 karats of jewels (that's a very deliberate number!) and it's on sale for over $130,000.

It's beautiful but I personally wouldn't want a wedding dress with so many different colors, and I think for that price it might be more worth it to just get something custom-made -- I think I'd still be able to afford plenty of jewels.

Wow, way back in the 18th century they really knew how to bling things up. And unlikely things too, like this baby's cradle. Covered in gold and set with more than 2,000 gems including diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, it's currently on display in Tokyo at a special exhibit that includes about 140 other antique treasures from the Ottoman Empire (which came before the Republic of Turkey). The items will be on display through September 24th in honor of the birth of Prince Hisahito to the Japanese Emporer's son Prince Akishino and his wife Princess Kiko (got that straight?). No word on what the cradle's valued at, although since it isn't for sale I guess it's more about admiring it's gaudy beauty than hoping to get one for yourself.

So Eva Longoria and Tony Parker finally made it official this past weekend when they got married in France. What better way to promise their eternal love to each other than with these beautiful and unique Piaget Possession wedding bands -- made of two bands that are "inseparably linked, turning together for eternity." Eva's features double rows of brilliant cut diamonds divided by a row of 27 square cut diamonds down the center (for a total of 107 jewels), and Tony's is elegance in its simplest form. Both rings are 18k white gold and, per the couple's request, have a personalized French engraving on the inside.

In addition to choosing Piaget for their wedding bands, Eva also ordered a one-of-a-kind timepiece made as a wedding gift for her new husband. A customized version of the Piaget Polo watch, the Piaget 'Number 9' features a 43mm white gold case, a slate grey 18K gold and titanium bezel and matching slate grey dial, and 50 diamonds in the shape of his MVP number 9 -- so it's truly just for him.

I know these are a little cheesy, and totally border on downright tacky, but I just couldn't resist! I think with the right approach these jewel-shaped ice cubes could be really beautiful and fun, and add that little extra something a summer gathering might be missing. Who wouldn't want bowls of glittering jewels sitting around like ice sculpture at a party? You can even add food coloring and have jewel tones to match your decor or beverages. The plastic ice cube tray measures 4 1/4" x 7 5/8" x 1" and makes 6 gemstone shaped ice cubes at a time. $5.95.

Yesterday I brought you a big beautiful green tsavorite, today let's look at the largest natural blue sapphire in the United States. This stone was cut from a 129 carat rough which was found in Sri Lanka in 1952. It was originally cut into an 80-carat stone and sold. It has been cut down to 69.53 carats in an effort to improve the light and color reflection and create a better shape. It is for sale for $417,000. It's a bit large for a ring but would be beautiful set in a pendant with diamonds, citrines or spessartite garnets.

It may not have the flash of a diamond but Tsavorite, a form of green garnet, has its own charms. The gem, which was originally discovered in the Tsavo region of Kenya, has a bright green hue that makes it a popular choice for those who like emeralds but want stones with a bit more fire. Tsavorite is rarely found in large clean stones which explains the preciousness of the 325.13 carat stone shown here. National Jeweler reports that Michael Coach and Associates has acquired the largest clean Tsavorite in the world and will be showing it at the American Gem Trade Association GemFair beginning at the end of January in Tucson, Ariz. The stone was found in the Karo area of Mereloni, Tanzania and from one rough stone four stones were cut: a 62-carat clean, a 120-carat clean, a 307-carat included and the 325.13-carat clean. The asking price for the gem is $2.2 million. It seems to be that a stone like this deserves a name like the gobstopper diamonds get. Is Jolly Green Giant too undignified?

The largest recorded ruby ever discovered in the northwestern hemisphere, according to True North Gems Inc., has now been unveiled in its new carved format. The Canadian exploration company, unearthed the 440 carat uncut ruby in 2005 in the Fiskenaesset district of Greenland. It took Canadian gemstone carver Thomas McPhee 10 months to produce this 302 carat gemstone which is the first ever carved Greenland ruby. It has an estimated value of $500,000 Canadian.

The Safar Table Jewel is neither a centerpiece nor any purposeful part of a place setting. It is simply a small accent, jewelry for the table. The piece is 16-inches long, handmade and consists of a mix of vintage glass beads and African terracotta pottery pieces. Due to the nature of the pieces used to put them together, each Jewel will be unique.

It's safe to say that you have money to burn when you're considering getting jewelry that is specifically designed for furniture, but if you're reached that point, there is no reason not to go for it. Besides - if you ask nicely, you could probably borrow it. Price: $2,400.