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There probably isn’t much of Prince William’s and his new bride, Kate Middleton’s wedding left that hasn’t been viewed or talked about all over the world. This ‘It’ event of the year (or century) has people are talking about a Cinderella-ish wedding that girl’s only ever get to dream of!

While people are still buzzing about the wedding dresses (yes, that’s plural!) Kate wore during her big day, let’s talk about the royal wedding rings that are just as lavish and worth much, much more.

Engagement and Wedding Ring

In an era where coloured gemstones and diamonds are the new white diamond, the engagement ring that Prince William proposed to Kate with extravagantly fits right into that category. Previously, Princess Diana’s own engagement ring, this 18 carat oval blue sapphire surrounded by 14 small diamonds originally cost $45,000 USD.

The sapphire, alone, is now valued $300,000 USD. With the total price of the ring equalling a little over half a million USD, what many people may not know is that Princess Di’s sapphire engagement ring was originally given to Prince Harry while Prince William received her Cartier watch. When the older Prince became engaged, Prince Harry gave the ring to him for Kate Middleton. How’s that for brotherly love?

As for the wedding ring itself, the Prince has chosen not to wear a wedding ring but that doesn’t mean he skimped out on Kate’s ring! Going to their family jeweller at Wartski, a jewellery company founded in Bangor, the ring was made from a single, large nugget of Clogau gold only found in Wales.

What makes this gold even more valuable is the fact that this type of gold is extremely rare making this wedding ring, very possibly, the last piece of jewellery to ever be crafted from this particular type of Welsh gold.

Earrings

Princess Diana’s engagement ring wasn’t the only family heirloom passed on down to Kate. During their honeymoon, Prince William also gifted his mother’s diamond and sapphire earrings to his new bride.

Using the great advantage of custom jewellery, Kate took Princess Diana’s favourite earrings and had them the remodelled to include a more modern look that suited her own personality. These exquisite earrings were originally designed as large, jewelled studs but are now a gorgeous pair of single tear drop earrings.

On her wedding day, Kate was given a pair of new diamond encrusted drop earrings designed by Robinson Pelham as a wedding gift from her parents. While these earrings were certainly jaw dropping in price, the simple yet elegant style suited Middleton perfectly

Tiara

Now, not many girls get the option to choose which historical, jewelled filled tiaras they’ll be wearing, Kate Middleton certainly did – and choose she did!

The talk was that Middleton would perhaps wear the famous tiara that Queen Elizabeth wore on her wedding day but instead, she chose the 1936 diamond Cartier tiara that was originally purchased by the Duke of York who later became known as King George VI.

Set in platinum, the tiara is made from old, baguette-cut diamond with the upper part forming a range of lotus flowers and the lower ‘zig-zag’ part forming a removable piece that can be used as a bandeau. This royal tiara was given to Queen Elizabeth when she was still just a princess and has now been passed on to Kate Middleton.

A statement hasn’t been released yet as to whether or not Kate will keep this tiara as her own but for now, all clothing and jewellery is up on display at Buckingham palace.

So there you have it! Something old, something new, something borrowed and a lot of things blue!

While the total value of all these jewels can only be found in a royal bank account, the style and sentiment behind them are entirely priceless!

*If you’re having a hard time viewing the picture, click it to zoom in closer.

Gold

An element, gold naturally occurs in nature. It is mostly found in solid form in the veins of the siliceous rocks, although it can also be eroded and found as a powder, granules or nuggets in riverbeds. In its native state, the gold is free of any other element. As a compound, it is known as telluride. Roughly 25 percent of the gold in the world is found in South Africa, although the United States, Australia, Canada, China and Russia are also leading producers.

The earth at one time had plentiful supplies of gold, especially in chucks or nuggets large enough to be mined or picked out of streams and rivers. Gold is thought to be more common in the oceans, although measured known amounts in the world are estimated to be 0.005 parts per million. As a result, gold is one of the ten rarest elements in the crust of the earth. Its value, however, is driven not by rarity, but by the element’s inherent beauty.

Platinum

In contrast to the eroding characteristic of gold, platinum is a metal that will not corrode, fade or tarnish. It is known to originate from the heavens, arriving on earth in meteorites that have been landing on the planet for billions of years. At one point in history, those searching for gold passed over platinum as an inferior metal.

As platinum looks much like silver, it was given the name platina by the Spanish when it was discovered in 1590. It wasn’t until two centuries later when King Louis XVI of France declared platinum to be the only metal fit for kings that the metal finally earned its place of honor. It has since been the chosen metal of the royals, serving as the foundation of the crown for the late Queen Mother, Queen Elisabeth.

Why Platinum is Better

What we know today is that platinum is much better and more valuable than gold. In fact, it is 35 times more rare than gold, making it an excellent precious metal investment. To give you an example, the amount of known gold on this earth would fill four Olympic-sized swimming pools; the amount of known platinum would fill only one of the same sized pools – knee high.

Platinum is a white metal that is used almost in its purest form in jewellery. Generally speaking, it is 950 parts pure platinum per 1000 parts. Platinum is a very dense metal and will feel heavier than a gold piece of jewelry of the same size. If we took two identical rings, one made of 18ct gold, it will weigh 10 grams; the same size ring in platinum would weigh 16-18 grams.

Platinum wears much better than gold as it is more durable. Over the course of 80 years, a gold ring would wear out if it is worn on a regular basis. The Platinum ring would not erode like the gold, but would instead flatten and thin over time. While this would require some care to help maintain its integrity, the gold ring would need repair and replenishment of the gold.

And the Winner Is: Platinum

There is little more beautiful and brilliant than a flawless white diamond set in platinum. In fact, the whiter the diamond, the more important it becomes to set it properly in white, bright and precious platinum. As platinum is both strong and pliable, it makes for the perfect metal to craft the diamond or gemstones setting in.

The main point is platinum can be so highly finished or polished, it can be like looking in a mirror, which reflects the light back into the diamond or gemstone. This reflection gives it more sparkle or Fire or Brilliance. In addition, jewellers can create very intricate jewellery pieces with the metal. When fine prongs are created, the diamond – or other stone – is held securely and beautifully in place.

While some may still prefer gold over platinum in the creation of the perfect piece of jewellery, especially when considering the band component of your ring, but when it comes to the setting that is to hold your diamond or gemstone in place, the value, durability and appearance of platinum wins every time.

You have to check out this link, it is hilarious and to be honest I don’t fancy being the owner when things eventually work themselves out! if you know what I mean…

A diamond dealer went to a store in America to show the store owners a 3+ carat diamond worth about US $20,000, when he dropped it and the dog quickly scurried and eat it up!

http://media.smh.com.au/dog-eats-20000-diamond-1220246.html

Sam Kritsotakis – Your Private Jeweller

Eskae Jeweller

Fluorescence is truly an amazing phenomenon as it can cause a diamond to glow different colors. The most common color in Fluorescence is blue, although in very rare occasions, a diamond has been known to glow white, yellow, green or even red in color. It is strongly advised that the latter be avoided unless the diamond color matches the hue of the Fluorescence.

Roughly one third of diamonds have Fluorescence, an effect very much akin to what your white shirt will do under a black light. In a diamond, this Fluorescence can be faint or very strong. According to one GIA survey, fluorescent diamonds are favored over non-fluorescent stones, especially in lower colors H-Z due to the fact that fluorescence can sometimes make the diamond appear to have a better colour than it really does, but this can even occur in higher diamond colors, such as D, E, F or G graded diamonds.

Interestingly, Fluorescence has a somewhat tainted past in the diamond industry. A number of years ago, D-F colorless fluorescent diamonds were highly prized and referred to as “blue-white”. Unfortunately, sales professionals abused the term by using it to refer to any diamond with Fluorescence and trade practice laws in the United States outlawed the use of the term, then other countries followed suit.

The element of Fluorescence in diamond grading is interesting as the GIA light used in testing emits a small amount of ultra violet light, which can cause the diamond Fluorescence to be assigned a better color grade. At the same time, and unfortunately, a number of less experienced diamond sales professionals are not skilled in explaining the phenomenon of Fluorescence and therefore a Fluoro comment on a diamond grading card can make the diamond worth less, even if its quality can withstand such a grading.

Why?

Fluorescence is visible light emitted by elements within the stone when a diamond is under the higher energy source provided by the UV light. This distorts the diamond effect. In some cases, it makes the diamond appear to be oily or cloudy, which is considered to be very bad by both the GIA and the average consumer.

By contrast, one GIA study found that such diamonds are extremely rare and this could play into value. In this same study, unfortunately, there was not enough of the same type of diamond to examine for further investigation. As a result, this concept is still up for debate and has caused considerable controversy in the industry.

While the information regarding Fluorescence can be confusing, there are three elements to consider that are always consistent:

1)      Strong blue Fluorescent diamonds generally appear hazy

2)      Medium blue Fluorescent diamonds rarely appear hazy

3)      Slight blue Fluorescent diamonds never appear hazy

When selecting a diamond with Fluorescence, seek a diamond with a Fluorescence grading of FAINT or up to SLIGHT to gain the best and most brilliant diamond appearance in natural light.

There are generally two schools of thought in the industry when it comes to Fluorescence:

1. Avoid it at all costs
2. Up to and including a SLIGHT grading is acceptable as this is barely visible to the naked eye in normal lighting conditions – or normal everyday wear.

Personally I prefer to source diamonds without Fluorescence as I have found that it will give you greater peace of mind in the long term. In the off chance your diamond ring or jewellery has to go through a UV light, no Fluorescence means there is no chance of the diamonds starting to glow all sorts of funny colours.  You won’t have to worry about this phenomenon, or worry that your diamond will appear oily or hazy when viewed in natural sunlight.