Downturn Dulls Gem Trade's Gleam

London dealer snaps up most expensive stone ever sold at auction

(NEWSER) - An extremely rare pink diamond has cut its way through world records at a Sotheby's auction. The 24.78 carat stone, graded "fancy intense pink," was sold to London jeweler Laurence Graff for $46,158,674, almost double the highest price ever previously paid for a gemstone at auction. Graff—who renamed the stone the "Graff Pink"— called it "the most fabulous diamond I’ve seen in my career," AP reports. The stone was last on the market 60 years ago. More»

(NEWSER) - Renowned Scottish gem expert Campbell Bridges has been killed by a mob armed with spears and machetes in Kenya's Tsavo National Park, the Independent reports. The murder is believed to be linked to a feud with squatters stealing gems from a Bridges family mine in the park. The mob set upon Bridges, his son, and a group of workers as they drove to a mine. Bridge's son managed to free his 71-year-old dad and rush him to a hospital, where he was declared dead. More»

Although new cases tout "Items for under $750"

(NEWSER) - Amid the global economic downturn, one American institution stands strong: Tiffany & Co. “Tiffany is as American as guns,” writes Cintra Wilson for the New York Times. “Tiffany has always managed to navigate the dark spells of the economic cycle. It has survived the Civil War, two World Wars, the Panic of 1893, the Great Depression, the psychedelic movement and 171 holiday seasons.” More»

Firm last suspended production during the Great Depression

(NEWSER) - De Beers has temporarily shut down its diamond mines in Botswana due to low demand for the precious stones, the Telegraph reports. The firm’s Botswana mines account for half of De Beers’ output, and about a fifth of diamond production worldwide. De Beers was not able to sell a single diamond from Botswana in November and sold only very few in the two months after. More»

Lab-created diamonds get ever closer to nature's version—to chagrin of some

(NEWSER) - De Beers might like you to think a “diamond is forever,” but try this on for size: “A diamond is for everyone.” In a secret Massachusetts lab, Apollo Diamond is using novel technology to grow diamonds virtually indistinguishable from their mined cousins, the Smithsonian reports. Unfortunately for consumers, the synthetic gemstones cost about the same as Mother Earth's—for now. More»