All That Glitters...

April 2006 Spring Issue #006

Get the lowdown on the latest trends in engagement rings, celebrity gossip, gifts and much more...

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Even with Spring in the air and that most romantic of days, Valentine's Day, falling last month, there have been very few big new stories on the celebrity front when it comes to make-ups and break-ups.

We've also got an exclusive story about the magical allure of diamonds and some special offers this month, so grab your favorite beverage and relax for a while. . .

Contents:

1. Celebrity news and views

2. Romancing the Stone - the special appeal of diamonds.

3. "Four items for 50% Fridays" at our favorite jewelry store.

Celebrity Bling

During the first few months of this year, things have been very quiet on the celebrity circuit.

• Of course, there was the initial flurry of reports about the engagement ring Brad Pitt was believed to be having made for Angelina Jolie. The story was even backed up by Alberto Repossi, who designed late British royal Diana, Princess Of Wales' engagement ring. Mr Repossi confessed that Brad Pitt had commissioned him to create something special for his fiancee-to-be.

  "We've received an assignment on behalf of Mr. Pitt for a very special jewel," Repossi told In Touch magazine, without going into details.

  There were also numerous reports that the couple were to wed on Valentine's Day in Italy, but so far all has been quiet on the Pitt-Jolie front. It's possible they'll wait until after the birth of their first child before tying the knot, so I'll keep you posted.

• Desperate Housewives beauty Nicollette Sheridan has put her old engagement ring up for auction on eBay. Nicollette - who plays man-eater Edie Britt in the hugely-popular series - wants to get rid of the platinum and diamond ring given to her by ex-fiancé Nicklaas Soderblom. Only those with plenty of cash to spare need bother logging into eBay as the minimum price for the unwanted sparkler is $23,000.

  The 42-year-old - who was born in England but later moved with her family to Los Angeles - will not miss the ring as she has already been given a new one by new fiancé Michael Bolton.

• Stunning X-Men star Rebecca Romijn was glowing with pride as she showed off her 6- carat yellow diamond engagement ring on US telly recently.

  The gorgeous blonde model-turned-actor, who split with former hubby John Stamos in 2004, is marrying actor Jerry O’Connell.

• Nicole Kidman is still sporting the huge rock believed to be her engagement ring from fellow Aussie Keith Urban on her "let's get married" finger but silence continues to surround the pair's intentions. After initial reports that a Nashville wedding was planned for February, it didn't eventuate so it's another "let's wait and see" story.
• Hollywood stick-figure Nicole Richie and former lover Adam Goldstein have renewed and repaired their relationship, but their engagement remains on hold, according to a published report.

  A source told 'US Weekly', "Nicole convinced him to give her a second chance, but they're not engaged. She asked if she could put her ring back on and he said no." Following the critical media speculation and attention after their split, Nicole promised not to discuss her personal relations with the media ever again.

Romancing the Stone

Wars have been fought over them. Men have murdered for them. Women have sold themselves for them. Fabled fortunes have been made and lost for them, and the stories surrounding some of the most famous diamonds, tales freighted with sex, love and death, are the stuff of legend.

Today, diamond fever has reached unheard of heights, with production currently hitting record levels. In 2004, $15 billion of stones were sold, and as a result prices have rocketed - up 14 per cent in that year alone (2004 was the last year for which figures are available).

In recent years, rare colored diamonds - some the result of millions of years of exposure to radioactivity - have been all the rage, ranging from buttery yellow to sky-blue and rosy-pink. The latter is the diamond of the moment. After Moët Hennessy commissioned rock-star jeweler Stephen Webster a couple of years ago to design a jewelry range using only pink diamonds to celebrate the launch of their Dom Pérignon 1993 vintage rosé, those rocks were on a roll.

Christina Aguilera was first in the queue to buy a piece from Webster's gorgeous Magnum Rose collection, and showed off her pink tourmaline and diamond vintage-style ring at Alexander McQueen's London store launch party. The R&B star Usher wears a watch featuring his own face depicted in colored diamonds. And Robbie Williams, in the video for his Somethin' Stupid duet, presents actress Nicole Kidman with a heart-shaped purse in pink and white diamonds by Mouawad. Bless.

Kate Moss chose a baby-pink diamond ring to mark the birth of her daughter. The film star Diane Lane wore a fabulous five-carat, salmon pink diamond by De Beers to the Oscars and the famously on-off Jennifer Lopez-Ben Affleck affair was marked with a Harry Winston pink diamond engagement ring. Despite the pair not living happily ever after, the "Lopez effect" sparked a huge revival of interest in pink diamonds, as well as in other colored stones. I wonder if J-Lo got to keep it?

If not, she could always hop Down Under and buy herself a few more. The largest source of pink diamonds in the world is the Argyle mine in Australia. "They may recover 25 million carats of brown diamonds in a year, but only 10,000 carats of pink, of which fewer than 1,000 will be larger than a quarter of a carat in the rough," says a spokesman for De Beers. The scarcity of pink diamonds makes them extremely coveted - a stone of just one carat is worth about $130,000. But that's small beer compared to the top-grade, walnut-sized 103.83 carat $13 million diamond that Sotheby's auctioned in 2003.

Nevertheless, a white diamond still holds the record for the most expensive piece of jewelry ever sold at auction. It went for $16.5 million at Sotheby's in 1995. Elizabeth Taylor's opinion that "a diamond's the only ice that keeps a woman warm" has never rung more true.

These days the smart money is moving into ever larger stones. They may be an investment or a symbol of status, but more than anything we associate diamonds with love, with the pledge of adoration and fidelity.

As well as their rarity, it's the mystery surrounding the production of diamonds that enchants us. Diamonds are actually produced in Kimberlite "pipes", fissures of magma which forced its way through cracks in the earth's surface around 70 million years ago. Only 7,000 Kimberlites have been identified in the world; just 15 per cent of those bear diamonds and less than 1 per cent contain enough stones to make mining a viable proposition.

Yet it seems the price is not an issue for diamond lovers, who are willing to pay ever higher prices for the best stones. "Quality is the watchword," says Justin Langtree, a New York jeweler, adding that the current passion for diamonds is being fueled partly by single women who are increasingly buying their own rings and things. Rather than waiting for a man to come along and deck them in gems, they are celebrating their own landmarks in life - and revealing a discerning eye for precious stones.

Top designers are making rings specifically for this market, notes Langtree. Among the stones they are using are Hearts on Fire. These branded stones are cut for immense clarity and only 1 per cent of the world's diamond cutters are qualified to cut them. What do you see, if you look through a jeweler's lens into the center of one of these stones? Eight heart-stoppingly lovely hearts at the very center. This is an entirely natural effect, but it only happens when the refraction of light through the stone is in perfect symmetry.

And what about bling? Surely everyone wants some bling to jazz up their image these days? "Oh, bling - it's so over," announces Langtree. The discerning diamond wearer opts for simplicity, style and sophistication. The preferred settings are platinum or white gold, so there's bling and there's bling, he says.

"Men have always dredged diamonds from dirt and darkness, so that their brilliant light can blaze into women's lives. It's really rather amazing when you think about it," says Langtree softly, and then recalls that diamonds have even been discovered in meteorites that have fallen to earth. "Believe me," he says, "diamonds really are stardust."

Catch the "4 Items for 50% off Fridays" at emitations com

If you're not already on the subscription list for emitations.com, I urge you to sign up now. As well as the hundreds of fabulous jewels they have at great prices, every Friday they offer "4 items at 50%" to all subscribers.

They've recently launched a range of "Desperate Housewives" inspired jewelry as well as other celebrity inspired jewels that you'll fall in love with.

The quality and service is fabulous and they offer value for money. I recently decided I simply HAD to have a copy of Queen Latifah's diamond encrusted ring. When it arrived in its cute little blue box, I couldn't believe I had such a gorgeous piece of bling for a measly $50. Wow! And given it had to travel all the way from the US to Australia, I was surprised how little time it took to get here. My gal pals simply can't believe it's not the real thing, so truth be told - I don't tell them ! :-)

Check emitations.com out for yourself and be surprised too!

Your Free E-book : Wonderful Wedding Favors and Wedding Gifts

As a special gift to all new and existing subscribers of "All That Glitters" we've arranged for you to have a FREE copy of "Wonderful Wedding Favors and Wedding Gifts".

This book is packed with gorgeous favors and gifts you can make yourself, for that very personal touch. And your guests will have a memorable keepsake to treasure for ever.

To download your copy, simply go to : http://www.engagement-rings-guide.com/ebook.html. (Please don't give this address away to non-subscribers). This e-book is in PDF format, so you will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat on your computer to download it. If you don't have a copy of Acrobat, we've provided a link to download it on the page for you.

We hope you enjoy this special treat.

That's all for this edition of "All That Glitters..." Please remember, if you enjoy reading this newsletter, the greatest compliment you can give me is "paying it forward" and sending it on to your friends, family and colleagues.

If you have any questions, or any comments you'd like to make about the newsletter or the website, please feel free to contact me at alexis@engagement-rings-guide.com. I'd be delighted to hear from you.

Stay well and happy. . .