Walters Museum Exhibit - Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry

One of the bedazzled piece at the Walters Museum

The venerable Walters Museum in Baltimore, Maryland is opening up their vaults for Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry. The exhibit highlights the passion of Henry Walters (1848–1931) who collected jewelry from a large variety of cultures and periods.


His collection runs the gamut from Mesopotamian stone pendants to masterpieces created by Tiffany and Co. The exhibition brings together more than 200 pieces of jewelry, combining extraordinary highlights from the holdings with objects from the Walters' vaults, the exhibit runs from now until January 4, 2009.


All of this is enough to tell you, in very generic terms, that jewelry has mattered. None of it takes jewelry particularly seriously. Imagine if the Walters mounted a show that claimed to trumpet all the glories of the history of painting, without a single masterpiece on loan from somewhere else. You can't, because it'd never do it. But jewelry has fallen so far out of favor that just showing any of it off seems like a special event.via

Arkansas - The Public Diamond Mining Facility

A diamond found in State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas
The Public Diamond Mining Facility

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and now they are a treasure hunter’s dream come true. If you thought that digging your own diamonds was impossible, you are wrong. You can now get diamond in your own. Put away your metal detector, climb in your car and take a trip to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. Yes, Arkansas.

The only conflict you can expect with these diamonds is an argument over when to take the next bathroom break. Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only public diamond mining facility in the world. Their policy on the treasures you unearth? Good, old fashioned finders keepers! Yes, you read that properly. If you dig it up, it is yours.

Recently, a man from Flint, Michigan walked away with a 4.68 white diamond.That’s only the beginning. The largest diamond to be found in the area? A whopping 34.25 carats. Take that, Elizabeth Taylor!

“The search area at the Crater of Diamonds is a 37 1/2-acre plowed field, the eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world in surface area. It is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public. Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The three most common colors found at the park are white, brown and yellow, in that order.”via

Louis Vuitton Diamonds

Louis Vuitton Diamonds

Louis Vuitton is a French luxury fashion and leather goods brand and company known especially for bags and trunks. Internationally renowned and highly regarded for name recognition in the fashion world, as a result LV has become one of the most counterfeited contemporary luxury brands.

But now, Louis Vuitton will not only for bags and trunks but also for diamonds. Louis Vuitton has just launched two patented diamond cuts.

These tough economic times give us few excuses to splurge on items that will be out of fashion in a couple of months. Louis Vuitton diamonds are the antidote to this problem.


You probably recognized the maker of these diamonds before even reading the heading. That's the kind of brand recognition that guarantees the longevity of Louis Vuitton.

These classic cuts, reminiscent of Louis Vuitton's signature prints, are sure to be in style forever. Size may vary, but these are the kind of diamonds you pass down to your grandchildren. They are not so much a splurge as a sensible diamond investment.


The rounded and pointed flower cuts you see at right may not be right for an engagement ring (who would brand love like that?), but for earrings and other decorative jewelry, these cuts are sure to be a hit.


“The Vuitton diamonds have between 61 and 77 facets and have been set into a bracelet, a pair of earrings, two brooches, a ring and a necklace-the latter consisting of 1,001 tiny brilliant-cut diamonds totaling 15 carats, coexisting with 65 round flower diamonds (49 carats) and 79 pointed ones (44 carats), for a combined bling bang of 108 carats that retails for about $4 million.via “

Ruff & Cut Jewelry Launched Conflict-Free Diamond Designs

Conflict-Free Diamond Designs by Ruff & Cut Jewelry

Ruff & Cut diamond jewelry is what they call ‘socially responsible luxury.’ The newly-launched company combines conflict-free diamonds from Sierra Leone and Canada with recycled gold to create stylishly rustic rings, pendants, bracelets, and earrings.

The 10% of profits of this eco-friendly company is donated to non-profit organizations in Africa. Though not all of the gems are the perfect specimens we are accustomed to seeing, the designs stand for much more than a simple display of wealth. Having said that, the ring in the first image is priced at $110,000. However, a very simple 1.91 carat solitaire is available for $4,900.

The Nobel Ring shown above features a 1.35 carat rough diamond with a free-spinning center band studded with brilliant-cut diamonds weighing 0.27 carats total. It sells for $10,500. via

Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra

Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra

The 2008 Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra has been unveiled. The latest version modeled by Adriana Lima is named the Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra. It was created by jeweler Martin Katz and is set with 3,575 black diamonds, 117 certified one carat white round diamonds and 34 rubies. Two black diamond drops weighing a total of 100 carats swing down from the bra. The price for this Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra is $5 million.via