“Diamonds are forever”     “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”

Diamonds have been named, cursed, blessed and baptized. Diamonds were written about in ancient Sanskrit from the fourth century B.C., recorded in the bible and in early Greek literature.  Diamonds have been worn in the turbans of the Maharajas, crowns of Kings & Queens, worn to symbolize marriage, worn  by actresses to symbolize success and rap artists want their personal belongings paved in diamonds.   People have lost their fortunes and made fortunes with diamonds, fashion has been dictated by new discoveries of diamonds and political movements have resulted because of diamonds.

Why can a small rock from the earth cause so much excitement, pain, grief, joy, love, greed and exuberance?

Greek literature refers to the diamond as ‘adamas’ which morphed into ‘diamond’ and had the same meaning as the Hebrew word for diamond, ‘yahalom’ , meaning invincible.

There is not a recorded history of the discovery of diamonds, but until the eighteenth century diamonds were exclusively from India.  Worn in the breast plate by the Egyptian pharaohs and later on by the high priest of the Hebrews the diamond was treasured from the beginning of early writings.

Originally diamonds were not cut and polished to give the beautiful, incredible sparkle and rainbow prisms as we have today.  Rough diamonds are like dull chalky rocks—why then were they worn without the ‘bling’?  In the fourth century in India the Artha-Sastra refers to ancient text known as “The Estimation and Valuation of Precious Stones” where the diamond is referred to as being very valuable because of its mythical quallities and rarity. The stone which “would illuminate space with all the fire of the rainbow” is a diamond that is octahedron, six sharp points, and eight very flat, and twelve straight and sharp edges with optical qualities of clarity, transparency, color, fire and iridescence.  This old text sounds similar to the modern slogans of Debeers four “C”s; color, clarity, cut and carat weight!

In the third century B.C. Indian law required that the most valuable diamonds found were notto be exported but kept in the treasury and was offered to “Indra”, the God ofstorms, thunder and lightning.  In the treaty of Buddhabhatta it is written that “he who wears a diamond will see dangers recede from him whether he be threatened by serpents, fire, poison, sickness, thieves, flood or evil spirits.”

With such strong beliefs the Indian merchants were able to sell the diamonds easily. Not only is a diamond the hardest stone known to man, it also came with the powers of magical protection which may explain the mysterious link between man and diamonds from the very beginning.

Janet Deleuse

"Diamonds, myth, magic and reality"  Crown Publishers, Inc., New York 1980

 

One of my favorite stones to design with is Aquamarine, or “Water of the Sea” in Latin.  The cool blue hues reminds me of the clarity and purity of the crystal blue colors from the largest ice glaciers to the smallest snowflakes; from cold lake water to the warm South Seas.
 
When looking into an Aquamarine you can almost feel the waters of the oceans and seas as the stone reflects the colors of a Caribbean blue green or a deep Mediterranean blue.  Sailors navigating these waters have kept aqua for ages as a talisman while at sea.

Aquamarines and Emeralds belong to the mineral group Beryl. The source of color in the Aquamarine is iron, depending on the percentage of iron the color will range in blue to bluish-green tones. Emeralds are green by the percentage of the inherent minerals chromium and vanadium.  Beryl deposits are found around the world.  Brazil is the principal source of Aquamarine.  The Ural Mountains in Siberia is also a major source for the stone.  Other local deposits are found in China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Africa.
The crystals grow as long hexagonal prisms and can be found in very large sizes.  One of the largest gem-quality Aquamarines was mined in 1910 in Brazil weighed 243 lbs! The Natural History Museum in London has a flawless, sea-green aquamarine weighing 879.5 carats.  In Los Angeles, the Natural History Museum has a 638 carat stone.  Aquas are often cut and polished in a rectangular shape known as the “emerald cut.”

Aquamarine was first found in jewelry as early as 400-300 BCE.  Since then, the gem has been used for many historic jeweled creations.  In 1775 Prince Carl Anselm became a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece and acquired a collection of very impressive gemstones which were used to commemorate the order in jewelry.  The Neck Badge of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece one is a very large greenish Aqua cushion shape set surrounded by diamonds.  At a later date the jewels were converted to brooches and auctioned at the Geneva Sotheby’s in the early 19th century.  The panther jewelry collection created by Cartier was designed from the motif of the fleece.

Carl Faberge fabricated a platinum thistle brooch in 1915.  The stem and leaves are paved in diamonds with a large Aquamarine as the flower head.

Aquamarines were used extensively during the Art Noveau period.  A beautiful example of this is an extraordinarily detailed dragon brooch in blue enamel set with small blue aquamarines in the wings and a large green aqua held in the serpents mouth, designed by Etienne Tourettec. 1903.

During the 1940’s the blues of aquamarines and sapphires were the most popular of all gemstones.  Tiffany’s suite included a bracelet, necklace, earrings and ring with large rectangle center aquas set in curved gold settings with channel set sapphires and diamonds.  The stunning set was illustrated in the August 1942 issue of Promenade at a cost of $7,000.00.

The Duchess of Windsor carried a gold compact designed by Verdura in1950.  The eccentric Italian studded the compact with a large Aquamarine heart.  Verdura, who started producing personal ornaments for Coco Chanel, became well known in society for his wonderful bijoux, for his wit and whimsical designs.

When Joan Crawford arrived in Hollywood in 1925 Metro Goldwyn Mayer gave her an uninspiring profile as a plain woman with light brown hair and weighing 145 lbs.  By 1937 Life Magazine had given her the title of  “First Queen of the Movies.”  Rags to riches Joan loved and wore her Aquamarine parure, which included a necklace, brooch and bracelet designed by E.M.Tompkins.  Called “The Kobai Collection,” the bracelet has 4 rows of oval aquamarines with a wide gold and diamond motif in the center.  The necklace has 2 rows of the aquas with interspersed gold and diamond motifs.  The clip is a curved gold and diamond motif with a cascade of four aqua rows flowing from the center.  Joan clipped this cascade on the front of her dresses, blouses, belts and head-scarfs.  This favorite parure was purchased by Andy Warhol.

 

I created this ring with a cushion shape 16.54 ct. Aquamarine, I was inspired to design a tasseled pillow motif.  The hand-fabricated setting is platinum paved in diamonds with a sweeping billowy softness, the faceted sapphire briolettes dangle from each corner in yellow, pink, green and pale-blue represent tiny tassels.

Janet Deleuse