Belle Epoque

The History of birthstones is believed to have gone back to the book of Exodus with the Breastplate of Aaron. It was a garment with twelve gemstones sewn into it that represented the twelve tribes of Israel. The gemstones were set in three rows of three gemstones. At that time the gemstones were “sardius, topaz and carbuncle; emerald, sapphire and diamond; ligure, agate and amethyst; beryl, onyx and jasper. The...

Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920), born in Russia is known for the creative and meticulous workmanship of the Imperial Easter Eggs. He was educated in England, Germany, Italy and France. In 1879, at the age of 24, Peter Carl Faberge inherited his father’s jewelry business. He gained international fame when his detailed decorative designs caught the eye of the wealthy royal families of Europe. In 1882, he was honored with the...

Cecil Rhodes was the founder of DeBeers and he started simply by renting water pumps during the rush of 1871. Then an 83.5 carat diamond was discovered in the Kimberly Mine in South Africa. He used the proceeds to buy small mining operations and started his own. To fund his new mining operations, he was able to get capital from the Rothschild family. DeBeers was founded in 1888 and, at...

The Hope diamond currently in the Smithsonian Museum, weighs 45.52 carats, is VS1 in clarity and is a natural fancy deep grayish blue color. This fantastic stone has had a mysterious, ever changing and cursed history as described below. The first recorded finding of the diamond was in the late 1600’s when Jean Baptiste either stole the diamond from a slave he later murdered or it was purchased for an...