St Andrew's Day!

It's St Andrew's Day on Friday, so we're taking the opportunity to celebrate all things Scottish!

There are many stories and theories as to why St Andrew came to be associated with Scotland, but many of them state that he has been our patron saint since around the middle of the 10th Century!
It is said that the bones of St Andrew were brought to Scotland around then, to the place which we know today as St Andrews, or Cill Rìmhinn in Gaelic.

According to legend, king of the Picts - Óengus II - led an army of Picts and Scots into battle against the Angles in 832 AD. They were severely outnumbered and Óengus II vowed to make St Andrew the patron saint of Scotland if he helped them defeat their enemies. The next day, they saw a cloud in a horizontal cross shape in the sky, resembling the cross that St Andrew was crucified on. This filled them with strength and they managed to win the battle! This is also said to be the reason why our flag is blue with a white cross.

On St Andrew's Day in Scotland, the Scottish Government are required to fly the Saltire on all of their buildings which have a flagpole. It is also a bank holiday, however not a public holiday - so not all employers are obliged to give people the day off!

There is also a lot of folklore about the night before St Andrew's Day. It is said that women wishing to marry can pray to St Andrew to help them find a husband on the 29th of November. They can also see if their prayers have been heard by throwing a shoe at a door - if the toe ends up pointing at the exit, the woman will be married within the year!

Now, we're not entirely sure if we believe that, but it might be worth having a look at our Engagement Rings and mounts just in case, eh girls?

Even if you're not interested in getting married, we've got a lot of Scottish-themed products which would be perfect for attending a Ceilidh, or maybe just to show a bit of patriotism!

The Archduke Joseph Diamond

Last week, the Archduke Joseph Diamond was sold for a whopping 20m Swiss francs (that's £13m or $21m!) at Christie's Auction House in Geneva!

An anonymous bidder bought the giant stone, after being lovingly kept by Alfredo Molina, the chairman of a Californian-based jeweller, for several years.

The diamond is thought to be over 400 years old and is named after an Austrian prince who it once belonged to. It originates from the famous Golconda diamond mines in India, where other such treasures such as the Koh-i-Noor diamond and the stunning blue Hope Diamond also came from.

The cushion-cut Archduke Joseph Diamond weighs a staggering 76.02 carats, has Internally Flawless clarity and is graded D in colour - meaning it is regarded as being a 'perfect' diamond and it is one of the most admired diamonds in the World!

We're featuring pieces which contain lots of sparkling diamonds this week, have a look at them:

Three-Tiered Diamond Bangle
The Boxer Ring
Trilliant Diamond Earrings
'Radiance' 8.23ct Diamond Necklace

The Rangers Diamond!

There have been some very exciting times here at The Diamond Studio recently - we have created the world's FIRST diamond that is laser-engraved with a football team crest!

After launching the Spirit of '72 Collection in collaboration with Rangers FC in May 2011, we have had a strong business partnership with the club and have very much enjoyed working with them. The Diamond Studio made valued friends in current and former players such as current Team Captain Lee McCulloch (pictured below with the Diamond) Maurice Edu, Alejandro Bedoya and of course DaMarcus Beasley, who we also have a collection with.
We are also working with a Belgian diamond company, owned by the family of Jeroen Van Den Broeck, who was in the Under 21s team for RFC. As well as continuing to play football in Belgium, Jeroen is also part of the business and we consider him to be a good friend as we have a love of both football and diamonds!
This is why we felt that launching the diamond with Rangers was definitely the natural thing to do!

The diamond is a Round Brilliant cut, 0.36ct in weight, G colour and VS2 clarity, so it was already a stunning stone before it even had the Rangers FC crest on it!
Below you can see how the crest looks on the diamond!

We had Ally McCoist, Rangers FC manager in to see us last week, and he was utterly thrilled with the Rangers Diamond!

Of course, the Rangers Diamond is only the beginning. Any logo or lettering can be laser-engraved onto a diamond and we think that they would provide excellent promotional opportunities for any organisation!
Imagine being the first business of your kind to have its logo on a diamond!
Any diamond of any colour or cut can be engraved, so the possibilities are endless and it is truly something that will last forever.