The Diamond Studio Daily 04/12/2013

After queuing up to get your turkey, you arrive home only to find the cat has swallowed most of the tinsel and you completely forgot to buy any tangerines.

But have you ever stopped to wonder how these traditions started - why we kiss under the mistletoe, or give each other stockings full of goodies?

Here are 33 festive facts to get you even more in the mood for Christmas...

1 US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.

2 Robins on cards were a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.

3 Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.

4 The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.

5 Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.

6 Hanging stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas's donkeys. He would leave small gifts in return.

7 Nearly 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.

8 The word Noel derives from the French expression "les bonnes nouvelles" or "the good news".

9 The chances of a white Christmas are just 1 in 10 for England and Wales, and 1 in 6 for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

10 James Pierpont's 1857 song Jingle Bells was first called One Horse Open Sleigh and was written for Thanksgiving.

11 Before turkey, the traditional Christmas meal in England was a pig's head and mustard.

12 In 1647, after the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell banned festivities. The law wasn't lifted until 1660.

13  In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.

14 Many parts of the Christmas tree can actually be eaten, with the needles being a good source of Vitamin C.

15 The first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by civil servant Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843. Featuring a family drinking wine, one sold for £8,469 last year.

16 Hanging presents on trees comes from the Druids who believed the tree was the giver of all good things.

17 The largest Christmas cracker - 45.72m long and 3.04m in diameter - was pulled in Australia in 1991.

18 Santa has different names around the world - Kriss Kringle in Germany, Le Befana in Italy, Pere Noel in France and Deushka Moroz (Grandfather Frost) in Russia.

19 The word Christmas comes from the Old English "Cristes maesse" meaning "Christ's Mass".

20  The bestselling Christmas single ever is Bing Crosby's White Christmas, shifting over 50million copies worldwide since 1942.

21 In Britain, the best-selling festive single is Band Aid's 1984 track, Do They Know It's Christmas?, which sold 3.5million copies. Wham! is next in the same year with Last Christmas, selling 1.4million.

22  Since 1947 Oslo has sent an Christmas tree to London to thank us for our help in the Second World War.

23 Christmas pudding was originally a soup made with raisins and wine.

24 London sweetmaker Tom Smith created the first Christmas crackers in 1847, based on the sweet wrapper design.

25 Boxing Day gets its name from all the money collected in church alms-boxes for the poor.

26 Kissing under the mistletoe is thought to spring from Frigga, the Norse goddess of love, who was associated with the plant.

27 The Beatles hold the record for most Christmas number 1 singles, topping the charts in 1963, 65 and 67.

28 Electric tree lights were invented by Edward Johnson in the US in 1882.

29 The highest-grossing festive movie is 2000's How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which has raked in £175m so far.

30 There are 13 Santas in Iceland, each leaving a gift for children. They come down from the mountain one by one, starting on December 12 and have names like Spoon Licker, Door Sniffer and Meat Hook.

31 Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.

32 The first Christmas celebrated in Britain is thought to have been in York in 521AD.

33 In Greece, Italy, Spain and Germany, workers get a Christmas bonus of one month's salary by law.

Today's Diamond of the Day is known as the "Lucky Diamond," the Great Chrysanthemum Diamond is a beautiful and mysterious 104.6 Carat diamond certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).

​The exceptional color of this diamond is a glowing Fancy Orange-brown, the radiant color of fire. It has been described by many as a miracle of nature.

​

This amazing diamond has an unusually high dispersion of light, creating a stunning supernatural appearance of "fire, slowly burning in ice." News Media outlets have described it as "the fire of a joyous and unending sunset." 

in at number 37 in our Celebrity Engagement Ring Countdown is Anne Hathaway. Adam Shulman is an actor but also an accomplished jewelry designer.  He helped to dream up Hathaway’s 6 carat ring, estimated at $150,000. The center diamond is an emerald cut surrounded by a halo of round brilliant cut diamonds.The thin platinum band is also studded with round diamonds.

The Diamond Studio Daily 03/12/2013

Buying jewellery as a gift - The Guide

So you want to give someone special the gift of jewellery but where do you start ? What will they like ? Don't get overwhelmed and hand over money for something you aren't sure of. Use our useful guide to picking jewellery as a gift to avoid what starts out as a thoughtful gesture turning in to a costly nightmare. 

Who is it for ?

This sounds like a simple question but always think about the individual person your buying for and never buy the same piece in mass for example all the lucky ladies in your life wearing the same earrings in different shades most definitely wont make them feel special.

Look for clues.

Once you've decided who you have to buy for look for clues to make your life easier.  

What jewellery do they wear just now ? 

What colours are their favourite ? 

What is their birthstone ? (Again don't panic just ask Uncle Google)

Don't forget to borrow a current ring for sizing.

Mystery Shop.

If your able to its always a great idea to try and take them in to the store your thinking of buying from or any jewellery shop for that matter just to get a further idea of what they like and don't like. If you cant do this bring along a picture of the person you would be surprised how much it helps us to pick out something that suits once we can put a face to the product. 

Time is of the essence.

If your choosing a ready to wear piece it's not really an issue unless its got to be re-sized to suit or engraved with a personal message which can be done within the week or if its really important on the day. However if you choose to make up a bespoke piece for them it can take between 2-3 weeks from design to finished product. So always think ahead on timescales.

Last step.

You made it ! see it wasn't to bad was it?Now all you have to do is watch them open and enjoy a piece they can keep and cherish forever no more dusty cookbooks and bundles of socks.

Today's Diamond of the Day is the Graff Pink Diamond a rare 24.78 carat pink diamond, once owned by American celebrity jeweler Harry Winston, has been described as "one of the greatest diamonds ever discovered". The diamond, mounted in a ring, was sold by Sotheby's auctioneers. Before its sale, the stone was expected to enter the list of the top ten most expensive diamonds in the world on selling for £29 million.

In at number 38 of our Celebrity Engagement Countdown is Zara Phillips.

The Queen’s oldest grand-daughter, was given a bespoke ring by rugby-playing hubby-to-be Mike Tindall. The sparkling circle solitaire is set in a beautiful band of pavé diamonds, but the value and carat count of the engagement ring has so far been kept schtum. 

Diamond Studio Daily 29/11/2013

In honour of Black Friday we thought we would give you some information on Black Diamonds a sleek and unique option for those who what to try something other than the usual white. 

1. Black diamonds are also called Carbonado. A name coined by Portuguese because of the diamonds resemblance to porous charcoal.

2. They are found in the Central Africa and Brazil, with Brazil being the major source.

3. The natural colour of a black diamond ranges from black to dark greys.

4. Black diamonds are the rarest among all diamonds.

5. Black diamonds originated on earth 3.5 billion years ago – that’s a mighty long time!

6. Translucent or semi-transparent black diamonds are very rare and naturally they command a very high price.

7. In ancient Italy, black diamonds were thought to represent reconciliation. They believed by touching a black diamond misunderstandings and quarrels can be patched up. 

8. Unlike the traditional diamonds, black diamonds are made up of carbon atoms and

small amounts of hydrogen. This has led some people to believe black diamonds were formed in intersteller space! They theorize that there was an steller supernova explosion and an asteroid crashed into earth about 2.8 million years ago.

Now that you know all the facts, perhaps you’ll add a pair of black diamond earrings, like the DaMarcus ones pictured above, to your wish list this year? ;)

Today's Diamond of the Day is the flawless 43.5 carat diamond, known as the Golden Eye, The FBI seized the remarkable jewel, one of the world's largest yellow diamonds, in an undercover sting. The investigation led to the prosecution and conviction of Ohio businessman and infomercial king Paul Monea for money laundering. It's now being auctioned for an expectd $20 million to recover the money owed by Mr Monea.

In at number 40 in our Celebrity Engagement Ring Countdown is Jessica Alba. Cash Warren lived up to his name by spending $100,000 on Jessica Alba's engagement ring. The five carat diamond was surrounded by pave set diamonds.

The Diamond Studio Daily 28/11/2013

Here at The Diamond Studio we have some wonderful american friends and it all started with DaMarcus Beasley who went from wonderful friend to collaborating on a jewellery range with us! We have watched his career go from strength to strength and we couldn't be more proud as he and his teammates heads off to the World Cup in Rio next year. So on this day of Thanksgiving we would like to give thanks for friendships that span continents and don't change a bit ! To truly get in to the spirit of the day we researched a history of Thanksgiving. The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians. By the mid–1800s, many states observed a Thanksgiving holiday. Meanwhile, the poet and editor Sarah J. Hale had begun lobbying for a national Thanksgiving holiday. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, looking for ways to unite the nation, discussed the subject with Hale. In 1863 he gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation, declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving.

Today's Diamond of the Day is the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond a 31.06 carat (6.21 g) fancy deep-blue diamond with internally flawless clarity. Laurence Graff purchased theWittelsbach Diamond in 2008 for £16.4 million. In 2010, Graff revealed he had had the diamond cut by three diamond cutters to remove flaws. 

In at number 41 of our celebrity engagement countdown is Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon’s wife has a whopper of a ring to match her larger-than-life personality. Not only is it a $2.5 million 17-carat sparkler, but it also exudes girliness with an emerald-cut pink center diamond surrounded by 58 (yes, 58!) intense pink diamonds and two half-moon rocks on either side. We wonder if she had to chip in?

The Diamond Studio Daily 26/11/2013

At The Diamond Studio we are so honoured to work so close with Scottish football and when we got the chance to create a line with Celtic we couldn't wait to getting sketching and so The Bhoys Collection was born. Our fabulous models Adam Mathews and Jo Ledley have helped see that its popularity grows ! We can create bespoke pieces as well with loose emeralds waiting to be set in to something spectacular. So with tonight's game approaching we wish The Bhoys the best of luck and look back over some key moments in Europe.

1967 - Celtic complete their most glorious season by winning every competition entered: Scottish League, Scottish Cup, League Cup, Glasgow Cup and the European Cup. The climax of the season is the 2-1 victory over Inter Milan in the European Cup final played at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon on May 25, 1967. Celtic thus become the first British (and non-Latin) club to win Europe's most coveted trophy.

1970 - Celtic reach the final of the European Cup again, but lose 2-1 to Feyenoord after extra time in Milan. In the semi-final Celtic defeated Leeds United in both legs. The second leg at Hampden Park was watched by 133,961, the largest crowd ever to watch a match in European club competition.

1974 - Celtic win the league championship for the ninth season in a row - at the time, a joint world record for success in domestic titles. The team reaches the semi-final of the European Cup for the fourth time.

2003- Celtic reach the UEFA Cup final – their first European final in 33 years. Over 80,000 fans flock to Seville, but see the Hoops lose 3-2 in extra-time to FC Porto of Portugal. 


2012 - Celtic beat out fierce competition and gave the fight of the season sealing impressive wins over the some of Europe's greatest the most memorable was the unforgettable win over Barcelona which showed the world what they are made of.

Today's Diamond of the Day is The Florentine Diamond. The Florentine Diamond is a lost diamond of Indian origin. It is light yellow in colour with very slight green overtones. It is cut in the form of an irregular (although very intricate) nine-sided 126-facet double rose cut, with a weight of 137.27 carats (27.454 g).

In at number 42 in our celebrity engagement ring countdown is Olivia Wilde After dating for more than a year, funnyman Jason Sudeikis has proposed to actress Olivia Wilde with a round brilliant diamond in a emerald halo setting on a delicate band the emeralds chosen to match her eyes (awww).

The Diamond Studio Daily 25/11/2013

In 1992 two brothers, Magnus and Fergus MacFarlane-Barrow from Scotland, watched the TV news from the Bosnian conflict with increasing horror. They were so moved that they decided to organise an appeal for food and blankets. Today they as Mary's Meals provide life changing daily meals to over 822,000 hungry children worldwide. It costs just £10.70 to feed a child for a year. The Diamond Studio in partnership with Mary's Meals are raffling off three signed football strips (Aberdeen,Rangers and Cetic FC) for the cause and have written an published a short story about our good friends at Mister Singh's Restaurant which they have kindly agreed to sell for a minimum one pound donation. We hope to raise as much as possible so if you are passing either the studio or the restaurant come in from the cold and give what you can for children worldwide. 

Today's Diamond of the Day is the Eureka Diamond. This 10.73-carat brilliant is not, by ordinary standards, exceptional. However, it was cut from the first diamond found in South Africa and therefore has historical significance. In 1866 a shepherd boy found a small, shiny stone on the south bank of the Orange River near Hopetown. The pebble was kept for a while by a 15-year-old boy named Erasmus Jacobs, who later gave it to his neighbour, farmer Schalk van Niekerk, a collector of unusual stones.

In at number 43 of our Celebrity Engagement ring countdown is the beautiful Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem proposed to the Nine star with a vintage 3-carat sapphire ring worth roughly $30,000.

The Diamond Studio Daily 08/11/2013

The appetite for coloured gemstones has grown in the UK and globally as consumers seek gems that stand out from the crowd or to own as investments. You only have to step onto Bond Street or peruse the windows of luxury jewellers from Paris to New York right now to spot a recurring theme: coloured gemstones. While gemstones have played a huge part in jewellery design for millennia, there has been a notable renaissance for punchy, juicy coloured stones that consumers are no longer afraid to wear. So what is it about coloured gemstones that is winning the hearts of the consumers? Popular trend and sales are showing gemstones are the new diamond, at least for brides-to-be. Jewellers have noticed an increase in coloured gemstones amongs consumers, especially those who seek alternatives to the traditional diamond engagement ring, Instead of a diamond solitaire or diamond three stone ring they ask for striking green tsavorite garnet and red spinel. Statement necklaces in onyx, coral or amber have been popular, and cluster rings are now very much in demand, as are particular hues of stone such as peach-coloured sapphires and aquamarine. The Gemological Association of America (GIA), while offering training and education for diamonds and stones, also keeps an eye on the evolving markets. Its senior industry analyst Russell Shor agrees that stones considered obscure have become increasingly popular in recent times. “For many years the popular notion of garnet was a brownish-red coloured stone, however garnets come in nearly every colour of the rainbow, and in all price ranges,” he explains. “The popularity of these so-called ‘obscure’ gemstones has increased exponentially in recent years because consumers have come to know their beauty through telvision and the internet. I believe that we have entered into a new era in which colour is going to play an increasing part in our lives, our jewellery and our luxury purchases.”

Today's Diamond of the Day is the Briolette of India a colorless diamond (weighing 90.38 carats) that was found in India. It is cut in a briolette shape, and is a D-coloured (colourless) type diamond. If the fables about it are true, it may be the oldest diamond on record, perhaps older than the Koh-I-Noor Diamond. In the 12th century, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the first Queen of France and later England, brought the stone to England. Her son, Richard the Lionheart, is said to have taken it on the Third Crusade. It next appeared in the 16th century when Henry II of France gave it to his blonde mistress, Diane de Poitiers. It was shown in one of many portraits of her while at Fontainebleau. After disappearing for four centuries, the stone surfaced again in 1950 when the jeweler, Harry Winston, of New York, bought it from an Indian Maharajah. It was sold to Mrs. I.W. Killam and bought back by Mr. Winston, following her death, about 10 years later.


In at number 45 in our Celebrity Engagement ring  is 
Khloe Kardashian Odom.  The 12.5-carat radiant-cut engagement ring from Lamar Odom is worth $850,000.