Shopping for gemstones.

Most of us in our lives aspire to owning a diamond or two. If we are lucky we may manage one for that special occasion. The amounts paid for them will of course vary but the prices paid for world famous gems is mind boggling and of course way out of our stratosphere.
A rare gem was bought by a British jeweller to the value of almost £4.000000. It was a flawless blue diamond sold at the Hong Kong branch of Sotheby’s. It was a 6.04-carat, each carat being worth £650.000. Prior to this the Hancock Red, a red diamond was sold for £450.000 a carat. Moussaieff Jewellers of London bought this diamond.
When buying diamonds the vital thing to remember is that the clarity of colour and absence of flaws are more important than the size. Blue diamonds are worth 10 times more per carat than white diamonds.
Diamonds that are a yellow brown in colour, which are know, as chocolate diamonds were once unacceptable. They weren’t as popular as white diamonds so they were re-named as chocolate and interest them increased.
Royalty of course have owned some impressive gems. The Darya-ye-Noer diamond, part of the Iranian crown jewels is a large pink diamond at about 186 carats.
On display at the Tower of London can be seen the Star of Africa diamond of 530.2 carats and the Golden Jubilee of 545.67 carats.
An owner of the Hope Diamond a 45-52 carat grey blue diamond was Marie Antoinette. This can now be seen at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.
Among other expensive diamonds include the Leviev Fancy a vivid yellow 77.12 carat and if pink is your colour there is a vivid pink pear shaped diamond which is unfortunately among the most expensive in the world.