Jewelry Articles

On a recent near-spring day, a bit of news caught my attention. It was the anniversary of the finding of the "Punch Jones Diamond" in West Virginia. It started me thinking, where exactly are diamonds found in the USA? The "Punch Jones Diamond is a 34.48 carat bluish-white diamond found in 1928 by a farmer in Peterstown, West Virginia, while playing horseshoes. The family (who had seventeen children) put the stone in a cigar box until it was discovered to be a diamond in 1942. The Jones family sold the stone through Sotheby's in 1984 to an entity in an...

"Pin Diplomacy ~or~ MY EVENING WITH MADELEINE ALBRIGHT" Yes, friends.  I have stooped that low.You see, I'd just purchased her book "Read My Pins" at Jewelry Camp in July.  In fact, I was proudly displaying it in the store when it was brought to my attention she was soon to be appearing here, right in our own backyard!  I quickly called, but so apparently had everyone else.  The machine said, "If you're calling about the Madeleine Albright lecture, we're filled up..."   What to do!  I checked StubHub.  No luck.  I took a deep breath and decided I simply must go,...

Tuesday, April 19th was a beautiful spring day.  Whatever would possess me to trade the magnificent awakening of the bucolic Hudson Valley to trudge by train into a major city filled with lots of people and noise?  And on my day off!?!!This is why:  I am a bonafide jewelry nerd.The reason for my trip was to attend a lecture hosted by The American Society of Jewelry Historians titled, "Twenty Centuries of Enamel in 60 Minutes", presented by William Harper, one of the world's most acclaimed enamel artists.  (Recipient of five National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships and many other awards,...

I went directly to a gold buyer in the Diamond District who sells to large refineries. And it was an interesting experience.