Your $2 Million Diamond Handbag

Devotees of high fashion are getting a preview of what will be at the inaugural Coutts London Jewellery Week show when it launches this Wednesday.

Featuring some of the most exquisite designer pieces in the world, including a one million pound (US$1.972 million) diamond handbag created by Japanese designer Ginza Tanaka, the show was developed to allow up and coming as well as established talent to show their wares before the public.

The Tanaka handbag is bejeweled with more than 2000 diamonds and will be available for sale during the show week. The handbag comes with a diamond shoulder strap which can be detached and worn as either a necklace or a bracelet, while the 8-carat pear-shaped diamond centerpiece surrounded by a cluster of 81 smaller diamonds can be taken off and worn as a brooch.

Coutts London Jewellery Week begins on June 11th and runs through the 15th. A citywide event, visitors to London will be able to take in catwalk shows, satellite parties, educational seminars, sales, auctions, workshops, demonstrations, and more. In addition to Ginza Tanaka, other designers featured include Elizabeth Gage, Davril, Swarovski, Carolina Bucci, Studionorth, David M. Robinson, Guy & Max, and David Marshall London.

As for getting a glimpse at the Tanaka handbag, you’ll have to wait until the show starts to find out where you can view it. Show organizers are concerned about theft and are keeping that information under wraps for now.

Who paid record price for 101 carat diamond?

A 101-carat colourless diamond the size of a squash ball sold for a record $HK46.2 million ($6 million) at a Christie's auction in Hong Kong, a radio report said today.

The gem, the biggest colourless diamond ever sold in Asia and one of only three colourless diamonds over 100 carats ever sold, was bought by a private buyer on Wednesday.

Government-run radio station RTHK said today the buyer's identity was not being revealed but he would have the option to name the diamond, the most expensive single piece of jewellery sold in Asia.

Set in a tiara, it was the biggest colourless diamond to come up for auction anywhere in the world for 18 years, Christie's said.

Diamond prices have boomed in recent years partly because of the economic slowdown, with new buyers from Russia, India and Asia pushing auction prices higher.

A blood diamond is forever

You want to give your sweetie something sparkly this Valentine's Day. Maybe it's even time to pop the question. Diamonds are a girl's best friend, of course … unless the girl cares about funding wars in Africa and wearing a reminder of bloodshed and poverty on her finger, that is.
Unfortunately, the modern symbol of love is also a token of terrible tragedies. If you're looking to buy with a clear conscience, you'll want to do a little research before you're beguiled by the brilliance.

During the 1990s, money from selling diamonds financed several vicious civil wars in African countries. Military warlords and rebel groups alike mined diamonds to buy weapons in Sierra Leone, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Liberia. Diamonds from Republic of Congo and Côte d'Ivoire were also used to fund wars in neighboring countries.

These gems became known as conflict diamonds or blood diamonds. Global Witness (PDF) estimates that up to 15% of all diamonds sold around the world in the late 1990s were conflict diamonds.

The United Nations imposed an embargo on non-government-certified diamonds from Angola in 1998 and did the same for Sierra Leone diamonds in 2000.

In 2003, the United Nations, over 70 countries, and the international diamond industry launched the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. This voluntary system is supposed to track rough diamonds from the mine to the retailer and ensure that they are conflict-free and legitimately traded.

In addition, the U.S. created several laws such as the Clean Diamonds Act to ban importation of rough diamonds that are not certified by the Kimberly Process. The U.S. is the world's largest consumer of diamond jewelry -- we bought $33.7 billion worth in 2005! But most of what we import are cut and polished stones, according to Global Witness (PDF).

While the Kimberly Process has made strides, it also has weaknesses that have been exploited. Some conflict diamonds are still getting onto the market, although thankfully in small numbers. Partnership Africa Canada (PDF) reports how Côte d'Ivoire continues to launder blood diamonds through other countries and how lack of monitoring keeps retailers from always knowing what they're selling.

So how are we supposed to know what we're buying for our loved ones? You'll have to ask the jeweler some questions, and be prepared to shop around. The Conflict-Free Diamond Council has useful guidelines to consider when looking for a diamond.

Download Amnesty International's diamond buyer's guide (PDF) for handy questions to ask your diamond retailer.

To learn more about specific stores, check out the charts from Global Witness and Amnesty International. These PDFs give details about businesses' conflict-diamond policies and what monitoring organizations they belong to. You'll find everyone from Wal-Mart to Saks Fifth Avenue included.

You can look up the conflict-free diamond statements of some big-name stores online.

Whiteflash and James Allen Professional Jeweler are among the many online retailers who sell conflict-free diamonds in accordance with the Kimberly Process.

Some folks prefer diamonds mined in Canada. The CanadaMark certification guarantees that the diamonds are from the Great White North, which is, of course, far from ugly wars.

However, Canadian diamonds aren't perfect for the environment either. Mining Watch points out that northern diamond mines damage delicate ecosystems and animal habitats. These operations have also disrupted the lives of indigenous people in Canada.

One of the most eco-friendly options is to recycle jewelry. For example, Green Karat uses recycled gems in its designs. This not only ensures that your diamond is free of taint, but it doesn't hurt the environment with messy mining practices.

Similarly, vintage jewelry from before the 1990s neatly avoids conflict and harm to the planet. If you insist, you can always have the stone removed from an old setting and placed into a ring, necklace, etc., of your own design. Jewelers do this frequently when heirlooms are inherited but styles change. Search antique stores in your town or troll eBay for deals.

2008 Teen Choice Awards features AWEAR products

One of the many perks to being a celeb is that you get free stuff! Over the weekend, I popped in at the Teen Choice “Mattel Celebrity Retreat,” where various companies, from Neutrogena to Southpole Clothing, were offering up their goods to stars making an appearance at the Teen Choice Awards, which airs tonight on Fox at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.

While the celebs definitely enjoyed loading up on freebies (who wouldn’t?), they also took time out to do some good for charity. Chris Brown, LL Cool J, Drake Bell and David Cook, autographed the hood of a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, which is the company’s newest eco-friendly car. The Jetta will eventually be auctioned off with all the proceeds going to City of Hope, a leading research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases.

Many stars (The Jonas Brothers, Jordin Sparks, David Archuleta, and Brenda Song to name a few) also signed new TI-NSpire graphing calculators, which will be donated to City of Hope to provide inspiration to children in hospitals — and to help them with their math homework! All of these celb’s also recieved jewelry by Whiteflash from their AWEAR collection which donates 25% of all proceeds to help those effected by blood diamonds in South Africa.

In addition, everyone from Danity Kane to the Cheetah Girls had access to a variety of gifts including Nintendo Wii ’s new must-have game (Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party), fab leather belts by melamed, AWEAR jewelry by Whiteflash.com, and even surf lessons from Surf Diva. Jealous? Uh, I was!