LONDON - A rare blue diamond handed down through generations of German royalty sold for a record-breaking 16.4 million pounds ($24.3 million) at auction Wednesday in London, Christie's said.

The Wittelsbach Diamond, a 35.56 carat cushion-shaped gem, has often had its color and clarity compared to the famed Hope Diamond, now on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- A colored diamond once owned by King Philip IV of Spain may sell for 9 million pounds ($13.4 million) at Christie’s International this week, defying a slowing of demand from investors nervous of economic recession. The 35.56-carat fancy grayish-blue stone, mined in India and owned by the same private collector since 1964, is included in Christie’s Dec. 10 London sale. It will be the most valuable stone offered by the auction house this year.

Farmers in Mexico have been given another reason to grow agave, the cactus-like plant used to produce the country's most potent export. In the bar room equivalent of alchemy, scientists have turned shots of tequila into diamonds.

Dubai, Nov 08th, 2008--The worldwide diamond trade will continue to thrive, especially in rapidly emerging markets such as the Middle East, China and India, despite the current global financial crisis. That was the consensus among high-profile industry leaders speaking on the opening day of the first Middle East-China Diamond and Jewellery (MECDJ) Summit, which was launched in Dubai today.

Photo right by John Emmett.

For more than a year, gemmologists and dealers have suspected so-called natural red andesine was, in reality, coloured using copper diffusion. Now research physicist John Emmett has proven these suspicions are quite possible.

Today, one of the most powerful sales assets that an individual can possess within the jewellery and watch trade are relevant qualifications.  Research has shown that recruiters actively seek to recruit candidates that hold qualifications that are related to the trade, not only does this enhance existing product knowledge, but arms their business with staff that are truly confident in selling products effectively, without the fear of being asked a question that they will struggle to answer.

Another journal in my field, The Journal of Gemmology, is transitioning to a web-centric model, with print restricted to a single annual edition of the past year’s articles.

A US judge has dismissed the $120 million law suit that accused two US gemmological laboratories and a gemstone company of unfairly using the name "Paraiba  tourmaline" for tourmaline that did not come from the Brazilian state of Paraiba.

RAPAPORT... Tanzanite is an enormously popular gem, and the discovery of stones coated with a color-enhancing substance has generated controversy within the trade.

In the Summer 2008 issue of Gems & Gemology, GIA researchers Shane McClure and Dr. Andy Shen offered an extensive analysis of these treated stones and the means to identify them.

Associated Press reported last Friday that the Mid-Year Myanma Gems Emporium earned upwards of $175 million (€130 million). The sale, which took place October 4–16, attracted 2,648 merchants “from nearly a dozen countries, including China, Thailand, Japan and Canada,” according to an unnamed official.

The Emporium, held twice a year, has regularly topped $100 million—and usually $150 million—since 2006. The statistics for this sale bring our unofficial total since 1964 to $1.728 billion