A rare and magnificent royal diamond and emerald tiara sold at Sotheby’s last week to an anonymous buyer for $12.76 million(11.28 million Swiss francs) simultaneously setting both a world record price at auction for a tiara as well as any emerald jewelry piece. Thought to have belonged to the personal collection of French Emperor Napoleon III’s wife, Eugenie, pre-sale estimates for this piece were between $5 million-$10 million.
The tiara features 11 pear-shaped exceedingly rare emeralds collectively weighing over 500 carats. Each emerald is held in diamond set cusp motifs, with the largest nine emeralds tipped by rose diamonds. Though the emeralds have been said to be of Colombian origin, they have been polished in a manner that indicate they were finished in India. The thick drill holes within the emeralds is typical of the way 17th century royalty wore jewelry where gemstones were often removed and placed in different settings or worn around the neck in a “bead-like” fashion.
In the video below, David Bennett, gives an intimate view of the Tiara and the history that surrounds it. “For me, this is the most glamorous jewel we have offered in the past 30 years. I can think of no other jewel that sums up the glamor and the grandeur of the Belle Epoque as well as this.”
Researches have discovered a way to create a nanocyrstalline diamond aerogel. What’s that you may ask? Referred to as “blue smoke”, “frozen smoke” and “solid smoke”, aerogel is synthetic product first created in 1931 which is currently used today for insulation, water purification, as well as blocking electrical signals and noise. It’s a class of materials that exhibit the lowest density and thermal conductivity of any bulk solid.
Looking for ways to strengthen this creation, lead researcher Peter J. Pauzauskie and colleagues at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory married one of the least dense structures known to science with one of the hardest materials naturally found on earth – diamonds.
Using a laser-heated diamond anvil cell, the California based team mimicked pressures existing deep within planets creating materials and phases not observed under normal circumstances. The result created a substance with a density of around 40 mg per cubic centimeter (approximately 40 times denser than air).
The completely transparent product sparkles just like a diamond. Pliable like plastic, diamond aerogels could have future use in antireflection coatings applied to the surface of lenses such as telescopes, binoculars, eyeglasses or any other device that may require a reduction in reflection. This product also has potential to coat structures within the human body due to its biocompatible nature. Because diamonds emit electrons, diamond aerogels have a future place in technology as well such as creating better flat screen televisions and ultra strong quantum information processors.
Diamonds have come quite a long way since their use in jewelry and engagement rings haven’t they?
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