Courting Yellow Diamonds

World-class tennis player Maria Sharapova might not have made it all the way through the US Open, but her yellow diamond earrings from Tiffany & Co. were a grand slam hit.

Sharapova entered into a partnership with the renowned jewelry house to wear the yellow diamond earrings at each of her US Open matches. The drop-shaped earrings combined yellow diamonds with white diamonds set in a combination of platinum and 18 karat gold.

The tennis champion called wearing Tiffany diamonds "on or off the court" a "special experience," and said that the fact that her earrings were made from fancy yellow diamonds made them even more unique.

Pegah Goldooz, the UAE's General Manager for Tiffany & Co. said that the company's yellow diamonds were among the world's rarest and more prized gems and compared the yellow diamonds' color to sunlight.

For those who might not associate diamonds with sports, it's worth noting that the phrase "diamond tennis bracelet" came into being when Chris Evert lost her in-line diamond bracelet during a Grand Slam match and stopped the game until it was found, starting a fashion craze. And just recently, Miami Dolphins player Kendall Langford lost a 2.5-carat earring valued at $50,000 during practice.

Sharapova, happily, managed to keep her Tiffany yellow diamond earrings safe while on court.

Green Diamond Jewelry Knocked Down for Over $56,000

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers did a brisk business at their recent Fine Jewelry and Timepieces auction – selling 92% of the lots for a total of $1.56 million, according to artfixdaily.com.

Diamonds were the hottest items off the block, with both white and colored diamond jewelry fetching impressive prices. While diamonds whose color has been artificially enhanced are supposed to be less valuable, a piece set with irradiated green diamonds sold for $56,120.

Whether natural or induced, all green diamonds are the result of the stone coming into contact with radiation. In naturally occurring green diamonds – among the rarest in the world – this process takes million of years, and usually happens when a forming diamond is exposed to alpha particles in uranium compounds or groundwater.

Alpha particles in and of themselves will turn the diamond's surface green, but if beta and gamma rays hit the forming diamond, as well, the stone will take on a deeper green hue, which only in the tiniest fraction of instances actually turns the diamond green through and through.

Courting Yellow Diamonds

World-class tennis player Maria Sharapova might not have made it all the way through the US Open, but her yellow diamond earrings from Tiffany & Co. were a grand slam hit.

Sharapova entered into a partnership with the renowned jewelry house to wear the yellow diamond earrings at each of her US Open matches. The drop-shaped earrings combined yellow diamonds with white diamonds set in a combination of platinum and 18 karat gold.

The tennis champion called wearing Tiffany diamonds "on or off the court" a "special experience," and said that the fact that her earrings were made from fancy yellow diamonds made them even more unique.

Pegah Goldooz, the UAE's General Manager for Tiffany & Co. said that the company's yellow diamonds were among the world's rarest and more prized gems and compared the yellow diamonds' color to sunlight.

For those who might not associate diamonds with sports, it's worth noting that the phrase "diamond tennis bracelet" came into being when Chris Evert lost her in-line diamond bracelet during a Grand Slam match and stopped the game until it was found, starting a fashion craze. And just recently, Miami Dolphins player Kendall Langford lost a 2.5-carat earring valued at $50,000 during practice.

Sharapova, happily, managed to keep her Tiffany yellow diamond earrings safe while on court.