Admiring 2 Harry Winston Diamond Rings

Another day, another eye candy blog. Let's browse: Here are 2 gorgeous Harry Winston diamond rings average wage earners can admire, yet likely not afford to buy. Even if consumers have the money in the bank, it would be unwise to spend it on luxury items like high-end jewelry rather than on necessities, emergencies, or retirement. But looking, ooing, and ahhing are free. So here we go!

The first ring is crafted in platinum; set with a 12.55-carat step-cut emerald, in a D-color that is internally flawless. The main diamond is flanked by 2 tapered baguette diamonds. The cost depends on the carats, color, and clarity a customer selects if buying it directly from Harry Winston. Both rings are available, with consumers choosing their center diamond.

Ring number 2 is crafted in platinum; set with a 6.01-carat pear brilliant-cut diamond, with E color and VS2 clarity; and it is also flanked by two baguette-cut diamonds. Once again, it’s available and customizable at Harry Winston’s, but Fortuna auctioned this 6.01-carat diamond ring for $187,000.

Oh, what if an average earner loves, loves, loves these beautiful diamonds as much as I do, but could never justify a Harry Winston purchase?

As I always say, "First a dreamer, then a realist!" Use the Harry Winston rings as inspiration and be willing to make some compromises to fit your budget! So what is a practical person who isn’t one of the new billionaires in our country to do?

Consder lab grown diamonds costing considerable less! Lab-grown gemstones are physically, chemically, and optically the same as gemstones that form over billions of years in the Earth's mantle. Be flexible on carat size, color, and clarity, and switch from platinum to 18k or 14k gold to lower costs. The benefit of gold over platinum is that the ring can be resized to fit a changing finger size over time. The 👆lab-grown pear-shaped diamond on the left is 2 carats in 18k gold, priced at $2,424.10, and it, too, is gorgeous!

For the emerald cut ring, this lab-grown diamond ring to the right👉 is without the side baguettes for $1,979.25. Still, if you yearn to dupe the Harry Winston design at a higher price, another option is here. Research all sellers thoroughly before making any purchases.

On a jewelry budget, perhaps rings are the best splurge, because you can admire their beauty while you wear them, unlike a necklace that requires standing in front of a mirror. You catch the sparkles of a ring as you toss your hand around!

Angara

Although much less than Harry Winston, $2,000+ for jewelry isn’t exactly cheap either, is it? If you’re simply looking for bling to wear without investing weeks of salary, there are yet more compromises you could make. You could buy lab-grown white sapphires, which are inexpensive and crafted in 925 sterling silver, which is still categorized as fine jewelry. Sterling silver is softer than gold, so you wouldn’t want a sterling silver engagement ring that you might wear daily, banging it around. Do. Not. Accept. That fiancée of yours must work a little harder! Sterling silver is a fine metal for necklaces, earrings, and rings you wear mindfully when you have few chances of banging it. Moreover, it's wise to take lower-priced jewelry that you can afford to replace on vacation.

Italo rings

Italo is one of several jewelry companies making lab-grown white sapphires in 925 sterling silver. With its ongoing deals, a buyer can score Harry Winston dupe rings at $70 - $100. Decent quality for the price.

Even so, I’m thinking if my ☆・*Fairy Godmother☆・* were to ever appear, she’d procure those 2 Harry Winston rings for me. I know she would, and I’m waiting! Are those fast twinkling lights I see, you know, the kind when a body holding a wand👤👗 materializes out of thin air?😛

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High Jewelry Sapphires & Diamonds

Chopard from the Red Carpet Collection

High jewelry is unaffordable to middle- and working-class consumers, but what gorgeous eye candy to behold! If you're a jewelry lover, you can’t help but think how magnificent Mother Nature, combined with the artistry of a jeweler, is! You may not be able to buy it, but you can take the style as inspiration when selecting more budget-friendly pieces. For example, I like cutting-edge design, but, as I must limit what I actually buy, I rarely buy cutting-edge and lean towards classic, timeless pieces. Also, while I appreciate ladylike jewelry, I avoid ornate and over-the-top femininity. Once you know your style, you can apply it to find jewelry that fits your budget.

Today, let’s take a look at High Jewelry Sapphire and Diamond Pieces, shall we? Peerless craftsmanship and elegance define Chopard’s Red Carpet Collection, a/k/a Haute Joaillerie.

The top👆Sapphire and Diamond Necklace, resembling a crown, features oval-shaped sapphires and round, pear, and marquise-cut diamonds set in 18-carat white gold. It is available in several carat sizes of sapphires and diamonds (e.g, there’s a 97.46-carat version with over 100 carats in diamonds). Oh, I’ll take that one! Dream big!!😝

A Chopard Red Carpet Collection ring has a 9.45 carat cushion cut sapphire framed by pear-shaped sapphires and round and pear-shaped diamonds. The collection’s drop earrings are set with 43.48 carats of pear-shaped sapphires and 2.53 carats of diamonds in white 18k gold. The drop earrings also come in emeralds.

Two sapphire-and-diamond watches from Chopard’s Red Carpet Collection are more like jeweled bracelets with timepieces at their centers. A customer has a choice between diamonds with sapphires or sapphires with diamonds. Which would you pick?

I’m tossing in two other pieces I love that are not designed by Chopard as I’m no slob!😉

A Madagascar cushion-cut sapphire ring, set in platinum, is 30.21 carats. The sapphire is flanked by 2 diamonds totaling 2.56 carats. Its price is listed as $525,000. The ring would go perfectly with the Harry Winston sapphire and diamond necklace on the right. The necklace’s 111.73-carat cushion-cut sapphire is detachable. 

When prices aren’t listed, you have to find out by walking into the jewelers’ shops. As the old saying goes, if you have to ask, you can’t afford them, which, sheesh, we already knew that, didn’t we!?!

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The 3 Other Precious Gemstones In The Raw

Recently I wrote a blog about raw rubies before they are cut, polished and turned into jewelry. Today I’m posting images of the 3 other precious gemstones in the raw. When we visualize gemstones, mostly we see them as the sparklers they become after craftsmen and jewelers get their hands on them like the above Harry Winston diamond ring. Not how them start or grow in nature, but how they are finished, right? So let's look at a few images of gemstones as they are found in nature.

I. Diamonds are a single element. Formula: C. A diamond is an allotrope of the element carbon. Its structure is a rigid three-dimensional lattice where each carbon atom is bonded to four other carbon atoms in a tetrahedral arrangement. A diamond’s atoms are arranged in a crystal structure called a diamond cubic. The gemstone rates a 10 on Mohs Hardness Scale. BTW: Graphite, charcoal, and diamond are all allotropes of the element carbon.

⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧

The Aga Khan Emerald brooch and the Chalk Emerald ring

II. Emeralds - are beryls, a mineral. Its formula, Be3Al2(SiO3)6, is colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium. On Mohs Hardness Scale emeralds rate an 8. They were formed under the most violent of geologic conditions, which is why less than 1% of the world’s emeralds are eye clean. Unlike diamonds, inclusions and surface breaking fissures called  jardins are common and accepted in emerads. 

⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧

The Swedish royal family's Leuchtenberg Sapphire tiara and an unheated Kashmir 9.38 sapphire ring sold by Christie’s

III. Sapphires - are a variety of the mineral corundum. Its formula, α-Al2O3 consists of the elements aluminum oxide with trace amounts of iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. Sapphires register a 9 on Mohs Hardness scale. Blue is the most in demand color. When sapphires are yellow, orange, purple, pink, or green they are called fancy sapphires. When corundrms are red, they are rubies, not sapphires.

Gemstones take millions of years for the Earth to produce, or nowadays they can be grown in a lab, but it takes the artistry of human hands to turn these majestic crystals, beryls, and corundums into gorgeous pieces of jewelry. The next time you see a gemstone think of its journey and how many hands went into crafting it into a thing of beauty.

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#Shorts: Jeweler Terry Quinn's 5 Ways to Save On Lab Grown Diamonds

As stated again and again on THE SAVVY SHOPPER, lab-grown diamonds are physically, chemically, and optically the same as natural (mined) diamonds. Nowadays the process of growing diamonds in a lab has gotten so good that jewelers and customers alike can't tell them apart. If diamonds are grown in a lab, it must be stated so on the diamond because it is so difficult to tell them apart.

Note that lab-grown diamonds cost far less than natural diamonds and therefore don't have the resale value but you should never buy diamonds as an investment anyway as you'll rarely if ever get what you paid for them. Diamonds are a luxury purchase, things of beauty, not an investment.

Today I'm sharing a YouTube video by a jeweler who has a brick-and-mortar store in Woodbridge, Virginia. Jeweler Terry Quinn expertly explains how to save money when selecting diamonds. Today's tips focus exclusively on buying lab-grown diamonds detailing his 5 tips on saving the most money when buying them. Worth a listen as I can't summarize his professional advice any more succinctly. (Remember jewelers must look at and buy a lot of diamonds to have stock for their customers.)

The first tip I learned from Terry today is to go with IGI ratings when buying lab-grown diamonds and GIA ratings when buying natural-grown diamonds. IGI and GIA are both reputable diamond grading institutions that use advanced technology and skilled gemologists to certify diamonds but until the perception changes GIA is still the most trusted for natural diamonds. GIA grades fewer lab-grown diamonds than IGI. Lab-grown diamonds will be more expensive and the selection of diamonds less if rated by GIA.

A 2nd tip I learned today was the 2 ways of creating lab diamonds CVD (chemical vapor deposition) and HPHT (high pressure high temperature) have caught up with each other. Both methods are effective in creating high-quality, authentic diamonds, identical to those found in nature. Until recently HPHT lab-created diamonds were whiter and they continue to cost more because of perception leading to their greater demand.

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The Rose Diamond Bandeau

Queen Mary of Denmark has a new tiara! The Danish royal family has the tradition of preserving its history by repurposing old jewelry that is no longer worn into new contemporary pieces, and this is what Queen Mary did when commissioning her new tiara. It joins Denmark's Crown Jewels.

Called the Rose Diamond Bandeau, the new Danish tiara features rose-cut natural diamonds that were once part of a diamond girdle (or belt) owned by Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark (1706 - 1782), daughter of Frederick IV. Suffice it to say nobody wears a diamond girdle anymore, but royals still wear tiaras and crowns for coronations, royal weddings, and state banquets. 

Old Diamond Cuts including the Rose and Old Mine Cuts

The effect created by cutting gemstones has changed over time with the advancement of new tools. Rose-cut diamonds are an old style of diamond-cutting by hand that has been replaced by today's brilliant-cut diamonds to enhance a gemstone's sparkle. Unlike brilliant-cut diamonds, rose-cut diamonds lack a pointy bottom pavilion. Instead, they have a flatter bottom and feature a dome crown of only 3 to 24 facets, which is fewer than the brilliant-cut's 57 to 58 facets. A rose-cut diamond is meant to glow under candlelight in lieu of flashing all over the room. Often it is described as a romantic cut of diamond.

The photos I've uploaded here are courtesy of the Royal Danish House and Royal Danish Collection. The above image on the left shows us the original girdle. Here's a link to explain more about the history of the piece and the process of changing it into a tiara if you're interested in knowing the details.

The images of Queen Mary of Denmark show her premiering her new Rose Diamond Bandeau in December 2024 at a State Dinner for Egypt. 

The press has mentioned how the mounting of the Rose Diamond Bandeau is similar to the Dutch Diamond Bandeau, a favorite tiara of Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. The Dutch Diamond Bandeau tiara, once a Queen's necklace, has its own history. As it turns out, its giant diamonds are old mine-cut diamonds in contrast to the Danish tiara's rose-cut diamonds. 

Brilliant, Rose, and Old Mine Cut Diamonds

BTW, a bandeau tiara is defined as a hairpiece comprised of a single row of gemstones. Usually, the bottoms of diamonds are enclosed, not exposed as in other styles of tiaras.

Queen vs Commoner🙂 As an ordinary person who doesn't host or attend state dinners, a bandeau tiara reminds me of a row of diamonds on a tennis bracelet. For sure a single row of big ole diamonds is lovely in all forms of jewelry!

Well done, Queen Mary.😍

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