Tag: De Beers

Women’s Resilience: As tough as natural diamond

In times of challenges, Female Entrepreneurs Worldwide (FEW), together with Gafencu and De Beers, worked together to interview several influential women who can inspire us to shine bright, no matter how dark the shadows sometimes seem. We believe that the strength of a woman’s spirit is as resilient as that of a natural diamond itself, born through hard work and under intense pressure.

Women's Resilience As tough as natural diamond gafencu total circle alison chan el azar
Alison Chan El Azar wears Portraits of Nature by De Beers High Jewellery Collection

Alison Chan El Azar
HK Influencer

Alison didn’t always know what she wanted in life, but she knows that she can do something big, something important. She is always working to be a better version of herself – just like a natural diamond – when it’s polished and incorporated into a piece of jewellery, it will transform into a truly one-of-a-kind piece.

Read more here. 

Women's Resilience As tough as natural diamond gafencu total circle victoria tang-owen Thirty30 creative
Victoria Tang-Owen wears De Beers Jewellers’ Enchanted Lotus High Jewellery Collection

Victoria Tang-Owen
Founder of Thirty30 Creative & Victoria Tang Studio

Victoria understands that “starting a business is tough, especially being a women-owned business. It takes courage and discipline.” I like the touch and feel of rough diamonds, understated yet powerful. Just like in life, some things do not have to be polished or perfect. 

Read more here. 

Women's Resilience As tough as natural diamond gafencu total circle ruth chao RCS
Ruth Chao wears De Beers Jewellers’ Ellesmere Treasure High Jewellery Collection

Ruth Chao
Founder of RCS

“We are what we think. We become what we do. Creating for businesses with positive impact and meaningful causes is what fuels my fire of creativity.” The strength of Ruth is like the stunning diamond jewellery she is wearing – rare, finite, and extremely difficult to find.”

Read more here. 

Women's Resilience As tough as natural diamond gafencu total circle diana chou
Diana Chou wears De Beers Jewellers’ Portraits of Nature High Jewellery Collection

Diana Chou
Chairman of Dragon General Aviation Group (DGA)

Diana Chou, the founder and Chairman of Dragon General Aviation Group, (DGA), has over time been a strong leader and mentor for up and coming female entrepreneurs. “When you see a natural diamond, you don’t know its brilliance until you have to shape it, polish it, before it will shine. This is just like a woman going through life, and they need to be polished before they can shine”.

Read more here. 

10 Tips to invite successful people to be your mentor

Diana Chou is the founder and chairman of Dragon General Aviation Group (DGA) while Anna Wong and Ines Gafi are founders of Female Entrepreneurs Worldwide (FEW). Diana also sits on the board of directors of FEW from the early years and she always shared with them that sometimes we  need to experience setbacks in order to learn and grow – it’s like a caterpillar that undergoes a transformational process to become a butterfly.

Anna: “Diana is a wonderful mentor because she shares her life, experiences, and struggles. She let me see how she manages the ups and downs in her life. She invites me to her business meetings and friends gatherings. She let me see how she runs things.”

Ines: “Diana is a great inspiration, as she inspires us to pay it forward and mentor other younger women. And we are constantly looking for more great business and corporate leaders to mentor our members.”

Also read: Women’s Resilience: As tough as natural diamonds

10 Tips to invite successful people to be your mentor

  1. Do not look like a helpless and miserable young woman.
  2. Dress “one level up” – if you are just a manager, you could dress like a future director in the office; If you’re an entrepreneur, please dress like a successful entrepreneur.
  3. Show them that you have the talent to do it through your work ethic and achievements.
  4. Sell your passion and bring in positive energy to people’s life. 
  5. Demonstrate you’re doing something to drive a positive impact in society, as they want to give back to the society too.
  6. Be genuine. You get to truly love the people you’re with. Try not to make friends with people because of their status or money.
  7. Invite them to a coffee meeting. Tell them sincerely about what you admire about them and want to learn from them.
  8. Join platforms like FEW or other business associations based on your needs.
  9. Say thank you or send a gift for their guidance and trust in you.
  10. No need to rush into any relationship. You also need to know that if you can work and communicate well with the person who’s goingto help guide you.

 

Read more from other inspirational female entrepreneurs in Hong Kong…

Women’s Resilience: As tough as natural diamond- Ruth Chao

Women's Resilience As tough as natural diamond gafencu total circle ruth chao RCS
Ruth Chao, Founder of RCS, wears De Beers Jewellers’ Ellesmere Treasure High Jewellery Collection

“I’m fascinated by depth, creativity, love”

The turning points that created the life I have Today:

  • When I quixotically applied to the art department of British Vogue 13 years
    ago that kickstarted my creative career.
  • When I co-founded my first company with Antonia Li at the age of 25 that
    began my entrepreneurial path.
  • When I founded my second company at the age of 30 to keep building the
    creative dream.
  • Each turning point in my life stemmed from moments of courage.

3 practical ways I improved my confidence:

  • Choose to believe in the positive.
  • Trust in the process.
  • Let myself to just simply be.

Top 3 things I do to motivate myself

  • Appreciate the past.
  • Daydream about the future.
  • Enjoy the present.

 

Also read: Women’s Resilience: As tough as natural diamonds

 

Read more from other inspirational female entrepreneurs in Hong Kong…

Women’s Resilience: As tough as natural diamond- Victoria Tang-Owen

Women's Resilience As tough as natural diamond gafencu total circle victoria tang owen
Victoria Tang-Owen, Founder of Thirty30 Creative & Victoria Tang Studio, wears De Beers Jewellers’ Enchanted Lotus High Jewellery Collection

“I adapt very easily. I can be comfortable in any sort
of situation you put me into”

Two important men in my life…

  • I was working for my father and was always overshadowed by him, and not allowed to cry in front of him. He said: “Excuses are just excuses. Fix it. Face it.” I had to constantly prove my creative output to him. All of  these make me stronger Today.
  • My husband is left-brained, strategic and business-minded — a great planner. We complement each other so well in each single aspect, which is beautiful.

Starting a business is tough, how I did it..

  • Have a genuine passion for what you do, not falling into habits of working simply to work.
  • Commit to it 100%. If you don’t believe in it, no one does. Stand on your own feet.
  • Find the right partner and people for you to work and surround yourself.
  • “You are what you give, not what you are given” is what I was told in my early adult life.

 

Also read: Women’s Resilience: As tough as natural diamonds

 

Read more from other inspirational female entrepreneurs in Hong Kong…

Women’s Resilience: as tough as natural diamond- Alison Chan El Azar

Women's Resilience As tough as natural diamond gafencu total circle alison chan el azar
Hong Kong Influencer Alison Chan El Azar wears Portraits of Nature by De Beers High Jewellery Collection

“I’m adventurous, determined, and spontaneous”

Alison didn’t always know what she wanted in life, but she knows that she can do something big, something important. She is always working to be a better version of herself – just like a natural diamond – when it’s polished and incorporated into a piece of jewellery, it will transform into a truly one-of-a-kind piece.

My Struggles:

  • I was feeling dark and lost in my teenage years, as my parents got divorced…
  • Thinking how to transition to the next chapter in my life and conquer the fears.
  • Give up other aspects of my life for being a full-time mom and my kids.
  • Who am I outside of mom, outside of my kids?

How I conquer my hard times:

  • It’s okay to feel lost and have doubt in certain stages of your life.
  • Waking up every day feeling motivated is just unrealistic. Do not pretend everything is alright.
  • You don’t need to be perfect or a billionaire.
  • It’s all about accepting where you’re at. 
  • Exercise and be grateful.

What I’m looking for now:

  • I believe I can do something.
  • I look for something on the side besides being a mom.
  • I want to live a happy and simple life with purpose.

 

Also read: Women’s Resilience: As tough as natural diamonds

 

Read more from other inspirational female entrepreneurs in Hong Kong…

A dazzling De Beers blue diamond sells for HK$451 million at auction

An exquisite vivid blue diamond – The De Beers Cullinan Blue – has sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for HK$451 million (US$57.5 million). This is just shy of the current record for a blue diamond, achieved in 2016 when The Oppenheimer Blue (14.62 carats), sold for US$57,541,779.

De Beers blue diamond gafencu
The DeBeers Cullinan Blue, photo courtesy of Sotheby’s Hong Kong

A vigorous eight-minute bidding war ensued between four diamond lovers eager to secure the 15.1-carat prize took the price well above the HK$380 million reserve with the precious gem going to a telephone bidder. Possessing exceptional clarity, it is the biggest internally vivid blue diamond that the Gemological Institute of America has ever graded. Blue diamonds of such dimensions are incredibly rare, with only five 10-carat-plus examples having reached auction previously – none of which have exceeded 15 carats, making the existence of this peerless gem truly unique.

De Beers blue diamond gafencu

“The (diamond) captivated me from the moment I laid eyes on it. With its powerful vivid colour, and breathtakingly beautiful cut, it is truly a once-in-a-generation stone, and quite simply the greatest blue diamond of its size I have ever seen during my 31-year-career,” said Patti Wong, Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia of the sale.

Read our previous story on Blue Diamonds: A look at the world’s stunning coloured gems.

The sensual dual-appeal of transformable jewellery

Since the early days of the last century, transformable jewellery has been the staple of many of the world’s foremost luxury brands. This has seen such luminaries as Cartier, Chaumet and Van Cleef & Arpels create some of the most technically complex items in their long histories.

Boucheron New Maharajah transformable necklace
Boucheron New Maharajah transformable necklace

While popularised in the 20th century, such items first appeared almost 100 years ago, at a time when such inventive jewellery was strictly the province of royalty. With many weighty items worn solely on specific occasions, it fell to a number of regally-approved jewellers to tweak several royal favourites, allowing them to be worn across a variety of different engagements.

Cartier Imperio transformable necklace
Cartier Imperio transformable necklace

This saw items created with mix-and-match reassembly as a fundamental part of the design. It was a conceit that was soon to enter the mainstream. With the aid of clips, clasps and brackets, today’s jewellery-adept buyers can easily transform a large item into several complementary smaller ones, frequently cross-matching them with other styles or marques.

Van Cleef & Arpels ZIP transformable necklace

Given their facility for a chameleon-esque shift from mood to mood, occasion to occasion and role to role, it’s not difficult to see why the contemporary woman has such an affinity with these fluid adornments. After all, what better symbol could there be for her own multi-faceted engagement with the demands of 21st-century life?

Blue Diamonds: A look at the world’s stunning coloured gems

A remarkable discovery of one of the largest and most valuable blue diamonds in the world was recently unearthed and will be gracing the auction block at Sotheby’s Hong Kong this month. With much excitement expected to ensue, the De Beers Cullinan Blue Diamond, mined in 2021 in the Cullinan Mine in South Africa (one of the few sources in the world for extremely rare blue diamonds), is expected to captivate the crowd with its astonishing colour, cut, clarity and carat.

The DeBeers Cullinan Blu The most beautiful and expensive blue diamonds in the world gafencu
The DeBeers Cullinan Blu, photo courtesy of Sotheby’s

Weighing at 15.10-carat, the internally flawless, fancy vivid blue diamond will be presented to bidders on 27 April as a single-lot auction with an estimated value of more than US$48 million (HK$380 million). In the spirit of admiring this scintillating azure hue, we look back at some of the most beautiful and expensive blue diamonds that have captured the attention and heart of collectors and the world over time.  

Hope Diamond (US$250 million)

Hope Diamond The most beautiful and expensive blue diamonds in the world gafencu
Hope Diamond

The Hope Diamond, which also goes by several aliases such as, Le Bijou du Roi (The King’s Jewel), Le bleu de France (The French Blue), and the Tavernier Blue, is one of the most famous jewels in the world. Its origin dates back almost four centuries – possibly from India – and is one of the earliest mentioned blue diamonds.

Weighing at an outstanding 45.52-carat, it is classified as a type IIb diamond with a fancy dark grayish-blue clarity. The diamond had several prominent owners – which explains its name nicknames – and was well travelled before finally settling in the hands of American luxury jeweller Harry Winston in 1949. Almost decade later, the New York-based jeweller donated the gem to the National Museum of Natural History in the United States, where it remains as a permanent exhibition for all to admire.

The Blue Heart Diamond (US$60million)

The Blue Heart is a 30.62-carat, heart shape, brilliant-cut, fancy deep blue diamond that was found at the Premier Mine in South Africa in 1908, and obtained by French jeweller Pierre Cartier. It is approximately two-thirds the size of the Hope Diamond and one of the most popular blue diamonds known to the world. After several exchange of hands, the stone was sold to American business woman, socialite and philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather by previous owner American luxury jewellery Harry Winston. Merriweather was the last private owner of the diamond, who gifted the gem to the National Gem Collection in 1964. 

 

Also Read: Bloomin’ Marvellous: A cornucopia of spring-inspired jewelleries

Oppenhiemer Blue Diamond (US$58million)

Oppenheimer Blue' Diamond Sells at Auction for $57.5 Million The most beautiful and expensive blue diamonds in the world gafencu
Oppenheimer Blue Diamond, photo courtesy of Christie’s

The Oppenheimer Blue Diamond is a sensational coloured diamond ring set with a 14.62-carat fancy vivid blue rectangular-cut diamond, flanked by a pair of trapeze-shaped diamond. In the summer of 2016, it broke the record of most expensive expensive blue diamond ever sold at auction after an intense budding war that consequently ended with the ring going under the hammer for a whopping US$58 million, setting a new auction record for he most expensive blue diamond. Its name derives in honor of Sir Philip Oppenheimer, the man who previously controlled the De Beers Mining Company.   

The Blue moon of Josephine (US$48.5 million)

The Blue Moon of Josephine, previously known as the Blue Moon Diamond of South African origin, smashed records in 2015 for world auction price-per-carat for a diamond or gemstone at Sotheby’s Geneva. Selling for over US$4 million per carat, the cushion-shaped fancy vivid blue 12.03-carat diamond exchanged hands at a record-setting price of US$48.5 million. The winning bidder, none other than Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau, renamed the gem after his daughter, Josephine. The sale came just one day after the businessman purchased a rare 16.08-carat pink diamond for US$28.5 million.

 

Also Read: The sensual dual-appeal of transformable jewellery

Apollo Blue Diamond (US$41.3 million)

Apollo Blue Diamond The most beautiful and expensive blue diamonds in the world gafencu
Apollo Blue Diamond, photo courtesy of Sotheby’s

The Apollo Blue is a Fancy Vivid Blue, 14.54-carat, Internally Flawless, Type IIB diamond earring that arrived at the auction block of Sotheby’s Geneva in 2017 as a pair to the The Artemis Pink, a Fancy Intense Pink, 16.00-carat, VVS2 clarity, Type IIA earring. Together, they were billed as the most valuable pair of diamond earrings every to appear at auction. According to the auction house, both are amongst the purest of all diamonds, with “an alluring limpidity”. In 2017, an anonymous buyer outbid the crowd, exchanging the stones for US$42.1 million for the Apollo Blue and US$15.3 million for the Artemis Pink, and renamed them “The Memory of Autumn Leaves” and “The Dream of Autumn Leaves”. 

Mouawad Blue Diamond (US$40 million)

Once known as the Tereshchenko diamond, named after the prominent Russian family of the same name that once owned this Fancy Blue 49.92-carat jewel. It is the largest blue diamond in the world, following the Hope Diamond. While the precise location and date of which it was mined remains unknown, it is believed to be of Indian origin. It was first sold in 1916 prior to the Russian revolution and last sold at Christie’s Geneva to Saudi-Arabian dealer Robert Mouawad for US4.6 million, the highest price ever paid for a diamond at auction. It was then that the stone was rechristened as the Mouawad Blue Diamond.

 

Also Read: Pink Pride: Fancy pink diamond shines bright at Sotheby’s auction

Rose Hip: The lasting allure of rose gold jewellery

With spring subsiding into full on-summer sun, it’s the perfect time to review this season’s chicest hue – rose gold. This most alluring of alloys never fails to grant your skin the subtlest of blushes, ensuring you of a sun-kissed halo glow wherever you go. While, today, this unique pink shade is all the rage in haute joaillerie circles, it actually originally rose to fame some two centuries ago, largely on account of the influence Peter Carl Fabergé, that most renowned of Russian jewellers.

Image: Messika Paris Released Sun necklace; Chaumet Josephine Collection ring; Piaget Wings of Light ring; Suzanne Kalan Audrey ring; Selim Mouzannar Mina necklace; Daniela Villegas Chameleon ring; De Beers Enchanted Lotus ring

This innovative craftsman was the among the first to incorporate rose gold, at the time a somewhat novel material, into his designs, most notably in the shape of his iconic Fabergé eggs. So famous did these accessories become that the material initially came to fame as ‘Russian Gold’, before wider international use saw the current more general term adopted 

Image: Cartier Juste un Clou bracelet; Buccellati Aubade cocktail earrings; Ileana Makri Grass Seed ring; FRED ring; Repossi Antifer ring; Pomellato Fantine ring; Versace Trésor de la Mer choker

The actual colour of the material can vary from an orange-tinted yellow to a deep red depending on the ratio of yellow gold to copper, with an increased proportion of the latter bestowing more of a scarlet tinge to the alloy, Malleable to the extreme, it serves as the perfect counterpoint to a plethora of precious gemstones, as perfectly evidenced by both Piaget’s multi-hued Wings of Light ring and Versace’s ocean-inspired Trésor de la Mer necklace.

Right Dangle: Geometric jewellery greater than the sum of their parts

When Euclid, the famed classical Greek scholar, first stumbled upon the concept of geometry in ancient Athens, it was such a revolutionary breakthrough in the field of science that no subsequent feat of engineering or architecture could have been ever possible without the use of this particular mathematical discovery.

But while geometry is all but an academic pursuit for the maths-minded scholar, thankfully, the reach of geometric design has spread well beyond the groves of Academia. Not only are geometric patterns instrumental in shaping almost every possible modern structure, it suffices to say that these designs have been equally adaptable to apparel, accessories and even jewellery.

Their appeal, specifically in the world of haute joaillerie, has proved to be timeless. While outré, exceptional, eye-catching pieces are perhaps more suited to special occasions, it is the simple, classic geometric patterns of everyday jewellery that we can rely on time and again. Not only do their minimalist lines lend themselves well to every occasion, be it formal dinners or casual soirées, their basic shapes – ovals, squares, triangles – combine harmoniously to create jewellery items that are far greater than the sum of their parts.

Text: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay