Bloom Filter: Messika’s Where Love Blooms 2024 Collection

Love is like a blossoming flower, delicate and radiant, and Messika Jewellery has captured its essence in their enchanting 2024 collection, “Where Love Blooms.” Known for their exceptional craftsmanship and innovative designs, Messika has once again unveiled a collection that celebrates the beauty and power of love. Drawing inspiration from nature’s most captivating blooms, this collection merges elegance, femininity, and the eternal spirit of love.

It is a symphony of floral-inspired designs, where delicate petals, intricate leaves, and vibrant blooms come to life. Each piece showcases the meticulous artistry and attention to detail that Messika is renowned for. Necklaces adorned with diamond-studded flowers, bracelets resembling delicate vines, and earrings reminiscent of blooming buds evoke a sense of natural beauty and grace. These exquisite creations capture the essence of love’s blossoming journey, making them perfect expressions of affection.

In this collection, Messika combines the brilliance of diamonds with the allure of gemstones, adding a captivating touch of colour to each design. Sapphires, emeralds and rubies are carefully selected and intricately set, enhancing the delicate beauty of the floral motifs. The vibrant hues of the gemstones symbolize love’s kaleidoscope of emotions, evoking passion, devotion, and joy. Together with the dazzling diamonds, they create an enchanting interplay of light and colour, making each piece a true work of art.

Awe Opera: Buccellati Opera – Icona Collections

The Buccellati Opera Icona Collections encompass a wide range of jewellery pieces including rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and brooches. These designs are inspired by various elements found in nature, such as flowers, leaves and animals, which are intricately translated into exquisite jewellery forms.

While we adore the four-point Opera Tulle motif, The Buccellati Opera collection is always incorporating fresh and fascinating twists – crafted in 18K gold and adorned with luminous diamond details to create breathtaking masterpieces that are admired around the world.

A testament to the brand’s commitment to timeless beauty, exceptional craftsmanship and artistic expression, each piece is a wearable work of art, meticulously created to be cherished for generations.

Red Ringer: Embracing Luck and Fortune – The resplendence of red jewelleries in Chinese New Year celebrations

As the vibrant hues of red fill the air, and the streets come alive with the sound of firecrackers, it can only mean one thing — the Chinese New Year is upon us. This auspicious occasion, steeped in rich traditions and symbolism, holds special significance for millions around the world. Among the many customs associated with this joyous festival is the belief in the power of red jewellery to bring luck and fortune. In Chinese culture, the colour red holds profound symbolism. It is believed to embody energy, happiness, and good fortune. Red is associated with the Chinese zodiac sign of the Dragon, which is highly revered and considered a symbol of power and prosperity. This vibrant colour is thought to ward off evil spirits and attract positive energy, making it an integral part of the festive atmosphere.

The deep red hues of rubies, garnets, and red agates are particularly favored, as they represent vitality and abundance. These gemstones amplify the positive energies of the wearer and provide a stunning accessory to complement traditional Chinese attire.

Buccellati ring

Buccellati bracelet

Buccellati necklace

Chopard bangle

Chopard earrings

Chopard ring

Chopard necklace

Chopard ring

Chopard ring

Chopard earrings

Chopard earrings

Chopard necklace

Pink Layer: The allure of rose gold is its timeless elegance for modern tastes

In the realm of jewellery, few trends have captivated the hearts of fashion-forward individuals quite like rose gold. With its warm and romantic hue, it has become a symbol of modern elegance and sophistication. Whether adorning rings, bracelets or necklaces, this exquisite metal has a timeless allure that effortlessly combines tradition and contemporary style.

Also known as pink gold or red gold, this colour of jewellery has a rich history dating back to the early 19th century. Initially popularized in Russia, the captivating alloy gained widespread recognition during the Art Nouveau period. Combining the lustrous beauty of gold with a touch of copper, rose gold exhibits a delicate blush hue that sets it apart from other precious metals. Its unique colour imparts a warmth and femininity that adds a distinctive charm to any piece of jewellery.

As trends come and go, rose gold remains a steadfast symbol of sophistication and modern style, ensuring its place as a cherished treasure for generations to come.

MIKIMOTO ring

MIKIMOTO necklace

MIKIMOTO earrings

Chaumet necklace

Cartier ring

Cartier necklace

Cartier earrings

Chaumet ring

Chaumet ring

Buccellati bangle

Buccellati earrings

Buccellati ring

Chaumet cuff

Buccellati bracelet

Amazing Lots Under the Hammer

The latest auctions produced a slew of multi-million-dollar bids for some amazing items including a magnificent fancy vivid blue diamond, a fearsome Ferrari, a sensuous Sanyu and some valuable whisky.

Royal Blue

Flawless diamond sets year record

A recent jewellery auction in Geneva produced a slew of huge prices, and topping the lot was a magnificent internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond set in a ring. Sold for a gargantuan US$44 million (about HK$343.4 million), it represented the highest price achieved by a jewel at auction in 2023. The superb stone, known as ‘The Bleu Royal’, was the highlight of Christie’s autumn Luxury Week, which amassed sales totalling US$140 million.

An intense bidding war took place to secure the gem, which eventually went to a private collection for the first time in 40 years. The whopping 17.61-carat fancy vivid blue pear-shaped brilliant- cut diamond is set in platinum and 18-carat rose gold and flanked by two pear-shaped brilliant-cut white diamonds of 3.12 and 3.07 carats, with all three stones internally flawless.

The Bleu Royal is the largest internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond ever put up for auction. Christie’s jewellery expert Max Fawcett shared that it excited collectors from all over the world because of its long list of attributes, particularly the deep, rich blue colour that endows it with a unique quality.

Whisky Allure

60 Year Old Scotch stirs collector

Considered the world’s most valuable whisky, a bottle of The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 created a buzz in the auction room at Sotheby’s in London. Bottled in 1986, the 60 Year Old elixir numbered just 40 bottles, and every time one comes up for auction whisky connoisseurs worldwide wish to raise their hands and their glasses. This most recent prize – one of 12 bearing a label designed by the Italian painter – fetched £2.18 million (about HK$21.6 million), almost three times the pre-sale low estimate of £750,000.

The appeal among collectors was enhanced by the fact that Sotheby’s worked directly with The Macallan to recondition and authenticate the bottle – the first time this vintage has undergone reconditioning prior to being auctioned. This process involved replacing both the capsule and the cork, applying new glue to the corners of the labels and taking a 1ml sample to test against another 1926 bottle at the Glasgow office of Edrington, owner of the brand.

Sotheby’s spirits specialist Jonny Fowle believes this was the most desiraxble bottle of whisky ever to come to market. He says: “The Macallan 1926 is the one whisky that every auctioneer wants to sell and every collector wants to own.”

Nude Nature

Sensual Sanyu arouses intense bidding

A seminal Chinese modern painting led Christie’s evening sale of 20th and 21st-century art, with a packed Hong Kong saleroom witnessing the 1929 masterpiece change hands for an astonishing HK$187 million (about US$24 million). Femme nue sur un tapis (Nude on Tapestry) by Chinese-French artist Sanyu generated an electric atmosphere and such was the fierce competition that the auction attracted international participation from 24 countries. It was a bidder in the room, however, who landed this historically important work.

Born in Sichuan to a family who made their fortune in the silk business, Sanyu moved to Paris as a student in 1921 and is often hailed as the Chinese Matisse. Nude on Tapestry was his first major nude painting and it depicts Kiki de Montparnasse, a popular muse for the era’s avant-garde artists, in a style that reflects his mastery of calligraphy.

The valuable oil on canvas was entrusted to Christie’s from the prestigious Dreyfus Collection. A spokesperson for the auction house indicated that the outstanding result shows the resilience of the market and the enduring demand for Chinese modern art.

Red Racer

Fearsome Ferrari roars into history

A coveted Ferrari 250 GTO from 1962 was sold in New York by RM Sotheby’s for US$51.7 million, making it the most expensive of the marque ever to go under the hammer. It also whizzed into the record books by achieving the second-highest price for a car at auction – top honour here goes to a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé.

The whopping figure paid for this Ferrari is due in no small way to the 38 years of fastidious care lavished upon it by its previous owners, and the fact that this beautiful motor has a rich and distinctive history. It was the only GTO Tipo 1962 to race under the flag of the company’s own Scuderia Ferrari team. At the 1962 Nürburgring 1,000 km, it chalked up a class win and a second overall finish, before being driven by Mike Parkes and Lorenzo Bandini at the 24 Hour Le Mans. Three years later, it was the runner-up in the Sicilian Hillclimb Championship.

One of its former owners was the chairman of the Ferrari Club of America, and the sale came with a detailed documented history of the car, including copies of factory build sheets, owner’s correspondence, period of racing coverage and magazine feature articles.

Opera Genre Studies

The Multiverse of Buccellati Opera High Jewellery Collections

OPERA TULLE

Opera Tulle is a collection by Buccellati that combines the tradition of ancient goldsmithing techniques with the originality and beauty of its design. The collection includes rings, sautoirs, flexible bracelets, pendant and button earrings, all featuring the radial tulle layer, a hallmark of most precious Buccellati creations. The logo element is set with semi-precious stones, coloured enamels, or left unset to exalt the transparency and lightness of the tulle workmanship.

Embellishing dates back to the goldsmithing tradition of the Greeks and Romans, but it developed significantly during Byzantine art. Buccellati revives the traditions of enamelling and uses them to create a new decorative element full of charm and elegance. Gold is covered with a homogenous layer of enamel, successively cooked and fixed to the metal surface. The tulle decoration, one of Buccellati’s signatures, enshrines coloured enamel and stones and brings an iconic touch.

Truly, it is a collection with a great personality and an unmistakable style, reflecting the prestige, elegance, and femininity typical of each Buccellati piece, making the brand synonymous with style and timeless beauty worldwide.

OPERA MAXI

Next, in keeping with the Maison’s purest style, Buccellati designed the Opera Maxi line, which is a magnified version of the logo element paired with the customary tulle workmanship.

It makes a bold statement without sacrificing discretion or elegance. A central diamond is an option, as well as borders with or without diamonds.

OPERA GALILEO

The Galileo pendant, dedicated to Galileo Galilei, is a symbol of his genius and creativity, a key figure in the scientific revolution. It creates movement like stars in the cosmos, vibrating and rotating with great plasticity. The pendant is composed of concentric logo elements in alternating gold colours, rotating along an axis to create volume. Available in two versions with or without diamonds, the pendant confirms traits of great personality and unmistakable style, typical characteristics of the Buccellati Maison.

The Wild Side: Inventive and artistic, jewellers across the globe are taking the animalistic approach

From ancient gold jewellery to contemporary gems, we have been attempting to capture the beauty of the natural world in our art and ornaments for thousands of years. Animals have served as a source of inspiration for artists, who have discovered materials that may hold the key to their creation’s mystery in stunning stones and rare metals. Our understanding of our own natures is shaped by these projections, which allude to our ancestry and the transition from nature to culture.

The urge to interpret animals as symbols is related to our understanding of what it means to be human and this comprehension links historical works of art and societies. Animal representations served as allegories, artistic inspirations, or emblems of creation, supporting widely-held myths or beliefs. Through the use of wild animals as intermediates, these animal images help us to comprehend the interactions between humans and nature, as demonstrated by top jewellery houses like Cartier, Buccellati and Chopard.

Chopard bracelet

Boucheron ring

Tiffany & Co. earring

Boucheron bracelet

Buccellati brooch

Cartier necklace

Cartier ring

Tiffany & Co. bracelet

Tiffany & Co. earring

Cartier necklace

Boucheron ring

Buccellati brooch

Under the hammer – Fab Four Auction Sales

Four breathtaking slots that wowed bidders at recent auctions are highlighted. These include a gorgeous vivid coloured diamond, a beautiful gilt-bronze monkey, a fantastic Ferrari and a landscape masterpiece.

Blue Beauty: Vivid coloured diamond takes bidders’ fancy

A famous blue diamond worn at the 2023 Met Gala by actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas instigated an intense bidding war at Sotheby’s, propelling the final price to balloon above US$25 million (HK$196 million). Laguna Blu, a rare pear-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond of 11.16 carats, had headlined a Bulgari high-jewellery necklace at the gala, but it was auctioned in Geneva as the original ring designed by the Italian jeweller in 1979, set between tapered baguette diamond shoulders.

The exceptional value of a vivid blue diamond reflects, in part, the extraordinary circumstances of their creation. These stones are formed deep below the earth’s mantle, and the disturbance of the crystal lattice is critical in determining their colour. Any traces of boron within the pure carbon structure of the diamond will result in varying shades of blue – enough boron in the stone and the diamond attains the highly prized ‘vivid’ category. Less than 1% of stones achieve this colour, and fewer still have no tint of another colour as coloured diamonds often show some kind of tint of another colour. The price the diamond achieved at auction is an indication of its rareness.

Bronze Prize: Million-pound monkey sitting pretty

A beautiful gilt-bronze monkey by François-Xavier Lalanne fetched £1.25 million (about HK$12.3 million) at auction in London with bidders stirred by the rare opportunity to obtain one of the French sculptor’s iconic animals. Singe Alternatif SIII was created in 2007, a year before Lalanne’s death, and was one of two Singe (Monkey) figures up for auction at Christie’s – his Singe Alternatif SIV realised just over £1 million.

Animal motifs were integral to Lalanne’s art and formed a substantial part of his oeuvre. Their symbolism captivated him, and he was particularly enamoured with the sheep and the monkey, which he would depict far from their natural habitats. His Singes, smiling serenely, sit atop tables and mantelpieces.

Lalanne developed a love for sculpture as a young man when, as a security guard at the Louvre, he would wander the Antiquities galleries and study the statuary of Ancient Egypt. It was from works like The Seated Scribe and Toth as a Baboon that he gained knowledge and inspiration which undoubtedly shaped his sculptural vocabulary. Only two gilt-bronze pairs of Singes have previously been offered at auction, once in 2020 and again in 2022.

Street Art: Camden crescent masterpiece a big hit

A new auction record for a work by figurative painter Frank Auerbach was set at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary evening sale in London. Mornington Crescent sold for £5.6 million (about HK$55 million), comfortably surpassing its high estimate of £4.5 million.

Painted in 1969, Mornington Crescent is considered one of Auerbach’s most epic and ambitious landscape works. At 101.4 cm by 152 cm, it is also one of his largest and is firmly rooted in both a geographical and psychological sense of place – in this case, the street in Camden, north London, where the artist has his studio. Scaffold-like bars of paint form rigid structures dramatically conveying a recreated image of the urban environment.

The 92-year-old Berlin-born British painter had a good evening at the ‘Britain’s Visionaries’ auction. All three of his works up for grabs exceeded their estimates: besides the lively bidding that Mornington Crescent sparked, E.O.W. on her Blue Eiderdown VII fetched £4.5 million and J.Y.M. Seated II went for £1.1 million. He has long been fascinated by the subject of Mornington Crescent and the housing developments which started in the 1820s.

Horse Power: Rare Ferrari races to auction record

The sale of a 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta was a major coup for Bonhams Cars, notching up a whopping US$30.25 million (about HK$237 million). About 1,000 people jostled in the Quail Lodge & Golf Club grounds in Carmel, California, for the best view of a racing car that became the fourth most valuable Ferrari sold at auction and raked in the highest-ever price for Bonhams’ motoring division.

Part of its appeal was undoubtedly its rarity – only two 412Ps were built from scratch. Furthermore, a nine-year-long renovation project restored this beautiful vehicle to its original glory so it could hit the open road. “Thanks to its devoted lineage of owners and the stewardship of its seller, the 412P stands as an enduring piece of art that honours the Ferrari legacy,” commented Bonhams specialist Rupert Banner.

The car has a strong racing history, roaring to third-place finishes in 1967 at Le Mans and the 1000 km of Spa, and seventh spot at Brands Hatch. The following year, it triumphed at the Norisring Nuremberg 200, Solituderennen and Swedish Grand Prix. The car comes with a 5-speed manual transmission and 4-wheel disc brakes.

Fur Ever Diamond: A memorial gemstone created after a beloved pet’s passing keeps their memory alive

Pets hold a special place in our hearts, and their unconditional love brings immense joy to our lives. When they pass away, we are inconsolable. There is a way, however, for owners to treasure their pets beyond the grave – through a pet memorial diamond. Set in jewellery, these exquisite sparkling mementos not only celebrate the bond shared with a furry friend but also serve as a tangible reminder of their cherished presence even after they are gone.

A memorial diamond is a diamond created from carbon extracted from cremated ashes, hair or a combination of ashes and hair. Since it serves to immortalise the memory of a loved one, Hong Kong pet owners have wholeheartedly embraced this trend, recognising the value of preserving the emotional connection with their companions in a refined and tangible manner.

As cremation diamonds have become a burgeoning industry around the world including Hong Kong, numerous retailers have sprung up to cater to the demand for these precious jewellery keepsakes. Local jewellery shops are also offering specialised collections and bespoke services to meet the diverse needs of pet owners.

Algordanza

Established in Switzerland in 2004, Algordanza has steadily become a global enterprise. Its name, which stems from the Rhaeto-Romanic word for ‘remembrance’, is a fitting title for a company that is dedicated to preserving the special memories of a lost loved one in a unique way. They need 300 to 400 grams of your pet’s ashes or 11 grams of their fur, which is sent to their Swiss labs where experts begin the process of extracting pure carbon to create a diamond.

Algordanza’s Swiss-made cremation diamonds are 100% crafted from a pet’s ashes or hair – no extra carbon is sourced or artificial colouring added. Delivery takes from four to nine months depending on the complexity of the design.

Heart In Diamond

Natural diamonds must grow for more than one billion years deep under the Earth’s crust, but fortunately, you don’t need to wait for this long to receive your unique memorial gemstone. At Heart In Diamond, it takes only from 75 to 120 days on average to produce a customised cremation diamond. This production time is one of the fastest in the market, and their prices are relatively affordable, too.

Founded in 2005 in the UK, Heart In Diamond’s vision is to help people all around the world by producing a true and lasting reminder of a loved one. The expert team extracts carbon from an original sample (whether it’s hair, ashes or an alternative organic material) and adds it to the diamond core foundation. Shortly after, the foundation is placed in an HPHT (High Pressure, High Temperature) machine that recreates, in the lab, the process of natural diamond creation with the help of extreme temperatures of 2,000°C and pressure levels of 60,000 atmospheres.

Prices start from HK$8,000 for 0.03 carats and rise to HK$156,000 for a two-carat stone. en.heart-in-diamond.hk

Petmento

Hong Kong-based pet memorial diamond venture Petmento emphasises simplicity when communicating with clients. Each item is then crafted accordingly with skilful devotion to the finest detail and the highest possible standard, creating gemstones or other mementos such as ornaments that keep alive the memory of a pet. The animal’s image or silhouette can be incorporated into some designs.

Specialists in their Hong Kong workshop first use a unique technology to purify the ashes by removing unwanted substances. At least 10 grams of ashes are required, and these are homogenised with biogenic ingredients and fused at a temperature of more than 800°C into ash gems. Natural stone colours include white, grey and green, while occasionally the fusion produces a darker hue. Petmento’s Rainbow collection provides a spectrum of colours to choose from.

Prices start from HK$6,500. / Prices for gemstones start from HK$7,800 or $11,800 for a pendant. petmento.hk

Lonité

For pet owners who want to go the extra mile to preserve memories of their furry friends, Lonité could be the answer. Their memorial journey started in a small town near the Swiss Alps, a 25-minute train ride south of Zürich, where the company founders harnessed advancements in lab-grown diamond techniques to turn ashes into diamonds.

The name ‘Lonité’ originates from ‘longévité’ in Swiss French and nods to the precious timelessness of their lab-grown creations. Today, they offer 10 options of diamond cut and five colour choices. The most popular colour is amber, which is also the most basic. Their Naturally Amber shade is achieved from ashes with no added micro-elements or special technical treatments, hence the production costs and creation time are lower. Owners generally request that the ash diamond is set in a ring, or perhaps a pendant or a pair of earrings, so they can keep their pet who has passed close to them at all times.

Prices start from about HK$13,000 for .25 carats and increase to $180,000 for a three-carat diamond. lonite.com.hk

In a world where pets hold such significant places in our lives, pet diamond mementos have become more than just jewellery – they embody love, companionship and the enduring bond between humans and their most faithful companions.

Peri Projectors

Create the prettiest new addition to your jewellery collection using peridot.

The mineral olivine, which naturally has an olive-green colour, is what gives Peridot its gem-quality status; however, it has a distinctive lime-green hue that truly plays up the current dopamine-dressing trend. High-quality resources, which were only recently discovered in China but were originally discovered on an island in the Red Sea, have sparked a peridot-jewellery explosion.

Peridots were the height of fashion in the Victorian era and are said to banish nightmares and bring luck. They were known as the Evening Emerald by the ancient Romans, believed to glow in the dark by the early Egyptians and adored by King Edward VII.

Don’t let the stone’s lime-green colour deter you; modern jewellers have demonstrated how its acidic tones can be tastefully complemented with other stones, especially diamonds and pearls, as shown by Chaumet, Buccellati and Mikimoto, amongst many others.