Charles Taylor is under investigation for his actions and participation in blood diamonds as well as violence in the Sierra Leone area. He met Ms. Campbell at a dinner that was attended by Ms. Campbell, Mia Farrow, Quincy Jones as well as other high-end celebrities. Later in the evening it is alleged that a representative of Mr. Taylor’s gave Ms. Campbell three stones that were of unknown material. She alleges that she gave them to a friend named Jeremy Ractliffe who identified them as diamonds and kept them in his care as he was sure that Ms. Campbell could not take the illegal stones ot of the country. Originally, Ms. Campbell wanted to use the money from the sale of the stones for the Mandela Children’s Fund, but Ractliffe suggested that the sale of illegal items would be frowned upon by the public as well as the foundation, so that idea was eventually abandoned.

In the legal case of Charles Taylor, the prosecution had hoped that Ms. Campbell’s testimony would link Taylor to the illegal trade, but unfortunately the diamonds were not give to Ms. Campbell directly but by some associates of Taylor, thus making a direct link to him very difficult. Eventually, they hope to have enough evidence to convict Taylor of the crime of trading diamonds for arms, but at the moment, things are not going as well as planned and prosecutors have continued on their search for concrete evidence to convict Taylor, which may or may not eventually come from testimony from Naomi Campbell. The stones that she did receive must be analyzed first before they can pursue any other charges including those against Ractliffe, who was aware of the diamonds and where they had come from when he received them from Ms. Campbell.

How It Works

The process is not at all complex, and it resolves the age-old problem of what to do with a loved ones remains when they are cremated. Instead of using decorative earns or scattering the ashes and forgetting them, now you have the option of sending them to LifeGem who will make a diamond from as little as eight ounces of ashes or even locks of hairs.

Lifegem takes the ashes and extracts as much carbon as they can from them. The carbon is then heated up so that it can be converted to graphite. This is the basis material used in a diamond press to create a diamond under the right heat and pressure settings. What pops out is a rough diamond.

How It Compares

This man-made diamond is, of course, no comparison to real diamonds in actual value. Synthetic diamonds are typically less valuable than natural diamonds. However, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t share many of the same attributes of natural diamonds. It will have the same hardness as a diamond found in nature. They also sparkle as good as the real thing too. The impurities in the LifeGem diamond are dependent on the impurities present in the carbon derived form the ashes.

Considerations

The cost of a LifeGem diamond can vary from $3,000 to almost $20,000. However, you can ask for it to be mounted on pendants, rings, or any other form of jewelry. The most popular requests are for rings and pendants, probably due to the sentimental nature of these forms of jewelry.

Diamond size and color is limited to less than one carat and the color is variable, depending on inherent impurities in the carbon. The company touts many pleased customers who love the idea of wearing their loved one around their neck or on their finger. This is definitely a way to commemorate a strong bond and keep memories of your loved one close by. It’s also a way to hold a physical object that is a part of who they are, even when their body no longer exists.

The secondary market for diamonds under one carat has always been weak, but for diamonds made from ashes it is probably non-existent. Thus, it’s not an investment purchase, and should be based more on how much enjoyment one receives from having a piece of a loved one nearby, and not the actual money spent to convert the ashes to diamond. That is, unless you’ve managed to get a hold of Michael Jackson’s ashes and converted them into diamonds. At that point, they might be worth far more than the actual value of the diamond purchase.

This summer’s exploration was intended for the purpose of discovering new kimberlites. This endeavor has recently discovered eight new ones, six of which were located on the surface and two located by drilling. With this sort of success it is no surprise that BHP is financially supporting the exploration in hopes of obtaining a majority stake in Chidliak, as the financial outcome will be very beneficial for them in the long run. BHP will consider working towards gaining 58% of the ownership, but that won’t be discussed until later on this year.

Peregrine is also striving for a mine in Chidliak and, according to Brooke Clements, their president, already have a good chance for a mine. It is now a matter of finding out if their mine will size up to the BHP mine that has already been established. These ongoing projects and discoveries in Chidliak have confirmed to Brooke Clements that the exploration in Chidliak has started well with room for improvement. Clements went on stating that the recent discoveries prove the value of this area and their overall potential to yield large quantities of diamonds in the future. Clements believes that the experience gained from recent exploration will result in further advancements as well as the increase of exploration will result in exponential diamond finds in Chidliak and beyond.

The eight new kimberlites have brought the total number discovered during the duration of this exploration to 26. CH-19, located farthest south, extends approximately 60 kilometers in a northern direction and 40 kilometers in the eastern direction. CH-21is located roughly five kilometers from CH -19 and CH-23 through CH-26 are positioned relatively close to one another on the eastern portion of the Project. The kimberlite at CH-20 is considered similar to that of CH-6 and Ch-10. Finally, Ch-22 is considered to be a magmatic kimberlite. The samples from these kimberlite regions are all being sent to Saskatchewan Research Council for diamond examination.

It is obvious that the exploration taking place at the Chidliak Project has been quite successful thus far. The 26 kimberlites discovered there is great evidence that there is a good deal of diamonds to offset the costs of the drilling occurring at Chidliak. Peregrine Chief Executive Officer Eric Friedland is confident that the future diamonds that will be discovered will ultimately make up for the development costs.

Alrosa produces almost all of Russia’s raw uncut diamonds that are then processed into diamond rings including diamond engagement rings and various other forms of diamond jewelry. It competes with other heavyweights in the engagement rings global diamond market such as De Beers and Rio Tinto. However, the manufacturer along with many other miners all over the globe had to slow down production due to depressed demand of their diamonds during the past year, no thanks to the global slowdown. This was partly to ensure that the prices of diamonds did not crash due to the over supply of diamonds.

However, the result was that Alrosa suffered losses of immense magnitude and thus asked the Russian government to help them out during their dark days. The Russian government, headed by President Vladimir Putin and finance minister Alexei Kudrin have decided that the Russian government would step in with a bailout plan of $1 billion for the beleaguered miner. Plans are also afoot to transform the closed joint stock Alrosa into an open joint stock company although the move is yet to be approved in Yakutia’s parliament, where a majority of Alrosa diamond mines are located.

The open joint stock move if approved would allow the cash-strapped company to raise much-needed funds for further exploration and extraction of diamonds from newly discovered underground diamond fields. This step would also allow Alrosa to become much more attractive for potential financers and new shareholders. The company’s present condition and future will certainly be discussed with concern during the meeting of the 34th World Diamond Congress, which involves 29 different diamond exchanges that together account for around 98% of diamond trade conducted legally around the globe.

The $1 billion bailout will allow Alrosa to service its huge outstanding debt to a large extent even as there are hopes that the economy might recover by 2011. The Russian government would buy off $1 billion of diamonds from Alrosa as part of the deal in a bid to help the company stay afloat and also help its 15000 employees retain their jobs. Alrosa anyway exports most of its mined diamonds to several countries including the United States and a recovery in those countries would boost demand again for their diamonds in the coming days.

With the US itself caught in its own quagmire of economic depression and with jobless rates unwilling to drop dramatically, it would surely be a test of nerves for Alrosa and the Russian government to ensure that the giant diamond company does not stumble and fall under its own debt. Recent scientific studies have uncovered vast diamond fields that could result in billions of dollars of diamonds being unearthed in the near future but if demand remains sluggish then the resultant glut of diamonds in the market would only result in a crash of prices. This problem seems to be affecting other diamond giants such as De Beers too as it tries to cope with decreasing demand for real diamonds while still trying to maintain diamond prices without going under.

Alrosa might be a diamond mining company but the company also performs several social duties in Yakutia and other provinces and this has also resulted in lowering its profit margins to a great extent. These responsibilities too cannot be discarded in a hurry and this would have compelled the Russian government to step in with monetary help to help the giant recover until good times revisit the diamond industry. The past year has seen several industries around the globe buckle under economic depression such as the banking and housing sectors. The diamond industry too has faced several challenges and timely help by the Russian government to its largest diamond miner Alrosa might just be enough to allow the company to remain afloat until demand picks up again.

While diamonds might be forever, the future of diamond mining companies has certainly been put to the test in these troubled times. The World Diamond Congress too will have to think up of new ways to generate healthy sales for its mining companies and survive until bright days arrive again in their respective countries. In the meantime the Russian government too might be hoping that it does not get saddled with $1 billion worth of diamonds if its plans to resuscitate Alrosa do not produce the desired results.

The Scratch Test for testing diamonds is the oldest and most traditional. However, this test though being used often is not as accurate or reliable as once imagined. Everybody knows that a true diamond will scratch glass while an imitation cannot and therefore takes it to be a good sign of its authenticity. However, as modern technology has proved of late, there is high quality cubic zirconia that can also scratch glass. Hence this method falls short. The reason why many hesitate to use the Scratch Test is that in case the diamond is real, subjecting it to the test may cause damage and lower its value.

The Transparency Test requires you to place the stone being tested on a newspaper. If you are able to read the print clearly, it proves that the stone is a fake as cubic zirconias are transparent. Diamonds on the other hand do not allow you to read the print clearly as they are not transparent. The test however has its own limitations. The diamond should be loose and not set in a piece of jewelry, and in case the real diamond has a cut that is too shallow it will allow you to read the print more clearly. Once again, the results are therefore not really reliable or accurate.

For the Fog Test you have to hold the stone in your hand and breathe over it to fog it. If the stone gets instantly clear and the heat is dispersed instantaneously, it means that the stone is a genuine diamond (diamonds do not hold heat),  but if the stone remains foggy it proves that the stone is a cubic zirconia. It is essential to ascertain that the stone is first cleaned thoroughly of all dirt and oil before conducting this test.
If you have a carat or gram scale, you can conduct the Weight Test. To ascertain whether the diamond is real or not, purchase a similar cubic zirconia that has the same size, color, dimensions and shape. Place the stones side by side on the scale. The cubic zirconia is almost 50% heavier than the real diamond.
One of the easiest and simplest tests to conduct is the Dot Test. Diamonds reflect light through its top surface or the “table” whereas cubic zirconias being transparent reflect light in a very different manner. Draw a small dot on a white piece of paper and place the stone on the dot, face down. If it is genuine, you will only see a much distorted version of the dot as the diamond is not clear. The cubic zirconia will show a clear dot.

When placed under UV light or black light, diamonds show a blue fluorescence. 99% of imitation stones and cubic zirconia do not show fluorescent blue. However, if the diamond shows about 20% of blue fluorescence it means that it is not very valuable.

Look through a magnifying lens and conduct the Loop Test to find out the truth of your diamond. Characteristics like girdle appearance and facet joints will tell the story. A faceted and frosty girdle means that the stone is a real diamond whereas a waxy and slick girdle shows that it is a fake. In the same way rolled facet joints show that it is a fake while very sharp joints tell you that it is genuine. Other flaws like carbon, pinpoints, cracks etc will tell you that it is a genuine diamond because it is not possible to place these flaws in a fake gemstone.

Finally, to find out if your jewelry is really cubic zirconium jewelry, it pays to focus on the type of “stamp” inside the jewelry setting. If the stamp indicates that the stone is set in platinum or real gold it will have the words 10K, 18K, 585, 900, Plat etc written which tells you that the chances of the stone being real are good. Also look for the letters CZ which tells you that the stone in the center is cubic zirconia and not a diamond.

The Bahia diamond is an 840 pound chunk of rough green diamonds embedded in a chunk of granite. The size of the Bahia Emerald is roughly estimated at 4 x 4 x 4 feet, which makes it the biggest uncut emerald in the world. It is highly likely that the Bahia Emerald will not be cut for making jewelry as its value comes from its title of being the biggest uncut emerald in the world.

Although the history of the green block of wonder is still uncertain, one thing that is confirmed by all the parties involved is that the diamond was found in Brazil in 2001. The clincher of the whole story and the reason for the dispute over the diamond is that the Bahia emerald is worth a whopping sum of 400 million dollars and is without any record or proof of ownership. Furthermore, what adds to the intrigue is that the Associated Press reports that the diamond traveled all the way from Brazil to Las Vegas via New Orleans and Idaho.

As per the recent reports in the media, the Bahia diamond is all set to go back to court as its ownership is still not clear. However, it is expected that the ownership of the Bahia Emerald will be cleared in a few days as the Los Angeles judge presiding over the dispute is expected to rule soon. The last person whose legal brief was heard by Judge John Kronstadt was one Mr. Anthony Thomas, a gem merchant. The posturing and the legal pleas for the ownership of the Bahia Emerald seems to have been concluded for now, even though the case will shoot back into court in September if another claim is laid by someone not already involved in the case.

The story of Anthony Thomas is that he bought the Bahia emerald from the Brazilians after it was unearthed for a sum of 60,000 dollars in 2001. Anthony Thomas is being opposed by the three other parties who are being represented by the law firm known as Greene Broillet and Wheeler. According to releases from the lawyers of Greene Broillet and Wheeler, their clients should be granted the rightful ownership of the disputed Bahia Emerald because they obtained a valid legal title for the stone for a seven figure sum.
The ownership for the diamond, as per media reports, is up for grabs as multiple people are laying claim to it on the basis of questionable tales pertaining to how they bought it. People currently vying to get their hands on the block of granite containing multiple green diamonds include the already mentioned Anthony Thomas, a Mr. Kit Morrison, a Mr. Todd Armstrong and a Mr. Jerry Ferrara.

It is believed that the highly coveted block of granite with pieces of green diamonds was moved from Idaho to Las Vegas by Todd Armstrong who claims that he received the stone as collateral for a shipment of diamonds that he legally paid for. However, as per Todd Armstrong, the shipment failed to show up which is why he tried to sell the Bahia Emerald. It was this action of Todd Armstrong which resulted in the Las Vegas sheriff’s department becoming involved as Armstrong was trying to sell the stone without any proof of ownership. That was the last major event for the Bahia Emerald as it now sits safe, sound and comfortable in the custody of the Los Angeles sheriff’s department.

It is believed by many people that all the parties claiming the ownership of the Bahia Emerald have dubious claims and that there would need to be something extraordinary for Judge John Kronstadt to rule explicitly in any one party’s favor. Also, many people are still expecting skeletons to fall out of the closets of the claimants, as is usually the case with people involved with precious diamonds that have intriguing histories.

Rites of Passages

A divorce is a rite of passage from a coupled life into a single life again. For many people, that signifies a new reality where they can date and have a little more lifestyle freedom. All their married lives they had to wear a ring on their left-hand to signify their marriage status, and once the divorce hits it can be tough to break the habit. Depending on whether the divorce was amicable or not, they might want to keep a ring on that finger, but with some other symbolism to mark the passing of a marriage.

What to Commemorate

Amicable endings can result in a person opting for a divorce ring with sentimental symbolism. They might opt for a broken heart with a diamond in the middle. They might want to include some symbol that represents the husband, as a reminder. It can include symbolism from a joint trip taken together, or something special to their relationship. In this way, once they take off the wedding bands, they still have the divorce ring to remind them of the pleasant times they had with their ex and put a positive meaning to the separation.

For those endings that aren’t so amicable, the divorce ring is a celebration of being single again. They will want to flaunt that status and a divorce ring is a perfect way to tell others that you’re “available” again. In that case, the ring might not be even worn on the left hand anymore. It might be put on the opposite hand on the fourth finger. This is symbolic of how they are single again too.

What People Choose

A divorce ring doesn’t have to have a diamond solitaire, like an engagement ring. It can be a very personal piece of jewelry that you design with the statement of your divorce in mind. They can be large rings that call attention to the fact that you’re divorced now, or they can be subtler. They can include gemstones or be simple bands. They can be engraved with words or not. It’s completely up to the person getting a divorce ring as to what they want on them.

The choice of the ring and how to wear it is personal. Some people who are not happy with their ex-spouses may decide to wear the ring on the middle finger, indicating their animosity towards the ex. Others take a more positive approach and use the rings to remind them of the good things about the marriage. Still others don’t linger on the past at all and the divorce ring can be about looking towards a new and brighter future and leaving the past behind.

New Life, New Jewelry

Ultimately, getting new jewelry after a divorce is also a way to re-assert one’s individual identity. Couples tend to buy jewelry for each other, and often a woman may end up wearing a piece of jewelry she doesn’t even really like because it was a gift. For men, the women might not want to give the spouse a gift of a ring or favors a more rustic look for her man. Either way, when you’re coupled the spouse who can influence the choices of design or style often critiques jewelry choices.

When you’re single again, you might find you really do love a larger style ring or those hoop earrings your spouse hated you wearing. As a man, you may decide you want not just one ring, but several rings. You don’t have to ask the spouse if you can splurge on a ring because the budget has been split in two, along with the marriage. One of the biggest perks of being single is that you don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to make a purchase, so that’s the time to celebrate that freedom by going out and buying a luxury divorce ring to celebrate that fact.

Gail and Max Hultgren never gave up looking for the rings. Even when they moved from the house, they advised the moving company that they might find the rings as they took everything out of the house. Despite going over every inch of the house, the rings could not be found. They tried to stay in contact with friends and acquaintances in their neighborhood, sharing the mystery of the lost rings in the hope they might someday turn up. They eventually decided they might have been stolen and had filed a police report trying to locate the missing rings. Yet, they ended up moving away and still not finding the rings.

A Good Samaritan

After 15 years, the rings remained lost until a new owner of the home suddenly came upon their dogs digging something up in the backyard: the rings! They had come apart. It took some cleaning, but eventually, the new homeowner, Josh Howland was able to make out an inscription in the band of one of the rings: Gail Max 27/02/65. He took the rings to the local police station where an old report unearthed the previous owner of the ring. Needless to say the Hultgrens were ecstatic to get a call from the police station telling them that after 15 years their rings had been found.

A Precious Mystery

No one really knows how the rings went from a laundry bench to the backyard or how they ended up dug into the dirt. After so many years, Gail Hultgren still loves her rings and has had them re-soldered together. She now wears them on her little finger, instead of her ring finger, due to arthritis. However, their reappearance has deepened their meaning and made them all the more precious to the Hultgrens.

What may come as a shock to many brides is that a wedding is often a time of great conflict as new families come together and want to have a say in the proceedings. To be gracious try to include some of their suggestions, giving a little where possible, but including your own preferences as well.

Don’t Go Over Budget

You have an entire lifetime to spend money after the wedding. If you spend it all to impress other people, odds are you’ll be starting out your married life in debt. A big ring is nice, but so is a nice honeymoon, and/or a new house. Try to balance your future needs as a couple with the present-day urge to spend on this once in a lifetime occasion.

Take a Deep Breath, It’ll Be Over Soon

A wedding is a highly stressful event, even though it’s a happy occasion. Don’t be like a recent couple, and their family, in Detroit that lost their cool and caused $20,000 of damages to a bridal wear shop. Three people were arrested from the bride’s family. While the dress may be a very important decision, there’s no reason to have a mob scene over it. There are going to be tons of decisions to be made to plan the wedding and if you don’t pace yourself, you’ll soon find yourself losing your temper and the happy memories along with them. Instead of wedding album full of smiling faces, you might end up with a couple of photos of Mom and Auntie holding a placard in a police photo shoot.

Methods of finding out whether your diamond is fake or not

Before you can be really proud of owning a precious and sparkling diamond, you should try to find out if it is really genuine or a good imitation. Since the imitations are so similar in size, shape and color it is not easy to determine its authenticity until certain tests are conducted.

One of the most common tests is the traditional Scratch Test. Though it is widely used, it has been found to fall short and not as reliable and accurate. This is because even though it is a known fact that a real diamond can scratch glass, and a fake one cannot, modern technology has revealed that some cubic zirconium of very high quality can also scratch glass. Moreover, conducting a scratch test on a real diamond may cause you to damage it and thus lower the value.

Testing diamonds by the Transparency Test is another way of determining whether it is an imitation or real. Diamonds if real are not really transparent and you will not be able to read the print on a newspaper if you place the stone on it. On the other hand a cubic zirconia is very transparent and allows you to read the print clearly. However, this test also has its limitations because to get more accurate results the diamond must be loose and not set in jewelry. Furthermore, if a real diamond has a cut that is too shallow it may allow you to read the print better. Thus it is imperative that you should conduct some tests to get more accurate and reliable results.

The Heat Test or the Fog Test needs you to breathe on the stone. The idea is to try and make it foggy. A genuine diamond will definitely not hold the heat and will disperse the heat instantaneously in a second leaving the stone clear. A fake stone on the other hand will remain foggy for some time when you breathe on it. The best way to conduct the heat test is to make sure that the stone being tested is absolutely clean and free from any dirt or oil.

One of the easiest ways to test if the stone is real or not is the Weight Test. It is a known fact that a cubic zirconia weighs almost 50% more than a diamond. Once you have the necessary equipment (which is a gram scale or a carat scale) you have to get both stones that are of similar dimensions and shape and weigh them. The diamond is much lighter.

The Dot Test is one of the easiest and simplest of tests. Cubic zirconias are transparent and therefore reflect light in a different manner. Diamonds reflect light through the table or its top surface. All you have to do is draw a dot on a white piece of paper and place the stone with its face down on the small dot. If the stone is genuine then you will be able to see only a distorted version of the dot and it will not be clear. The cubic zirconia will show the dot clearly.

The U.V. Test to determine authenticity of a diamond is conducted because nearly 99% of fake stones or imitations do not show fluorescent blue when placed under black light or UV light. While this test does make a positive identification it also proves that the diamond is not very valuable if they show around 20% of blue fluorescence.

The Loop Test is one where you have to look at the stone through a magnifying glass. There are different characteristics that can be examined through the lens that can give its identity away. The stone should be examined from above to see how the facets join. If they are rolled and not sharp then it is a fake. The appearance of the girdle – whether it is frosty and faceted (a clear indication that it is genuine) or slick and waxy (a sign that it is a fake) will tell you the truth. Other flaws like pinpoints, tiny cracks, and carbon can be seen when the stone is placed under a magnifying lens. These flaws are sure signs that it is a diamond as it would be near impossible to place these flaws in a fake stone.