Usually to purchase the jewels of a Getty you'd need some pretty deep pockets. But Ann Getty's collection doesn't just include precious gemstones, she also has a large collection of costume pieces, some of which are being auctioned over the weekend by Doyle New York. The collection includes pieces by Chanel, Miriam Haskell, Kenneth Jay Lane and others. And because they are costume pieces you'll be spending several hundred dollars for most pieces. The rhinestone necklace shown above is one of the pricier pieces. It was made in France in the 1950s and is estimated to sell for $750-$1,000.

[via SF Unzipped]

With rubies from Myanmar/Burma being banned by many Western countries, the hunt has been on for rubies that come from a less politically sensitive area. In the last few years, there has been increasing exploration for rubies in Greenland. Just as Canadian diamonds are sometimes seen as an easy way around the potential harmful associations with some African diamonds, Greenland's rubies seem like a no-conflict solution, one that could benefit both the companies investing and Greenland's people.

But as Marc Choyt over at Fair Jewelry points out, that may not be the case. He has written a series of posts that go into great depth on this complex issue. To summarize: for years, Greenland's Inuit people have come across rubies and picked them up on their travels and sometimes sold them but now with big companies such as True North Gems exploring the area for ruby deposits, some Greenlanders feel they are being pushed away from the ruby business. They assert that the rough ruby shown at right, valued at half a million dollars was confiscated from its Inuit owner and that it is just part of a campaign to keep the Greenland people out of the potentially lucrative mining business.

The story of what's happening in Greenland is complicated and Marc's done a very thorough job of looking at both sides. He traces the journey of Neils Madsen, a Greenlander who found himself caught up in the ruby battle simply because he wished to dig for rubies in an area where exploration was taking place. A conflict with people working for True North Gems and the government led to him forming the August 16th Union (the confrontation took place on August 16, 2007), a group whose objective was to secure the rights of all Greenlanders to artisanally mine and sell rubies. Right now Greenlanders are now allowed only to sell semiprecious gems, not precious gems. Madsen has circulated a petition on behalf of the August 16th Union, demanding the rights to have small scale mining and selling of rubies as guaranteed under Article 32. This petition has gathered 2600 signatures, which is four and a half percent of the entire nation of 57,000.

He also interviewed Andrew Lee Smith, Founder and CEO of True North Gems who says he and his company support of small scale mining and selling of rubies by Native Greenlanders as long as it is done within the parameters of the law (and as long as his company has the right to explore and potentially mine rubies in compliance with the laws of Greenland.) He believes that the August 16 Union's main issue is not with True North Gems but with the existing laws of Greenland and that the union is a loud, radical minority.

True North does keep a chain of custody and assurance of source on the stones so that the Greenland rubies aren't mixed with rubies from other places which is what happened initially with Canadian diamonds. Right now the company isn't selling materials since they need the consent of the Greenland government and a mining license (currently they are still in the exploration phase). They are hoping to establish a commercial ruby operation in Greenland and sell the stones as Greenland branded material.

Over at Fair Jewelry you can sign the petition to support the rights of native Greenlanders to mine the stones from their own land.

Angular Momentum has taken their signature look of ornately detailed watch dials under sapphire crystals and transposed them to new "artisan rings." There are four styles in white gold accented with diamonds and set under curved sapphire crystals. Each style highlights one of Angular Momentum's techniques for watch decoration. They are beautiful but the Angular Momentum website doesn't give a size on these but they seem a bit large for comfortable wear.

• The Guilloche Negoro Artisan Ring "Negoro Koi" features a hand-carved Japanese lacquer medallion of a Koi carp on a guilloche ground.
• The Guilloche Noir Artisan Ring "Koi" has a similar carp but done in black.
• The High Relief Artisan Ring "Oriental Blossoms" has a hand carved medallion in 18 Kt. yellow gold.
• The Verre Èglomisé Artisan Ring "Peony" has a "Verre Èglomisé" miniature painting of a peony on the reverse of the curved sapphire crystal.

Some of world-famous Parisian jeweler Cartier's most beautiful creations are portrayed in a sumptuous new book due out in a couple of weeks. Cartier: Innovation Through the 20th Century (Flammarion, $65), features 165 rare gems reproduced at their actual size, "selected to highlight the milestones of 20th century design." Each amazing piece "serves as a benchmark in the world of high-end jewelry," much of it made for Europe's nobility and bon ton.

Drawing on Cartier's vast archives, many of the pictures are being published here for the first time. Cartier "consistently set new aesthetic, ornamental, technical and stylistic trends" in jewelry design, the book notes, and it continues to do so today. Even their famous red leather boxes have become something of a status symbol in and of themselves. The cover image above shows a platinum, diamond and ruby bracelet made in 1926.

Dubai is making a big move into developing the pearl industry. The Dubai Pearl Exchange, a subsidiary of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), has announced that it will host the first-ever World Pearl Forum to bring together the global pearl industry, revitalize the global pearl trade, and build on Dubai's historic status as the pearl center of the Gulf. The event will be held at the Atlantis hotel, Palm Jumeirah from 17-18 February, 2009. More than 200 leading pearl specialists from around the world will take part in the event. Gaiti Rabbani, Executive Director, Coloured Stones and Pearls, DMCC, shown at right above with Farid Mohammed Ahmed and Ahmed Bin Sulayem, says that the purpose of the event is to help advance pearls as gems and strategize on how to "better represent the luxury, value, and economic potential of the pearl itself."

[via Diamonds.net]

The flashy piece shown above is a sapphire-and-diamond brooch worn by singer Elton John and now up for auction. Sir Elton wore the 1930s Art Deco piece in his 1988 music video "I Don't Wanna Go on With You Like That." A photograph of him wearing this clip during the filming of the video accompanies this lot. The piece will be auctioned at Bonhams in London on Thursday, September 25 and is estimated to sell for £12,000 - 15,000.

UPDATE: The brooch did not sell at the auction.

Another large diamond has been found at the Letseng mine in Lesotho. The stone is 478 carats and is the 20th largest rough diamond ever found. What makes this stone important is that its clarity and structure is such that instead of being cut into many smaller stones like the Lesotho Promise diamond, this new stone could yield a single 150 carat cut stone which would be one of the largest cut stones. The potential rare stone could sell for tens of millions of dollars.

A couple of big diamonds will be showing up at Christie's during their October 15 Jewel sale in New York, Two rectangular cut stones, of approximately 102 and 70 carats diamonds will be sold. They were cut from the Ponahalo diamond, a 316-carat stone which came from the De Beer's Venetian mine in South Africa. The name comes from the word for vision in Sotho, the language spoken by the Venda tribe which lives in the area.

The Ponahalo yielded four polished diamonds and one which was left rough. The two being sold at Christie's are the biggest two. National Jeweler reports that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Ponahalo diamonds will be donated to Russell Simmons' Diamond Empowerment Fund, benefiting educational programs in Africa.

Leslie Saleson, the designer behind Luxury Basics, has been making fine jewelry for years and finally took her work full time in December 2007.

At right is her elegant Triple Gold Drape of Peach Pearl and Andulusite necklace with 14k gold ($2,850.00). She also has pieces for men, including neck and wrist talismans.

The news at Luxury Basics today is that Saleson's designs are going to be appearing on Cinemax's new TV show, Zane's Sex Chronicles. Click here to watch a video of Saleson and the costume designer, Moonglow.

A gallery of some of our favorite men's and women's jewelry from Luxury Basics follows. You can count on Luxury Basics for elegance and originality.

Looking at the creepy little silver faces on these King Scull Cufflinks by Tateossian makes me feel like giggling. I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intent, considering they're scowling and all, but something about the looks on their faces and the way they're wearing their little crowns makes me feel bad for them, like maybe they're a pair of nerdy sculls trying too hard to be cool.

They're made of sterling silver, goldtone, and cubic zirconia, and I can't even begin to guess what kind of suit or event these would belong best at. $250

You may not look like Gisele Bundchen but if you have the money you can own her jewelry. The Brazilian bombshell who is much beloved on our pages, is selling a six carat diamond pendant estimated at $120,000 to $150,000 as well as a 3.35 carat Sabbadini yellow diamond ring estimated at $15,000 to $20,000 as part of the Christie's Jewels: The New York Sale auction on October 15. Gisele hasn't revealed who bought the pieces for her but I'm guessing it wasn't her current quarterback squeeze Tom Brady and rumors abound over whether her ex-boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio was the mystery purchaser. A portion of proceeds from the auction will go to the Diamond Empowerment Fund.

Another Brazilian company that makes beautiful use of Brazilian gemstones is Forum Romano. Forum Romano's jewelry is inspired by the lush landscape of Brazil and features many floral designs that incorporate carved stones in the shape of flowers and leaves. Forum Romano was founded in 1977 in the state of São Paulo and uses diamonds, gold, pearls, as well as more colorful gemstones in their earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces. Some brilliant floral examples are in the gallery below.

The divine, $3,200.00 carnelian and citrine necklace above comes from designer dream team Badgley/Sneed. Their gorgeous, richly creative, intricate pieces ooze sophistication and style. See the gallery below for some more of our favorite Badgley/Sneed designs!

The Badgley/Sneed team is comprised of Jan Sneed and Lynne Murphy Badgley, two longtime friends. Combining class with semi-precious stones, their work is exquisite, yet attainable.

We hear there's a new line coming--and in our gallery, you'll see Lynne Badgley wearing an item from said line. Though it is currently untitled, we understand the line is inspired by Gossip Girl.

It's no coincidence Lynne Badgley is Penn Badgley's mother! Penn and Blake Lively have been seen promoting Badgley Sneed designs together. Fun fact: Jan Sneed is Penn Badgley's godmother.

Keep an eye on this pair, they've got beautiful designs and celebrity connections. You can't buy luck like that!

The ultra-luxe Byblos hotel in St. Tropez is selling ten limited edition $150,000 wood and leather caskets containing an oversized bottle of Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque champagne and a Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry set. The casket, available from the hotel's exclusive club Les Caves du Roy and made to celebrate the Byblos' 41st anniversary, contains a Salmanazar of the vintage 1999 Belle Époque, which is 9 liters or the equivalent of 12 standard bottles. In addition to the Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry set, which is designed to resemble the Anemone, the flower that adorns the Belle Époque bottle, there are four hand-decorated champagne glasses in the casket.

[via Elite Choice]

Azature is in N.Y. this week introducing his new line, A.Z.

Azature's pieces, like this ring we covered a few months ago, are made from a platinum-sterling alloy and adorned with black and white diamonds. There are eight rings, eight necklaces, eight pairs of earrings, and six bangles featured in the new A.Z. collection, and they are crafted with 18K gold white-gold plating and nickel details. The above necklace is one such piece, and rings in at $150.00. Now that's a fancy pop tab! Very daring, Azature.

Into that? Click here for the Martin Margiela can tab necklace we recently reviewed.

You can count on Azature for chic, industrial designs, and A.Z. is no exception. The rings and bangles are bolt-like, and even the charm necklaces are multi-chained and made with heavy nickel.

The New York Daily News has called Azature one of "fashion's soon-to-be stars," and we couldn't agree more.