Wellington, New Zealand — 16 December 2015: International award-winning designers and a member of the American Gem Society, Inspired Jewellery, were chosen to design a pendant for the Esperanza diamond, the most valuable diamond ever discovered in the USA
The Esperanza diamond — a perfect, Internally Flawless, 4.605ct triolette-shaped diamond — has this week been set into a custom-designed pendant, designed by Ian Douglas, Creative Director of New Zealand-based jewellery design firm, Inspired Jewellery (the international arm of The Village Goldsmith), who are known for their avant-garde and contemporary jewellery designs. The pendant will now go on a 3 month tour of jewellery stores throughout the USA, all American Gem Society (AGS) members — America’s pre-eminent jewellery trade organisation.
Unearthed at the Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park by Bobbie Oskarson of Colorado, the Esperanza diamond is the most valuable and one of the purest diamonds discovered in the United States. It is an Internally Flawless diamond of D colour, estimated to be worth over $500,000 USD. The journey from mine to mount is all being undertaken by AGS members, ensuring the provenance of this remarkable diamond is unique.
The involved parties called upon fellow AGS member Inspired Jewellery to design a piece of fine jewellery as the setting for the diamond. Ian Douglas, Creative Director of the specialist jewellery design firm known for contemporary diamond jewellery, felt privileged to be chosen and said the fact that they were asked is testament to their international reputation for modern jewellery designs which showcase diamonds to their full advantage.
“We’ve been following the Esperanza story closely and were honored to be asked to design the pendant. It’s these kinds of projects, working alongside forward-thinking AGS members, that excite me about designing and crafting jewellery”, says Douglas.
“Our ethos is that the diamond should always be integral to the design, not an afterthought. In the case of Esperanza, it couldn’t be any other way. When I design jewellery, I imagine a diamond, floating, unconstrained, revealing its beauty in its entirety. I then design works of art to connect that diamond to the wearer”.
Esperanza is the world’s first triolette-shaped diamond, a diamond shape created by master diamond cutter Mike Botha of Embee Diamonds, Canada. He was guided by the natural icicle shape of the rough stone which resulted in one end of the diamond being wider than the other. The unique shape, now coined ‘the Esperanza Cut’, while proving a challenge, is celebrated in the pendant design.
The Esperanza diamond floats above the setting, as if suspended mid-air. The diamond is only secured at each pointed end. Flowing from these ends are fluid shapes and lines of platinum which form the base of the pendant, echoing the shape of Esperanza. They are designed to look like tapering droplets of water. Smaller Canadian diamonds are set into the platinum.
The pendant was crafted in the USA by Byard. F. Brogan whose team have been crafting jewellery in Philadelphia since 1908.
The Esperanza pendant is travelling to AGS member stores throughout the USA to be viewed in person. Esperanza will be at the following AGS retail locations:
Stanley Jewelers Gemologist, North Little Rock, AR: December 14-27
Black Starr & Frost, Newport Beach, CA: January 13-17
Black Starr & Frost , Phoenix, AZ: January 20-24
Molina Fine Jewelers, Phoenix, AZ: January 27-31
Whiteflash, Houston, TX: February 3-7
Underwood’s Jewelers, Jacksonville, FL: February 10-14
