Latest news with #gemstone
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Aussie families flock to remote campground in search of $10,000 treasure
Aussie families are flocking to a remote campground with the hope of unearthing their very own treasure. During peak tourist season, Simon Harrison, who manages O'Briens Creek Campground in Far North Queensland, said it's not unusual for gleeful travellers to run up and show him the potentially valuable gemstone hidden in their hand. 'You get the disappointment where they think they've got something, and then you get the ones where they've got a real good treasure,' he told Yahoo News. Every year, the campground near Mount Surprise attracts thousands of visitors from around the country and overseas with the lure of possibly discovering a valuable stone in the designated nearby fossicking area. 'People start turning up over Easter… when the weather starts getting cooler, then you get all the fossickers coming out because they don't want to be digging in the heat,' Simon said. Since taking over the job in 2017, Simon said he's watched 'the demographic of the park change from fossickers only' to lots of young families with 'camper trailers and kiddies'. 'They can do their yabbying and all the kids have got all their little paddle boards,' he told Yahoo. And for the price of a night's stay and a one-month fossicking licence — which costs just under $10 for an individual and $13 for a family — they can have a crack at unearthing a pricey piece of history. Man's 'very rare' find at famous campground after digging for six hours 🧍♂️ Gold prospector's incredible find in 'remote' Aussie bush: 'Amazed' 💎 Man's incredibly rare discovery in Aussie dirt after wild weather Aussie campers make 'fantastic' discoveries after heavy rainfall While there are 'good finds' every year, the campground manager revealed travellers had recently made several 'fantastic' discoveries. 'We've had really good rains the last four years so there's been a lot of movement in the creek,' he explained. 'Your money stone here is aquamarine. It's rarer than the others, but there's some good aquamarine finds.' One of the most valuable stones he has seen so far was a 96-carat aquamarine that was 'perfectly clear, perfectly coloured', and worth roughly $10,000. However, the main stone that visitors are chasing is topaz. 'O'Briens Creek is known for the big blues that you can get here, and the different quartz. We get smokey quartz, we get citrine, we get amethyst.' But for Simon, the real prize is the people. 'You get the good experiences with the people. I get the joy of being able to see the stuff as it comes in, and then I post it [online] so everyone else can see it.' Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aussie dad's incredibly rare $46,000 discovery inside stone: 'Best in the world'
When Aussie dad Justin Thomas came across a parcel of rough stones mined from the famous opal region of Lightning Ridge, he knew he could turn them into something special. While he had no idea what the pieces of unprocessed stone purchased for $9,000 would look like when he was finished working on them, Justin was confident in the quality. The Gold Coast dad has now revealed the incredibly rare and lucrative discovery made inside one of the rocks — which recently sold for a whopping $46,000. "I didn't know it would cut such a beautiful pattern, that was the biggest surprise," he told Yahoo News of the stunning black opal gem. Lightning Ridge is one of the only places in the world where black opal, its rarest form, can be found. "It's the best opal in the world," Justin said, explaining it can fetch the highest price per carat across the world because of its unique features. "It's an anomaly unique to Lightning Ridge." Despite his trust in the quality of the items he'd purchased, Justin told Yahoo News there is "always an element of risk" cutting into any stone, because he doesn't know what he might uncover — inclusions or sand spots could even end up costing him money. "90 per cent of opal in a parcel doesn't cut," he explained, meaning that leaves just 10 per cent which can actually be turned into a gem for sale. "Every time I cut an opal, it's an adventure," he said. Overcoming his nerves, Justin began sanding down the imperfections on the piece, documenting the two-hour process on YouTube. Remarkably, the piece was far better than ever expected, featuring a "very unique" and highly prized harlequin pattern, making it a one-in-10,000 find. What's remarkable is that Justin discovered not one but two stunning pieces that would go on to be worth $46,000 each. While one oval-shaped stone sold, the second butterfly wing-shaped piece is still available online on his website, Black Opals Direct. "It was an anomaly that happened twice in two stones," he explained. Justin, who documents the highs and the lows of the industry, explained that regular viewers "don't see profit margins like that" on other pieces. Justin has been in the industry since he was 18 years old, when he followed in his father's footsteps. "My dad came out from Germany in the late 50's and in 1961 he went to the mining fields and learnt how to cut and mine for opals and started his own business," he explained. He eventually started his own business, Black Opals Direct, and now shares the highs and lows of the industry on a YouTube channel with his son Saxon. 💎 Woman stunned by incredible 4kg discovery in Aussie dirt 😱 Aussie's valuable find on river's edge after wild weather 💫 Aussie's incredible outback find worth $35k: 'Once in a lifetime' Justin described the opal industry in Australia as "very healthy", with supply being the greatest challenge. Fellow opal cutter Wayne Sedawie told Yahoo News previously that finding "good opal" in Australia is "getting harder and harder". A new craze of amateurs attempting to cut their own opals means that there is a "false economy" where rough opals are more expensive than cut stones, according to Justin. "Most people start out trying it out as a hobby," he explained. Justin's advice to anyone looking to learn the trade is to get started on inexpensive opal. "You see a lot of people waste a lot of money," he said. "Learn to cut on pieces of opal that don't have much colour and be very cautious about spending too much if you don't know what you're buying," he said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Forbes
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Aaron Jah Stone Pocket Watch Is Couture's Most Coveted Timepiece
The gem-set pocket watch by Aarn Jah Stone designer Cyril Bismuth, on show at the Couture Show in ... More Las Vegas this week. It's Las Vegas Jewelry Week and at the Couture Show, Aaron Jah Stone is showing for the first time. Behind the brand, is the Parisian jewelry designer and passionate stone hunter Cyril Bismuth, whose 'spiritual jewelry' already has a firm following in the US market. With him in Vegas, is a very special jewel designed to mark a milestone — and it's up for the Best in Innovative Award. Bismuth decided to create a 15th anniversary pocket watch on the way back from a trip to Dallas, as he tells me, when we meet in a Paris restaurant. 'I love the ways Texans can combine the classic jeans-cowboy boots-Stetson look with French designer luxury.' Until a few years ago, he admits he 'didn't know much about the State beyond JR Ewing in Dallas,' but he has since made many friends in this most welcoming of States. In gem-set silver, the Aaron Jah Stone pocketwatch feels pleasingly heavy. Set into rugged, textured silver, a rainbow mix of faceted and polished sapphires, tourmalines and turquoises mark the hours in the 36mm watch case. The piece is attached to a string of his signature hard stone beads, with custom clips so it can be worn as a necklace or pocket watch inspired by the old-style elegance of modern Texan style. The piece feels heavy in the hand, and significant; a fitting celebration of his first 15 years in business. With a carefully designed interior, it closes with a safe and satisfying snap. Bismuth's eyes light up when he's talking about gemstones, whether it's buying turquoise at a mine in Arizona, or sifting through watermelon tourmalines and Zambian sapphires in Bangkok. He describes what it was like to buy a gemstone in the backstreets of Rangoon; a pale blue, slightly starred sapphire cabochon. It would be the first time he had bought a sapphire back from Mayanmar: 'it was the stone of my whole trip,' he says, and he went on to set the sapphire in the first ever silver ring he made, at the Haute Ecole de Joaillerie jewelry school in Paris. Aaron Jah Stone's pocket watch is designed for a 36mm watch. 'I've collected stones ever since I was a kid,' he says. 'Even worthless rocks have always been fascinating to me'. After completing his training, he began making hard stone bracelets, and elaborate strings of precious beads strung on his signature red thread, before moving onto small collections, like the Phoenix collection, in which opal eyes wink out from beds of diamond pave as they climb ears and encircle fingers. It's jewelry made with intention, each stone chosen for its properties, and it soon caught celebrity eyes. Aaron Jah Stone came to prominence in Paris in the early 2010s and achieved international visibility when Bismuth's friend Sebastien Jondeau showed Karl Lagerfeld his jewelry. Lagerfeld wore one of his necklaces in Singapore at the Chanel resort show in 2013 and Bismuth ended up creating a new necklace for the Chanel Creative Director at each Fashion Week thereafter. Before long, Bismuth was front-row at the Chanel runway and his designs were seen on members of Lagerfeld's inner circle, including models Lily Rose Depp and Cara Delevingne. A watermelon tourmaline and gold necklace by Aaron Jah Stone Since then, he has created jewelry for celebrities from Michael Jordan to Pharrell, and appeared in glossy magazines and newspapers worldwide. But he became disillusioned with the media after a time and took a step back from the limelight to build up a solid global collector base. He first met the Couture founder Gannon Brousseau a decade ago, but at the time the Paris luxury store Montaigne Market gave him all the international visibility he needed. Fast forward ten years, and the time is finally right to take Aaron Jah Stone to the Desert City. It's a strong edition for French independent designer brands at Couture, some of whom have previously been more tentative participants, citing travel and booth cost as barriers and preferring to show on home ground during Paris Fashion Weeks. In recent years, French-owned brands have become more prominent. After winning the award for Best in Debuting in 2022, Marie Lichtenberg is now a regular, as well as Yvonne Leon, Rainbow K and Maison Alix Dumas, showcasing the breadth of creativity from French designers to a cohort of premium international buyers and press. Cyril Bismuth, the jewelry designer behind Aaron Jah Stone Although Bismuth retains a loyal French clientele, his US collectorship developed rapidly. 'I understood early on that my collectors already had all the classics from the big houses,' he explains. 'They wanted unique, meaningful jewels that they could stack, or one-off masterpieces to wear as a statement. Americans are lot more sensitive to spiritual jewelry than the French, and I love that!', he laughs. 'They choose bigger colored stones and understand the rarity of the piece, because I produce mainly bespoke and very small series. There's an element of rejection of the luxury 'uniform'.' 'When you buy one of my pieces, you're buying an energy, a story. It's everything from day one of my stone-sourcing research, my trips, all the different stages in the making process in my Parisian workshops, right up to my Instagram post celebrating the final piece,' Bismuth says. And Aaron Jah Stone has a busy summer to come, with a stop-off at that Arizona turquoise mine after Couture, before heading back to Europe for private sales with his international clientele in villas and on yachts in the Mediterranean. September will see him back Stateside for a string of trunk shows in New York, Dallas, Aspen and Miami. I get the sense that whether he's sifting rough turquoise or meeting new clients, busy is exactly how Bismuth likes it.
South China Morning Post
31-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Into the blue: why brands from Dior to Chaumet and Giorgio B are falling for tanzanite, a gemstone from the hills of Mount Kilimanjaro first made famous by Tiffany & Co. in the 60s
A precious, deep blue gemstone is increasingly captivating jewellery designers. Tanzanite was first discovered in 1967 by Maasai herders in Tanzania's Merelani Hills near Mount Kilimanjaro and is still the world's only known source, meaning the stone remains very rare. Tanzanite was given its name by Tiffany & Co. – the first jeweller to market it – and the brand commanded a monopoly on the stone until the 1980s. Now, this vivid, blue-violet hued gem is animating collections from Dior to Chaumet, Pomellato to Mouawad, and even those of avant-garde creators Hemmerle and Giorgio B. Mouawad's Venus bangle features a tanzanite and pearl on a band of diamond-set white gold. Photo: Handout Advertisement Part of its allure is its more affordable price compared to sapphire, but the clarity and large carat sizes in which the stones are available add to their appeal. The price of unheated Kashmir and Sri Lankan sapphires is rising inexorably. A polished royal blue sapphire from Sri Lanka costs just under US$5,000 per carat, whereas a loose stone or a Kashmiri gem are too rare to consider for most. A necklace set with a lot of sapphires has suddenly become a very expensive item – and jewellers are rethinking their options. Dior's new high jewellery collection, Diorexquis, features a tanzanite parure with a 7.58-carat oval-cut tanzanite centre stone on a floral necklace and 4.84-carat tanzanite ring. There are also several voluminous tanzanite rings in Chaumet's high jewellery range; Pomellato has added it to their Nudo collection; and Mouawad's Venus collection pairs the stone with a pearl on a bangle, ring and earrings. Hemmerle earrings featuring tanzanite set in amaranth wood and anodised aluminium. Photo: Handout Meanwhile, Tanzanite's electrifying hue and volume brings a fresh energy to Munich-based Hemmerle's time-honoured metalwork, mounted in tonally complementary amaranth wood and anodised aluminium earrings for a very contemporary look. 'High quality tanzanite typically offers excellent clarity, enabling bold cuts that showcase its depth of colour,' explains Yasmin Hemmerle, who co-designs the collection with her husband Christian. 'Beyond its physical beauty, tanzanite carries a narrative of discovery, wonder and emotional resonance that aligns with Hemmerle's ethos of crafting intimate and contemporary heirlooms to be enjoyed every day.' After setting a 19.52 carat tanzanite in a curvaceous bombé ring last year, Giorgio Bulgari – founder of Geneva's Giorgio B and scion of the Bulgari jewellery family – became so bewitched by the stone's midnight blue colour that he spent months trying to create the perfect blue in titanium to match the gem. 'I couldn't find a metal to set it in that would look good, there was too much of a contrast, and then I started anodising titanium until I found a colour that would match the tanzanite tone on tone,' he says. This one-of-a-kind ring sparked an equally rare addition to Giorgio B's Palma collection, a show-stopping ring of blue titanium set with an emerald cut tanzanite that debuts this month. Advertisement
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lab-grown alternatives crush world's only diamond economy
When Botswana last year unveiled the second-largest diamond ever excavated, the country's now former president was quick to pose with the fist-sized gem. Mokgweetsi Masisi no doubt hoped some sparkle from the 2,492-carat stone would rub off on his beleaguered administration and the mining industry that keeps Botswana afloat. The small southern African nation is more dependent than any other country on diamonds, which make up a third of revenue and the majority of exports. Botswana has been particularly badly hit by a dramatic slump in demand, which has blown a hole in the finances of one of Africa's richest and most stable countries. Slowing business in China and the hangover from a pandemic spending splurge have both knocked prices, but worryingly diamond miners more than anything else has seen the dramatic rise of laboratory-grown stones. These artificially made gems are chemically identical to natural diamonds, and can only be told apart by expert testing. Yet they are grown in a matter of days in laboratories, rather than formed over geological ages deep in the earth. As a result, they are a fraction of the price, allowing consumers to buy diamond jewellery for less, or get a much bigger stone for the same money. Advocates also argue they are more ethical, because they avoid the environmental and human rights issues that have at times haunted the mining industry. While natural stones still command a higher price, the cost of each one has tumbled and laboratory-made stones have taken a big chunk of the market. By last year, as many as 45 per cent of engagement rings sold in America were set with lab-grown diamonds. The US retail price of a one-carat natural diamond has fallen by 32 per cent to £3,480 ($4,618) since the peak in May 2022, according to Tenoris, which tracks prices. The retail price of a similar lab-grown diamond has fallen 75 per cent since the start of 2020, to £625 ($828). Paul Zimnisky, an expert on the market, said: 'I wager there have been three major factors that have subdued the diamond market over the last three years. The more widespread distribution of man-made diamonds is one of them. 'The other two are: a severe luxury recession in China and an overall global hangover from boom years in 2021 and 2022, where people bought enough diamonds for a while.' All this has put pressure on Botswana, and the impact of the slump spurred voters to oust Mr Masisi's government in October 2024. Ndaba Gaolathe, the new vice president and finance minister, has now warned of deep spending cuts and said the government is preparing to make 'drastic' fiscal adjustments to stay afloat. 'The first thing we need to do, obviously, is to live within our means,' he said late last month. 'That means cutting spending — doing away with what we believe is some of the fat.' Botswana has tried to diversify its economy so it is less reliant on diamonds, but has a long way to go. Zoë McCathie, a country risk analyst at Signal Risk, said: 'Botswana's economic position will remain subdued for as long as the diamond slump continues. 'Dependence on diamonds will also be a longer-term economic headwind for the country.' 'Going forwards, the new government's ability to diversify the economy and facilitate recovery in the diamond sector will be essential for retaining popular favour.' Amid the downturn, mining giant Anglo-American is seeking to off-load its De Beers diamond arm, which is partly owned by Botswana. De Beers, the world's largest diamond producer, is meanwhile trying to revive demand by using marketing muscle to persuade consumers of the natural stones' worth. Botswana and De Beers recently signed a 10-year deal to fund global marketing efforts. The industry has been built on some of the most successful marketing campaigns in history, including the idea that a diamond is forever. Producers are now hoping they can regain that magic and persuade shoppers that lab-made diamonds are no substitute for a natural sparkler. The Natural Diamond Council, set up by producers, insists that 'the immense time and geological forces behind every natural diamond make them some of the rarest treasures on Earth, adding to their value and significance'. It is also trying to correct what it says are inaccuracies, and employing celebrities like the actress Lily James as ambassadors for their stones. Producers say high energy costs mean lab-made stones are not as environmentally sensitive as they claim, and insist that natural stones will still hold their value better. Mr Zimnisky said: 'Diamonds are a luxury product. For consumers, it's an emotional purchase. Thus marketing is key. The diamond industry is famous for its marketing campaigns. Stakeholders in the industry cannot forget this.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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