Valentine’s Day: 20 Jewelry Gifts That Say I Love You

Rubelite cushion ring by Fusaro Jewelry

I am aware that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world and I’m just as aware that readers of this blog are also from all over the world. 

With this in mind, I selected jewelry that is available in the US, in other countries and online. Some of the pieces are extremely rare and others are more easily available. For example, one yellow gold ring in the group can only be purchased at the jeweler’s store on the famed Parisian shopping street, rue de la Paix. Two other pieces are available in very limited numbers at a handful of company boutiques. Most of the items are available at retailers throughout the US. One fancy colored diamond company is almost a pure-play e-commerce firm. So no matter where you live you can order from them.

As of this writing Valentine's Day is only 10 days away. So no matter where you live, there's little time left to buy that thoughtful, unique jewelry gift for Valentine's Day.

Rubelite cushion ring by Fusaro Jewelry (top photo) flanked by marquised diamonds set In platinum ring. www.fusarojewelry.com

18K rose gold ring by Mary Esses features her signature fabric texture in an interlaced band design adorned with 0.35cts of white diamonds. www.maryesses.com

Amour collection by Leibish Fancy Diamonds with pavé-set heart-shaped diamond jewelry, each designed with fancy intense yellow or fancy pink diamonds. www.leibish.com

London blue Topaz ring by Lisa Nik with diamonds and secured with prongs in the shape of little hearts. www.lisanik.com

Flora Centrix diamond necklace by McTeigue & McClelland hand-made in 18k yellow gold and platinum featuring 19 old European-cut diamonds. mc2jewels.com

Paraiba ring by Oscar Heyman featuring platinum and 18k yellow gold centered with a 7-carat oval Paraiba tourmaline surrounded by 6 oval diamonds and 6 round fancy yellow diamonds. www.oscarheyman.com

Diamond, sapphire and tsavorite ring by Lydia Courteille in 18k gold that covers the finger. www.lydiacourteille.com

Bella Ring by Robert Procop, ruby and pink sapphires are the main gems in this 18k yellow ring embellished with diamonds. www.robertprocop.com

Maxi Earrings by Carrera y Carrera feature flowers in hand-made 18k gold with diamonds from the Seda Imperial collection. www.carreraycarrera.com

Verdura 75th Anniversary Limited Edition 'Theodora' Cuff made of sapphire, emerald, and amethyst in high relief, surrounded by rubies, diamonds, aquamarines, garnets, citrines and peridot, set in 18k gold, on a hinged cuff of black enamel over gold. www.verdura.com 

Heart earrings by Piaget in white gold paved with brilliant diamonds to accentuate the playful shape of the heart. www.piaget.com  

Bizzotto Firmamento Bracelet in 18k rose gold chains embellished with 1.53 cts. of diamonds. www.bizzottogioielli.com

Evanescente Ring by Mellerio dits Meller Médicis, a gold openwork motif in the shape of lily petals embellished with diamonds is used for this ring. Part of the Médicis collection designed by French jewelry designer, Edéenne, it celebrates the 400th year anniversary of the Parisian jewelry store. www.mellerio.fr/en

Teddy Bear Pendant by Shawish in 18k white gold with pink sapphires, black diamonds, brown diamonds and white diamonds. This is perhaps the most popular jewel I've ever written about. www.shawish.ch

Diamond Heart Pendant by Lagos in sterling silver beading frames a heart of pave diamonds finished on a 16- or 18-inch ball chain. www.lagos.com

Amorfus Earrings by Vianna, 18k white gold, set with blue topaz and diamonds from the Brazilian jewelry design firm. www.viannabrasil.com

Australian South Seas Pearl Earrings by Yoko in 18k white gold, 3.10 carats of G-VS diamonds and 26.74 carats of sapphires with the 10-11mm pearls. www.yokolondon.com

Cento Flowers necklace, earrings and ring by Roberto Coin in white gold with Cento diamonds, known for its 100-facets. us.robertocoin.com

A cabochon ruby and diamond bracelet by Suzanne Belperron available at Fred Leighton New York, with more than 50 carats of rubies and over 2 carats of baguette diamonds. www.fredleighton.com

Starfish by Gismondi in 18K rose gold with pink sapphires and natural white diamonds from the Italian jewelry company. www.gismondijewellery1754.com

Please join me on the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet and on the Forbes website.

Jewelry From Empress Eugenie and Duchess of Windsor Headlines Christie’s Geneva Sale

Empress Eugenie's Feuilles De Groseillier brooch

The “Feuilles de Groseillier” brooch, commissioned in 1855 by Empress Eugenie of France (1826-1920) to French jeweler Alfred Bapst, is one of two statement lots of jewelry with royal provenance to be offered at Christie’s Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale on November 11. Once part of the French Crown Jewels, of which very few examples in original condition have survived, it has an estimate of $2 to $3 million.

The jewel is designed as a cluster of three gold and silver openworked currant leaves with three tassels. It is set throughout with old mine diamonds and is centered with a cushion-shaped mine diamond.

The Parure de Feuilles de Groseillier was originally designed as a guirlande (garland) and worn in multiple ways. In 1870, at the fall of the Second Empire, Empress Eugenie and her husband Napoleon III moved to England, leaving behind most of the Crown Jewels. Seventeen years later, the French government conducted a 12-day auction where all the belongings of the French Royal Family were offered for sale, including the jewelry. Several of the larger pieces were broken up prior to the auction so the stones could be sold individually. The guirlande was sold as eight parts and the present brooch was acquired by Tiffany & Co. The jeweler then gifted the brooch to the Metropolitan Opera of New York as a tribute to the famous opera singer Madame Lucrezia Bori (1887-1960).

Duchess Of Windsor's Cartier Tiger jewels

The other lot is of British royal provenance. They are two pieces of tiger jewelry by Cartier, formerly from the collection of the Duchess of Windsor. They were given to Sarah Brightman, the world’s best selling soprano, by her then husband Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer and impresario of musical theater. They were a present to her to celebrate the London and Broadway success of “The Phantom of the Opera,” which he wrote and she starred. They were purchased during the legendary sale of Duchess of Windsor’s collection in 1987.

The two tiger pieces comprising of an onyx and diamond clip brooch and bracelet, with emerald eyes, were both made in the 1950s and will be sold as one lot with a combined estimate of $1.8 million to $2.5 million.

The Cartier Tiger Collection has been a highlight of 20th Century jewelry design since it first appeared in 1928. These pieces were bought by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor from Cartier between 1956 and 1959.

Brightman will offer a portion of the proceeds from the sale to The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, which supports the arts, music in schools, The Architectural Heritage Fund and awards 30 performing arts scholarships annually.

Bulgari diamond ear pendant

While the two items of monarchial heritage are impressive, the top lot for the upcoming sale at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues goes to a sparkling pair of Bulgari pear-shaped colored diamond ear-pendants with a pre-sale estimate of $12 million to $15 million.

The ear pendants, which the auction house is calling “A Bulgari Masterpiece,” have marquise and pear-shaped diamond cluster tops weighing approximately 19.28 carats. Suspended from the clusters are a 6.95-carat, pear-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond and a 6.79-carat, pear-shaped fancy vivid pink diamond. Both statement diamonds are detachable. The diamonds are mounted in platinum and gold.

This auction of 390 lots has several other significant colored gems, signature jewels and important natural pearls. Among them are:

The "Blue Belle of Asia"

* The fourth largest faceted sapphire in the world, the “Blue Belle of Asia,” a cushion shaped Ceylon sapphire of 392.52 carats. It has an estimate of $7 to $10 million. The gem was discovered in 1926 at Pelmadula, Ratnapura (‘The City of Gems’), in Ceylon and was sold to British motor magnate Lord Nuffield (1877-1963), founder of Morris Motors Limited in 1937, according to the auction house. It was rumored that he purchased the sapphire to present to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, on her Coronation Day on May 12, 1937. The gem is suspended on a diamond tassel pendant and attached to a diamond neckchain mounted in gold.

* A 23.66-carat Burmese ruby mounted by Cartier, known as “The Queen of Burma,” was purchased at Cartier in London on November 1937 by the Maharao of Cutch (1866-1942). Its estimate is $5.5 - $7 million. The auction house says the gem “combines all the most sought-after qualities in a ruby: an attractive vivid pinkish red color, an excellent purity, an impressive size and the finest origin.”

* Seven jewels by JAR, some of which were recently on display at the ‘Jewels by JAR’ exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Among the group of jewels offered for sale are the ‘Gardenia’ ring, formerly in The Collection of Ellen Barkin ($330,000 - $390,000), the sculpted gold Parrot Tulip cuff ($210,000 - $310,000) and a pair of diamond ‘String’ ear pendants ($140,000 - $200,000).

Art Deco diamond and pearl necklace

* Formerly in the collection of Baroness Edouard de Rothschild, an Art Deco diamond necklace, suspended with two natural pearls, measuring 16mm each ($700,000 - $1 million).

Harry Winston diamond ear pendants.

* Diamond ear pendants by Harry Winston with two drop-shaped natural pearls weighing more than 100 grains each ($2.8 - $3.5 million).

* A two-strand natural pearl necklace with rose overtones by Cartier ($530,000 - $850,000).

Please join me on the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet and on the Forbes website.