Diamonds sparkling brighter than ever this spring

If there's an added sparkle to this season's styles, it's because of the dazzling accessories that are accenting the latest fashions.

Once reserved for the most elegant formal wear, diamonds are shining examples of a return to extravagance being celebrated by many designers. Through their elaborate use of the most precious of stones in everything from evening to casual wear, their message is crystal clear: Beauty is all around us, especially when it's measured in carat weight.

At his recent Paris fashion show, Oscar de la Renta for Balmain had his models decked out in Fred Leighton's vintage diamonds as they paraded down the runway. Leighton, known as the King of Secondhand Swank at his Madison Avenue store in New York, has supplied jewels for many actresses at the Academy Awards, including Barbra Streisand, Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lopez.

Others who shined up their apparel with classic or vintage diamond jewelry include young designer Jeremy Scott, celebrity eveningwear specialist Badgley Mischka, Cynthia Steffe and Chaiken.

The Red Carpet Diamond Collection, unveiled during Scott's New York debut, is a selection of exquisite one-of-a-kind diamond necklaces and earrings created by leading jewelry artists and designed to be worn at the Hollywood award shows, with proceeds to benefit the American Foundation for Aids Research.

At this year's Academy Awards, actress Nicole Kidman accented a delicate frilly pink Chanel gown with a 241-carat Bulgari diamond necklace. A month before the Oscars, actress Kate Winslet was seen wearing more than $300,000 worth of diamonds at the Orange British Academy Film Awards. Saffron Burrows, a presenter at the awards, also sported a $300,000 necklace, comprised of marquise and round-cut diamonds, with matching large 5-carat diamond stud earrings.

Laird Borrelli, fashion editor at Style.com, says the flashy diamond jewelry at the awards ceremonies is nothing new. "There was and will continue to be a lot of diamonds at the Oscars," she says. "It's part of the Oscar lore."

What is new, however, is the attention being paid to expensive stones at the fashion shows, Borrelli points out. "We saw a lot of real jewelry at the couture shows," she notes. "They were the most expensive and elegant accessories to accent couture." The fashion editor attributes the good taste in fine jewelry and fashion to the overall current interest in luxury and investment pieces.

Joseph Schlussel, president of the Diamond Registry in New York, acknowledges the increased interest in diamond jewelry — in pieces other than rings, and in colors such as champagne, yellow, pink and blue. Even the most popular diamond shape has changed, he says.

"Until a year or two ago, marquise and pear-shaped diamonds were most popular," he says. "Within the last two years, we are seeing more square and rectangular or emerald-cut stones. The geometric effect is fashionable."

As for colors, they are a big trend in diamond jewelry, according to Schlussel. Champagne is very popular — in degrees of brown and yellow — in pendant, necklace and earring designs. The most luxurious blue diamonds are auction pieces, he says, and pink stones "can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. They are very expensive."

At one of Pittsburgh's oldest and best-known diamond merchants, Schiffmann's Jewelers in the Clark Building, Downtown, owner Judah Samet says the current economic climate has brought about "less demand for anything other than diamonds," noting that other precious stones such as sapphires and emeralds are feeling the effects of a slow economy.

"Diamonds have always been the most popular piece of jewelry you can have," he says. Over the past year, the graduated-tier necklace featuring three different-size diamonds on a pendant has replaced the solitary diamond in popularity, he says. The same style is available as earrings.

Another popular trend, according to Samet, is a necklace showcasing a row of diamonds, with the largest stones in the front to the smallest at the back of the neck. "We've sold a 10-carat total-weight necklace from $10,000 and up, and a 15-carat total-weight from $30,000 and up," he says. A necklace featuring a $35,000 Riviera diamond can cost upwards of $1 million, he says. But Samet says the price is worth the lasting effect of a beautiful diamond.

"Even if you have a six- or seven-carat Riviera, when you wear that at night and light catches it, it really sparkles," Samet says. "You can't get anything more beautiful than that."

The jeweler says diamond tennis bracelets still are popular, although they have undergone a "slight decline" in recent years. And colored diamonds are selling but are very expensive because the market is limited, he says, noting that a 1-carat canary diamond will sell for "$10,000 plus," a blue diamond will cost $150,000 and up and pink diamonds are extremely rare. Most expensive of all is the ruby-red diamond, which demands a staggering $1 million per carat, Samet says.

For the less-extravagant consumer, diamond initial pendants are a good idea, according to Nina Pugliese, sales associate and buyer for Henne Jewelers in Shadyside. And the lariat, an adjustable pendant that can be worn tight at the neck or longer in length, is popular for formal or casual dress, she says.

A "fabulous look" by designer Mark Patterson is a collection of earrings, bracelets and pendants that team diamonds with colored sapphire, emerald or ruby stones that graduate in shading and size, Pugliese says.

"Color is strong for spring," says Pugliese, adding that fancy yellow diamonds are quite popular right now. She says one of most spectacular featured designs at Henne's is an elaborate necklace mixing white and fancy yellow diamonds that sells for $45,000.

"It's very lacy-looking, with an antique flavor to it," she says. "It's a very hot look."

At Hardy & Hayes jewelers at One Oxford Centre, vice president Jennifer Guthrie agrees that "anything with diamonds is popular" this season. While tennis bracelets and diamond stud earrings are "always staple items," Guthrie says she has seen increased interest in solitaires on fine chains.

"We've sold a ton of diamond crosses lately," she says, adding that they range from about $600 to $4,000, depending on the carat weight of the stone.

As for earrings, the diamond hoop — in white or yellow gold with small diamonds lining the circles — is a big-selling item as well, she says.

Guthrie says one of the most common questions her clients have about diamond jewelry is, "Can I wear this every day?" "I tell them, 'You wear your engagement ring every day, don't you• Sure, you can wear diamonds with your sweat pants.' People aren't going to spend that much money if they can't get wear out of it."

Fortunately, she says, it's fashionable to make diamonds a part of any fashion statement.

"It used to be that people saved their best jewelry for special occasions," she says. "That isn't the fad anymore. The trend is toward having jewels that you can wear every day. When you go out for dinner, you want to have something nice to wear."

Most jewelers will offer countless gems of wisdom about how to buy diamonds. Joseph Schussel, president of the Diamond Registry in New York, prefers to share his expertise on how not to buy a diamond.

"The diamond market, like the gem itself, has many facets," he says on his Web site. "Shifts in national economics and in international politics are reflected as rapidly in the market as a ray of light is reflected in a perfectly cut stone."

One of the biggest controversies in the diamond industry is over "conflict diamonds," diamonds that are helping to finance wars in Africa and to pay for weapons that are driving millions of people from their homes. In a special investigative report, NBC News estimated that in the past three years, 2.5 million people in the Congo have lost their lives because armies are fighting over the country's diamonds and other mineral resources.

According to the report, sales of conflict diamonds to the United States total more than $100 million, despite import bans imposed by the United Nations and the American government.

Schlussel explains that a new version of a Congressional bill aimed at restricting trade of these diamonds has been introduced. Passage of the bill would go a long way in assuring consumers that the diamonds they buy are not tainted by this controversy, he says.

In his list of "Practical Tips on How Not to Buy a Diamond," Schlussel warns against trying to use the money you spend on a diamond to encourage what you perceive as "good" diamond workers or discourage "bad" ones.

"Never buy a diamond to help the poor miners in South Africa or in Australia. And never buy a diamond to help the 500,000 diamond cutters in India, Malaysia, Israel or Brazil. Buying a diamond is a straight business transaction. Send charity contributions to charitable organizations. Remember that the origin of a diamond cannot be determined even by the experts."

In 1998, Global Witness, a London-based nongovernmental organization that focuses on the links between environmental and human-rights abuses, published a groundbreaking report on "conflict" or "blood diamonds."

The report documented how trade in rough diamonds has funded and prolonged conflicts in Angola and Sierra Leone. Diamond company De Beers and Global Witness define "conflict diamonds" as those that originate from areas in Africa controlled by forces fighting against legitimate governments. Small, valuable and easily concealed, many of these diamonds have fueled resistance for years and found their way into the legitimate diamond industry.

The report focused particularly on De Beers and its subsidiaries. In 1996, De Beers was sorting, valuing and selling about 80 percent of the world's diamond production. Today, this figure stands at about 65 percent, since new mines owned by other companies in Australia and Canada have increased the diamond supply.

According to Global Witness, De Beers' annual reports during the 1990s make it clear the company was buying rough diamonds in Angola at a time when the country was engaged in a long and bloody civil war.

Conflict diamonds are estimated to constitute 3 percent to 4 percent of the world's diamond supply. But the diamond industry was not about to allow the issue to overshadow the carefully cultivated image of diamonds and romance.

In 1999, De Beers announced an embargo on all diamonds from Angola by its buying offices around the world. Sierra Leone later was added to the list. In 2000, producers, manufacturers, traders, diamond companies and others formed the World Diamond Council to develop a system to track the export and import of rough diamonds to prevent their exploitation for illicit purposes.

Governments, the industry and nongovernmental organizations have tried to develop a system to ensure that conflict diamonds do not enter the legal trading system.

William Boyajian, president of the Gemological Institute of America, says he remembers the conference he attended at the State Department several years ago when conflict diamonds were first brought up. "Frankly, I think it was news to a lot of people," Boyajian says. "Even to someone like me, who has been in the business 25 years. I think the industry was first shocked, then angry — because (in terms of fueling conflicts), what about oil, what about arms• — until very soon after that, the clearer reality emerged that, if this was going on, it was something the industry wanted to confront."

Most jewelers say consumers appear unaware or unaffected by the issue. Jeweler's Circular Keystone, an industry trade publication, conducted a survey about a year ago asking retail jewelers whether their customers ever mentioned "conflict diamonds." Of 223 respondents, 85.7 percent of jewelers said their customers did not ask; 14.3 percent said they had received inquiries.

"There are certainly some folks, particularly in areas where there is a tendency to latch on to a cause du jour , who will eschew diamonds," says Hedda Schupak, editor of Jeweler's Circular Keystone.

"But, as an industry observer, I don't see it as a trend across the nation."

Details:
MSNBC: "Diamonds of Conflict,"
The Diamond Registry: Schussel's other tips on buying diamonds .