Yahoo Finance Yellow diamonds are a girl's best friend, and Nina Runsdorf makes a dazzling debut
Very few red-carpet appearances merit being labelled a 'moment'. Lady Gaga's turn at the Oscars in February was the exception. The 128.54ct Tiffany Yellow Diamond that hung around her neck has only been worn by three people in its 142-year history - the last, before Gaga, being Audrey Hepburn.
Even so, yellow diamonds represent the 'entry level' into the rarefied world of coloured diamonds. While much more scarce than run-of-the-mill white, 60 per cent of all fancy coloured diamonds are yellow, so they don't carry quite the same price premium as pinks or blues.
Left to right: Yellow-gold, Fancy Light yellow diamond and white-diamond Aella ring, price on request, De Beers. Pink-gold, Fancy Intense yellow-diamond and white-diamond Lebe necklace, price on request, Repossi. 18ct-yellow gold, platinum, Fancy Intense yellow diamond and white-diamond earrings, price on request, Harry Winston. Yellow-gold and Fancy Vivid yellow diamond earrings, price on request, Graff
But not all yellow diamonds are created equal. The more nitrogen in the stone's chemical make-up, the stronger the saturation of colour.
They range from lemon-sorbet Fancy Light, like the 10ct stone in De Beers' Aella ring, through Fancy Intense, such as the two cushion-cuts clasped between links of rose gold in Repossi's Lebe necklace. The most prized hue is Fancy Vivid yellow, 5.49ct of which spiral from the earlobes in Graff's ode to Cy Twombly.
Less severe than bright, dazzling white, the right shade will add a soft luminosity to the skin, like candlelight. The flattering effect of hanging a 6ct yellow diamond in each earlobe is nicely summed up by the diamond cut chosen by Harry Winston: radiant.
Nina Runsdorf makes a dazzling UK debut
Nina Runsdorf may be the newest name in Harrods’ Fine Jewellery room, but she’s no rookie. The New York-based jeweller is best known for her Flip rings, with which she launched her brand in 2005, but even before that she was the connoisseur’s go-to for one-of-a-kind pieces – not a marketing ploy but a gem-driven inevitability, given the scarcity of the raw materials.
Nina Runsdorf 18ct-rose-gold, Yahweh opal, coral, Paraiba tourmaline and diamond earrings, price on request, Harrods
Slabs of Australian Yahweh opal hang like oil paintings from vintage coral; nuggets of uncut fire opal blaze a trail from earlobe to shoulder; a bracelet of rare Paraiba tourmalines carpets the wrist, fabric-like in its fluidity. Diamond slices – once an oddity, now increasingly sought after – are a speciality, and appear outlined in vibrant enamel.
Like the art that lines the walls of her Upper East Side home, it takes expert eyes to recognise the value in these stones. Statement making yet unflashy, they’ve been seen on the red carpet, but carry even more clout when worn, as Runsdorf does, with a crisp white shirt. A power move, indeed.
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