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Diamonds Are (No Longer) a Girl's Best Friend

Posted on: Sunday, 12 February 2006, 09:00 CST

By Steve Bloomfield

A prasiolite may not be for ever, but it is a girl's new best friend. For gems with names more likely to be found in a geology textbook than a high-class jeweller's are outshining diamonds, rubies and sapphires.

Sodalite and tanzanite don't sound romantic, but these semiprecious stones are now so popular that they make up nearly half of all pieces of j ewellery sold by Britain's top designers.

Fashionable j ewellers such as Stephen Webster, Theo Fennell, Pippa Small and Dinny Hall are turning their backs on diamonds and using lesser-known stones such as morganite, citrine and tourmaline.

But, while these are proving popular, buyers have been warned that the value of a semi- Precious stonewill diminish, as they aremore likely to chip.

This not stopping celebrities m queuing up to be seen with te st designs. Model Liz, actress Uma Thurman and pop star Rachel Stevens are fans of Dinny Hall, while at last 's Grammy awards cere, pop star Christina Aguil-ra pper Jay-Z and country d western stars the Dixie hicks wore jewellery by tephen Webster. "These k stones allow us to do something different," Mr Webster said. Even the term "semi- precious", he added, is out-dated. "I recently sold a tanzanite ring for $50,000 - you can't call that semi-precious."

It is a view echoed by luxury jeweller Theo Fenell. "Some of these stones n be far rarer and more autiful than precious nes," he said.

The rising price of gold and nds has accelerated the precious boom. Gold is more han $575 an ounce - an 18 per nt rise on last year. Prices of ugh diamonds have risen by s much as 40 per cent in the past two years.

Diamonds are extortion," said Ms Hall. "People ing in for a pink diamond see the prices and choose a k tourmaline or zircon stead." But it is for their brant and varied colours, rather than their intrinsic value, that designers such as Solange Azagury-Partridge - dubbed "Queen of bling" by Elle magazine - have turned to semiprecious stones. "You can't get a precious stone that is purple," she said. "Companies like Car-tier have suddenly realised there is a big market in semi-precious stones."

Designer Pippa Small is of the same mind and said: "I don't feel there should be any reason why a crystal cannot be seen to be as beautiful as a diamond."

Asprey, the London jewellers, find semi-precious stones are now "incredibly popular". Lord Bruce Dundas, Asprey's managing director, said: "We have particularly noticed an increase in men purchasing them as gifts."

Then there's the sheer variety. Vicki Beamon, creative director of Erickson Beamon, said: "We have recently been designing with agate, jasper, coral, carnelian, rose and smoky quartz, tourmaline, carved jade, amethyst and rock crystal. Customers really are looking for a unique style."

The vogue for the stones could, in part, be due to ethically aware consumers veering away from "conflict diamonds". In the runup to Valentine's Day, Amnesty International and Global Witness have published a guide to buying ethical diamonds. The charities say warlords in countries such as Sierra Leone and Angola have used billions of dollars from the sale of diamonds to fund wars.

TOP DESIGNERS

STEPHENWEBSTER: 'There is no shortage of colour in a jeweller's window now.' Clients:Madonna, Cameron Diaz.

THEO FENNELL: 'The rare coloured stones aremaking a huge impact.' Clients: Elton John, Naomi Campbell.

PIPPASMALL: 'They create fantasy and dreams.' Clients: Julia Roberts, Mick Jagger.

DINNYHALL: 'Diamonds are extortionate.' Clients: Liz Hurley, Uma Thurman.

VICKIBEAMON: 'Semiprecious stones have always been essential to our philosophy.' Clients: KateMoss, Donna Karan.

Source: Independent on Sunday, The

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