Before the Ocean Dream Had a Name: The Arslanian Story
The family who cut the Ocean Dream speaks for the first time. Sahag Arslanian reveals the year-long journey from rough to record-breaking gem — and why you never let go of a stone like this.
Category: Jewellery Stories
Unseen for a Century: Catherine the Great’s Diamonds and an Imperial Fabergé Necklace Return to Sotheby’s
Sewn to the silk of Catherine the Great’s gowns, then vanished for a century. The unlikely tale of how her diamond flowers — and an Imperial Fabergé necklace — found their way back.
The Inchiquin Emerald: Between Clontarf and St James’s
A Colombian gem, a late-Victorian convertible bangle, and the long arithmetic of a dynastic name.
Egyptomania and the Language of Jewels
How the Discovery of a Boy-King’s Tomb Rewrote the Grammar of Western Jewellery. Part II — The Jewelled Legacy: Maisons, Masterpieces, and the Eternal Return.
The Fingerprints in the Gold: Arsen Yarman’s Monumental Study of Armenian Goldsmiths under the Ottomans
Arsen Yarman’s two-volume study restores nearly 2,000 Armenian goldsmiths to Ottoman history, tracing seals, signatures, and archival records that reveal the hidden authorship behind centuries of imperial jewellery and splendour.
Egyptomania and the Language of Jewels
How the Discovery of a Boy-King’s Tomb Rewrote the Grammar of Western Jewellery. Part I — The Awakening: From Napoleon to Tutankhamun.
The Blue Beyond Compare: Why Kashmir Sapphires Command Such Extraordinary Prices at Auction
Why do Kashmir sapphires command record prices at auction? Their legendary history, velvety blue, and why a lab certificate changes everything.
The ‘Tudor Heart’ Saved: A Royal Pendant Secured for the Nation
Saved for the nation after an extraordinary fundraising campaign, the Tudor Heart Pendant — a rare 16th-century jewel linked to the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon — now enters the British Museum collection.
From Damage to Preservation: The Restoration of Empress Eugénie’s Crown at the Louvre
Damaged during the October 2025 robbery at the Louvre yet miraculously spared from loss, the crown of Empress Eugénie is now at the heart of an exceptional restoration project. Nearly intact and rich in historical symbolism, the restoration of Empress Eugénie’s crown marks a new chapter of preservation, expertise, and cultural memory.
Dynastic Jewels at the Hôtel de la Marine
Opened at the Hôtel de la Marine in Paris, ‘Joyaux Dynastiques’ brings together more than 140 royal and aristocratic jewels from the Al Thani Collection, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and major international lenders. Set within a historic monument once home to the French Crown Jewels, the exhibition traces how gemstones and jewellery shaped dynastic power, courtly identity and personal expression across Europe, from the early modern period to the 20th century.