Stones, settings, signatures
Jewelry
Jewelry is the most personal luxury there is. Here is how to buy it with a clear head: what the certificate says, what the stone does in daylight and which pieces will still be worn in thirty years.
The four Cs, decoded
How to read a diamond certificate
Carat, colour, clarity and cut explained the way a jeweler explains them to a friend: which grades you can see, which you only pay for and where the sweet spot sits for a one-carat stone.
Beyond the diamond
Coloured stones: sapphire, emerald and ruby
Why the finest coloured stones now outperform diamonds at auction, what origin and treatment mean for the price and how to choose a sapphire, emerald or ruby that will still glow in twenty years.
The quiet classic
Pearls are back: South Sea, Tahitian, Akoya
The pearl strand has gone from heirloom to the most modern piece in the jewelry box.
Signed, dated, wanted
Heritage jewelry: what holds its value
Why a signed piece from a great house resells for multiples of an unsigned one, how period and provenance are priced and which contemporary pieces are becoming tomorrow’s heirlooms.
The guide
Fine Jewelry: ten picks
Ten pieces, from an everyday gold chain to a high-jewelry necklace, chosen for design, craft and the way they are still worn decades later.
- Alhambra Vintage necklace · Van Cleef & Arpels
- Love bracelet · Cartier
- Serpenti Viper necklace · Bulgari
- Trinity ring · Cartier
- Solitaire in the Tiffany Setting · Tiffany & Co.
- and five more
What should it cost?
Diamond Price Calculator
Carat, colour, clarity, cut and shape: an indicative retail price range for a natural or lab-grown diamond.
Gavalia Concierge
A personal shortlist, within two working days
Tell us the brief and the budget. A person, not an algorithm, replies with three to five considered options: the right watch, the right villa, the right hotel, the right gift.
- Free, independent, no affiliate links
- Three to five options with prices and reasons
- Introductions to the right dealer, advisor or hotel on request