Received a bit of news to pass on this week:

Gijs Bakker Lib­erty brooch, 1997, col­lec­tion of for­mer Sec­re­tary of State Madeleine Albright

–An exhi­bi­tion of for­mer Sec­re­tary of State Madeleine Albright’s pins enti­tled, Read My Pins, will be on show at the Museum of Art and Design in New York begin­ning Sep­tem­ber 30^th and run until Jan­u­ary 31, 2010. The exhibit explores the use of jew­elry, and in this case, the pin, as a diplo­matic tool–not a con­cept with which I am unfa­mil­iar. I am very much look­ing for­ward to attend­ing this event and will review it when it opens in September.

–The ven­er­a­ble David Webb Inc. is col­lab­o­rat­ing with a new web­site, deFaura.com, and together they will offer some of the best of Webb’s designs at com­pet­i­tive prices; they will also host an online auc­tion of fab­u­lous and rare vin­tage Webb pieces. Visit often, you will get to see some quin­tes­sen­tial Webb that was made when the designer him­self was actively work­ing. Here is a link to my post about the his­tory of the firm.

–And last but not least, Sotheby’s Mag­nif­i­cent Jew­els spring auc­tion will take place on April 23, 2009. The pre­view will begin on the 18^th, but if you can­not attend, be sure to view the lots online, there is so much to see! On the auc­tion block will be a few pieces of note, one is a circa 1930, dia­mond ban­gle bracelet by Cartier. It’s a wide plat­inum cuff inset with about thirty-carats of old Euro­pean cut dia­monds, all of var­i­ous sizes. Spec­tac­u­lar stones are doing sur­pris­ingly well in the present mar­ket, and Sotheby’s will have on hand a fancy vivid blue, inter­nally flaw­less, cushion-shaped dia­mond of 7.03 carats that is a head­liner for their sale in Geneva this May. The orig­i­nal rough 26.58 carat stone was found in 2008 in the renowned Cul­li­nan dia­mond mine in South Africa. Who­ever buys this blue beauty, gets to name it.