The Royal Ballet’s new pro­duc­tion of JEWELS, a bal­let in three parts, also known as a trip­tych, was con­ceived by George Bal­an­chine orig­i­nally for The New York City Bal­let in 1967. Each act is col­ored by a gem theme of emer­alds, rubies, and dia­monds respec­tively with every dance set to a dif­fer­ent composer’s work; the three acts rep­re­sent peri­ods in the choreographer’s life. The inspi­ra­tion behind the pro­duc­tion was based on a stroll down New York City’s Fifth Avenue when Bal­an­chine was struck by Van Cleef & Arpels bril­liant win­dow dis­play. The orig­i­nal cos­tumes are being used in the cur­rent show and they pos­sess the depth of char­ac­ter of their cor­re­spond­ing gem­stone, they are that won­der­ful in exe­cu­tion and stage pres­ence. The videos about the pro­duc­tion and the cos­tumes on the Royal Opera House’s web­site should not to be missed as they offer a very rare and fas­ci­nat­ing back­stage view of the bal­let and its history.

In other gem dra­mas: Tiffany & Co. will be pro­vid­ing the jew­elry for Baz Luhrmann’s upcom­ing remake of THE GREAT GATSBY. I do see a trend here as Cartier recently recre­ated a few of Wal­lis Windsor’s pricey pieces for Madonna’s W.E. and Van Cleef & Arpels pro­vided a spec­tac­u­lar dia­mond Zip neck­lace for THE KING’S SPEECH.

The Sun-Drop Dia­mond, 110-carats. Sotheby’s Geneva

The fancy, vivid, yel­low dia­mond above, cer­ti­fied with the high­est GIA dia­mond color-grading for a sunny-hued sparkler, is aptly called the Sun-Drop dia­mond. At an show-stopping 110-carats, it will be tak­ing cen­ter stage on Sotheby’s Geneva auc­tion block on Novem­ber 15, 2011.