It’s amazing how people suffer. Some people have money. Some people have fame. Some people have everything, and they suffer, just like you and me.
P.J.Joseph's Weblog On Colored Stones, Diamonds, Gem Identification, Synthetics, Treatments, Imitations, Pearls, Organic Gems, Gem And Jewelry Enterprises, Gem Markets, Watches, Gem History, Books, Comics, Cryptocurrency, Designs, Films, Flowers, Wine, Tea, Coffee, Chocolate, Graphic Novels, New Business Models, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Energy, Education, Environment, Music, Art, Commodities, Travel, Photography, Antiques, Random Thoughts, and Things He Like.
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Tuesday, July 09, 2019
Matrixport
Bitmain Technologies Ltd. co-founder Wu Jihan has marshaled a group of the mining giant’s former employees to launch a new cryptocurrency financial services startup, hoping to capitalize on Bitcoin’s resurgence. Called Matrixport, Wu Jihan’s latest endeavor is a one-stop platform for over-the-counter trading, lending and custody for digital assets.
2019 Top 100 Retailers List
Signet Jewelers is the only pure-play jewelry company to make the National Retail Federation’s 2019 Top 100 Retailers List. The list ranks retailers by their previous years’ sales, and Signet—which reported $5.10 billion in sales in 2018—ranks 85th on the annual rundown.
Happily Ever After: Escaping The Myth Of The Perfect Life
In his latest book Happily Ever After: Escaping the Myth of the Perfect Life, Paul Dolan explores some of the myths about our sources of happiness, and argues that there can be other, unexpected paths to lasting happiness. Marriage, university and having children are among the signposts to success that Paul Dolan challenges. Statistically, unmarried and childless women are the happiest subgroup in the population, he points out. They also live longer, he says – traditional markers used to measure success no longer correlate to happiness: “By freeing ourselves from the idea of the ‘perfect life’, we might each find a life worth living.” Must read.
How To Fail
In her memoir How to Fail: Everything I’ve Ever Learned from Things Going Wrong, Elizabeth Day explores with painful and often funny honesty what happens when things go wrong, and how failure can work in our favour. Paradoxically, the book and the podcast that inspired it – How to Fail with Elizabeth Day – have been hugely successful. So it’s perhaps no surprise that Day has been challenged about her failure credentials – particularly since, in addition, she is a successful novelist and newspaper columnist, has a double-first from Cambridge and willowy, Keira Knightly-ish looks.
Monday, July 08, 2019
Michele Lupi On Collecting Cars And Watches
Useful link:
https://robbreport.com/style/fashion/visionary-michele-lupi-collecting-cars-watches-2848894
Sunday, July 07, 2019
Overtourism
Tourism is like any other industry: it needs to be regulated and managed locally to prevent negative impacts. Justin Francis, CEO of UK-based tour operator Responsible Travel, has produced its own guide to the issue of overtourism.
Nickel Update
In late June 2019, Andy Home of Reuters wrote an excellent article discussing the current state of the nickel market and its outlook for the years ahead given the expectedly-large role that EV battery demand will play in shaping economics, plus the potential impact of disruptors like Tsingshan aiming to produce battery-grade nickel from feedstocks once considered too costly to convert.
The US Will Lose Badly In The Trade War With China
Useful link:
https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3010876/us-will-lose-badly-trade-war-china-and-imperil-world
Bentley Celebrates Its Centenary With A $254,000 Book Limited To Just 7 Copies
Useful link:
https://robbreport.com/motors/cars/bentleys-100th-anniversary-book-costs-2851463
Random Thoughts
Our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health. Taking care of our body is important, but tending to our relationships is a form of self-care, too.
Saturday, July 06, 2019
GIA Spots Natural-Synthetic Hybrid Diamond
Useful link:
https://www.diamonds.net/News/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=63720&ArticleTitle=GIA%2bSpots%2bNatural-Synthetic%2bHybrid%2bDiamond
The Donut Collection
The inspiration for the collection is simple—the glazed donut, a confection that brings joy to many, is Bondeye founder and designer Jess Klein’s favorite food.
Bondeye Jewelry is a new company; Jess Klein started it in 2017 after she became inspired to hone in on her passion—jewelry—while studying abroad in Sydney, Australia.
Designed and produced in New York, Bondeye’s pieces are sold via its website. It is also carried by retailers Broken English and Fivestory, and sold through Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s website.
The Golden Blueberry Glazed ring retails for $500. For more information or to see more pieces, visit BondeyeJewelry.com.
Varna-D
Gemoro Products announced that it will be the worldwide distributor for Imagem’s new Varna-D polished diamond grading device.
The portable state-of-the-art device is designed to quickly and reliably color-grade polished diamonds from D to L, the company said.
It can be used on diamonds of various sizes (0.25 carats to 5 carats), shapes, fluorescence, zoning and secondary hues, and has a rechargeable battery that lasts for five-plus hours.
The device is priced at $5,999. For more information, visit ImagemInc.com.
Boao Forum For Asia
China has its own version of the World Economic Forum known as the Boao Forum for Asia.
Recycled Textiles
Spinnova, a Finnish startup, is working on another process that can fully recycle old clothing.
Renewcell, Ambercycle, Worn Again, and others are also working on technology to recycle textiles.
NuCycl
The tech, called NuCycl, “essentially turns old clothing into new, high-quality raw materials for the creation of new clothes,” says Stacy Flynn, cofounder and CEO of Evrnu, the company that developed the technology. It’s one attempt to deal with the growing problem of waste from fashion. In a year, the world throws out an estimated 92 million tons of textile waste. In a little more than a decade, that number could increase by 60%. “Our goal is to convert that garment waste into new fiber, so that we eliminate the context of waste in the supply chain,” Flynn says. I hope it works.
Friday, July 05, 2019
Dior And Chopard Use Space-age Alloys To Shape New Jewellery Masterpieces
Useful link:
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/watches-jewellery/article/3009227/goodbye-gold-dior-and-chopard-use-space-age
How A Squid’s Color-Changing Skin Inspired A New Material That Can Trap Or Release Heat
Useful link:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-squids-color-changing-skin-inspired-new-material-can-trap-release-heat-180972162
One Man Invented Two Of The Deadliest Substances Of The 20th Century
Useful link:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/one-man-two-deadly-substances-20th-century-180963269
An Appraiser’s View Of The Drew Brees Trial
Useful link:
https://www.jckonline.com/editorial-article/appraisers-drew-brees-trial
Random Thoughts
Gold does not dissipate into the atmosphere, it does not burst into flames, and it does not poison or irradiate the holder. It is rare enough to make it difficult to overproduce and malleable to mint into coins, bars, and bricks. Civilizations have consistently used gold as a material of value. Perhaps modern societies would be well-served by looking at the properties of gold, to see why it has served as money for millennia, especially when someone’s wealth could disappear in a click.
Switzerland Advantage
Switzerland has been ranked the best place in the world to live and work, stealing the crown from Singapore which was at the top for five consecutive years.
High living standards and competitive salaries have seen the Swiss nation become a regular fixture among the world’s most livable cities. But at a time of growing global uncertainty, Switzerland’s famed political and economic stability helped it climb the ranks of HSBC Expat’s annual survey to score the top spot for the first time.
Artichoke Design
Get to know Caline Williams-Wynn of the Cape Town–based Artichoke Design, which has been behind some of the world’s most mind-bending modern safari camps throughout Africa, including Tanzania’s Jabali Ridge, Botswana’s King’s Pool and Mombo Camps, Rwanda’s Magashi Camp and Zambia’s Royal Chundu, in addition to Bisate. If there’s a high-profile new lodge or a buzzed-about top-to-toe revamp afoot virtually anywhere on the African continent, chances are Williams-Wynn’s keen eye is behind it.
De Beers Group Industry Services
De Beers’ grading lab—formerly known by the unwieldy name, the International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research (IIDGR)—has been rechristened De Beers Group Industry Services. The renaming comes with the launch of a new De Beers Industry Services site.
Thursday, July 04, 2019
2019 New Ladies’ Watches
Useful link:
https://www.graff.com/watches/high-jewellery-watches/new-for-2019/list
Recompose
Useful links:
https://www.recompose.life
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/washington-first-state-allow-burial-method-human-composting-180972020
Daniels Pocket Watch
At Sotheby’s London, the Space Traveller 1, a pocket watch Daniels completed in 1982 to commemorate the American moon landing 13 years earlier, sold for $4,561,407, more than three and a half times its high estimate, setting a world record for a timepiece by an independent watchmaker and the highest price achieved for a watch at auction this year. Take note.
Wednesday, July 03, 2019
China And The World: Inside The Dynamics Of A Changing Relationship
Useful link:
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/china/china-and-the-world-inside-the-dynamics-of-a-changing-relationship
The Best Bronze Watches: How A Third-Place Metal Became First Class
Useful link:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/msolomon/2019/07/02/best-bronze-watches-tudor-panerai-iwc-zenith-montblanc/#7b8e3fbb55a8
Saving AI From Catastrophic Forgetting
Useful links:
https://www.axios.com/ai-memory-forgetting-336e0525-b4ca-4bec-bed5-745b3d613f65.html
https://www.vicarious.com
Tuesday, July 02, 2019
Real Diamonds Campaign
The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) has launched an international awareness campaign, highlighting the unique features of natural diamonds.
The bourse will promote its “I love natural diamonds” campaign — which it says is the first international initiative by a global diamond center to differentiate real diamonds from synthetics — over social media. It will feature several short videos, released over a number of weeks, starting with a piece entitled “Fake Times. Real Diamonds.”
The project was first announced at the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) executive committee meeting held in Israel.
Many thanks to Rapaport.
Did You Know?
78% of world AI patents were filed by China last year.
Scientists Solve Mystery Of Yellow Egyptian Desert Glass
Useful link:
https://news.sky.com/story/scientists-solve-mystery-of-yellow-egyptian-desert-glass-11721232
Rent A Friend
The new normal. Enter RentAFriend. RentAFriend is a site built to do one thing: show paying customers a list of potential rentable friends so they can get in contact as quickly as possible. Members can peruse the profiles of local friends, check out their pictures, and read their bios. They can see a list of their preferred activities and of physical traits, including height, eye and hair color, and body type.
Alex Woo x Sugarfina
The New York-based designer Alex Woo announced that she has teamed up with Sugarfina co-founder Roise O’Neill for Alex Woo x Sugarfina, a line based on their favorite confections from the candy brand.
Crafted in sterling silver and 14-karat rose and yellow gold, the line has four designs: the Champagne Bear, the Pink Flamingo, the Ice Cream Cone and the But First, Rosé Rose.
Alex Woo x Sugarfina is sold exclusively on AlexWoo.com and is priced between $148 and $848. For a limited time, each design is being sold with a cube of Sugarfina candy. Take a look.
The Jewelry Independent Summit
The Jewelry Independent Summit has announced it will host the fifth installment of its educational Summit on Aug. 10 in New York City—and revealed a speaker lineup comprising top indie designers and jewelry retailers.
Prestige HMS Stainless Steel Roman Gauthier
The story behind the meteorite on the dial of the new Prestige HMS Stainless Steel from independent watchmaker Romain Gauthier begins in Australia’s Northern Territory in 1931: that was the year the Henbury meteorite, and the crater field it created, was discovered. Distinguished by coarse intersecting bands of nickel-iron crystal (aka the Widmanstätten pattern), the silvery shard is contained within a sleek 43 mm case. Available in a very limited run of just 10 pieces, it retails for $68,000.
Monday, July 01, 2019
Everledger Trying To Eliminate Blood Diamonds With Blockchain Technology
Useful link:
https://www.itbusiness.ca/news/everledger-trying-to-eliminate-blood-diamonds-with-blockchain-technology/110395
The Future Of Diamond Business
Useful link:
https://www.businessinsider.in/The-US-head-of-the-worlds-largest-diamond-miner-says-its-sustainability-plan-isnt-just-good-for-the-planet-its-the-future-of-its-business/articleshow/69377379.cms
The Folklife Festival
The Folklife Festival, which began in 1967 takes place each summer, gathers musicians, artists and performers to recognize and explore culture and traditions from across the United States and around the world. Must visit.
Louis Vuitton X
Louis Vuitton X, the two-story space will function almost like a museum. Visitors can walk through a series of displays that showcase the brand’s long history, from its origins as a purveyor of luggage in the 1850s through to its dizzying array of special products, made in concert with the likes of Cindy Sherman, Yayoi Kusama, Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid, among others. In total, there are 180 objects on view. It will also put the spotlight on clothing created by its current designers, Virgil Abloh and Nicolas Ghesquière, as well as its former clothing directors Marc Jacobs and Kim Jones. You’ll also find wares from the brand’s collaboration with New York streetwear label Supreme. Must visit.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
lherzolite: A New Diamond Indicator Mineral
The discovery of a new source-rock indicator for diamond formation has the potential to help geologists locate and identify valuable diamond deposits around the world, a study by the University of Alberta and De Beers shows.
“The outcome of the project fundamentally changes our understanding of where diamonds come from,” Thomas Stachel, a University of Alberta geologist and the Canadian research chair for diamonds, was quoted as saying in an online article published by Phys.org. “[It] has the potential to cause diamond companies to retool their approach to exploration.”
Geologists at Canada’s University of Alberta studied a sample of 116 diamonds from De Beers’ Victor mine in Ontario. The goal was to characterize the sample’s mineral inclusions and identify any that could be age-dated using their isotopic compositions, which could serve as indicator materials for kimberlite.
Of the stones tested, 99 showed garnet inclusions, a typical indicator for diamonds. However, 85% of those garnet samples were found to be lherzolite, a peridotitic rock that had previously been discovered around diamond areas, but had been considered unimportant.
“This makes Victor the first significant diamond mine in the world that extracts a predominantly lherzolite-derived diamond production,” the study notes.
Lherzolite rock has been identified in other areas of Canada, including Buffalo Head Hills in Alberta and the Saskatchewan region, Tom Ormsby, head of external and corporate affairs for De Beers Canada, told Rapaport News Tuesday. It is also found at mining sites such as Ellendale in Western Australia and De Beers’ Venetia in South Africa, according to the study.
“In the long run, this could make a big difference in diamond exploration,” Stachel explains.
The University of Alberta is also studying inclusions from De Beers’ Snap Lake and Gahcho Kué mines in Canada that will enable them to identify and separate “barren” lherzolite from the diamondiferous kind using machine learning, Ormsby added.
Many thanks to Rapaport.
Lendager Group
Lendager Group, a Danish company specialized in promoting circular economy within future cities, buildings and companies, has a division called UP, which works within resource optimization and upcycle product development. Upcycling is the process whereby the value of waste materials is increased through the recycling process, ideally creating a product with a longer lifespan than the original. One of the latest innovations by Lendager UP are tables made of old Carlsberg beer kegs in an elegant design by Matrikula Studio. Take a look.
Plastix
A great example of a company that has rethought the way plastics can be used is Plastix. This small-sized Danish company has specialized in transforming fibers from fishing nets, trawls and ropes into high-quality plastic raw materials called Green Plastics. This way they reduce landfilling, combat marine pollution and the loss of valuable resources, while documenting CO2 emission savings up to 82%.
Planet
Planet photographs every square inch of the earth every day from space to help track climate change, one of many valuable uses for this truly novel data set. They downlink, process and manage 6+ terabytes of data every day, and make it easy to build tools, ingest imagery and run analytics at scale. One application includes participation with NASA on a project to create a dashboard of what are called essential climate variables.
100 Years Ago In Photos: A Look Back At 1919
Useful link:
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/05/100-years-ago-photos-look-back-1919/589528
Global Thermostat
ExxonMobil and Global Thermostat have signed a joint development agreement to advance breakthrough technology that can capture and concentrate carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources, including power plants, and the atmosphere.
Solar Foods
A group of Finnish researchers has been producing food without either animals or plants. Their only ingredients are hydrogen-oxidising bacteria, electricity from solar panels, a small amount of water, carbon dioxide drawn from the air, nitrogen and trace quantities of minerals such as calcium, sodium, potassium and zinc. The food they have produced is 50% to 60% protein; the rest is carbohydrate and fat. They have started a company Solar Foods that seeks to open its first factory in 2021. Solar Foods has been selected as an incubation project by the European Space Agency.
Vans x Frida Kahlo
Vans is paying tribute to Mexican artist and activist Frida Kahlo by bringing some of her iconic pieces to life.
The Vault by Vans x Frida Kahlo collection are in select stores across the United States. The trio of sneakers showcase a different painting of the famed Mexican painter. The OG Slip-On LX features Kahlo's 1940s "Self-Portrait with Necklace of Thorns and Hummingbird," while her 1939 self-portrait "Las Dos Fridas" is displayed on the OG Sk8-Hi LX -- the brand's classic high top sneaker.
And Kahlo's last known painting -- the 1954 "Viva la Vida, Watermelons" -- covers a OG Authentic LX along with the words "viva la vida" embroidered on one side.
Artful. Original.
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Tambour Icons Celebrate Watchmaking Chez Vuitton
Useful link:
http://www.thejewelleryeditor.com/watches/article/time-voyager-tambour-icons-celebrate-watchmaking-chez-vuitton
The Joy Of Absence
Useful link:
https://www.economist.com/business/2019/05/12/the-joy-of-absence
Range
Useful link:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/550188/range-by-david-epstein/9780735214484
Jewelry Startup Mints Fresh Funding In Pursuit Of New Gold Standard
Useful links:
https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/jewelry-startup-mints-fresh-funding-in-pursuit-of-new-gold-standard
https://auratenewyork.com
Marla Aaron
Get to know Marla Aaron. The jewerly designer's brilliant collections are available through an inquiry on Aaron’s website.
Friday, June 28, 2019
How To Skimm Your Life
TheSkimm founders, Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin has released their first book, How To Skimm Your Life, and it debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List. The book details life and career advice to Millennial women in succinct, digestible chapters, like a print version of their daily newsletter. Must read.
Daniel Defoe’s Hard-Earned Lessons On Business And Life
Useful link:
https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Daniel-Defoes-hard-earned-lessons-on-business-and-life?gko=34a51
Jeff Koons ‘Rabbit’ Goes For Record $91.1 M. At Rock-Solid $539 M. Christie’s Contemporary Sale
Useful link:
http://www.artnews.com/2019/05/16/christies-postwar-contemporary-2
The Race To Save The Planet From Plastic
Useful link:
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/4/9/18274131/plastic-waste-pollution-bacteria-digestion
New Collections From Kaali Designs
Get to know Anit Dodhia, the San Diego–based talent behind Kaali Designs.
The Mystery Buyer
The American billionaire hedge fund manager and art collector J. Tomilson Hill is the mysterious buyer of an early 17th-century canvas billed as a rediscovered masterpiece by Caravaggio, according to a person with knowledge of the sale.
The painting, “Judith and Holofernes,” depicts a scene from the Old Testament’s Book of Judith in which a Jewish widow saves her besieged city by tempting and then beheading an Assyrian general.
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Four Emerging Jewelry Brands With Surprising Origins
Useful link:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanrabimov/2019/06/26/four-emerging-jewelry-brands-with-surprising-origins/#48518b8d6662
An Interview With Someone Who’s Worked For Every Gig Economy App You Can Think Of
Useful link:
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/5/15/18623161/uber-lyft-lime-grubhub-gig-economy-app-worker
Colored Stone Darkness & Brightness
Useful link:
https://www.gia.edu/gia-news-research-colored-stone-darkness-and-brightness
Air Quality Life Index
Prof.G.H, the assistant professor of Economics, Environment and Sustainability, and Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), whose work has been used to develop the air quality life index (AQLI), talks us through his research into China’s air quality and explains why pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks facing humanity. Take note.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
How Facebook’s New Blockchain Might Revolutionize Our Digital Identities
Useful link:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613877/how-facebooks-new-blockchain-might-revolutionize-our-digital-identities
Senior Planet
Useful links:
https://seniorplanet.org
https://www.fastcompany.com/90344172/see-inside-a-coworking-space-for-seniors
Obama Presidential Center
Useful link:
https://robbreport.com/shelter/art-collectibles/husband-wife-creating-obama-presidential-center-2850510
World's 50 Best Restaurants For 2019
Useful links:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-50-best-restaurants-2019/index.html
http://www.maurocolagreco.com