https://stonesandsociety.com/ The latest stones stories from Stones & Society. en https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/argyle-pink-diamonds-boodles-2026/ https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/argyle-pink-diamonds-boodles-2026/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 08:00:00 -0700 Rio Tinto has sold its remaining Argyle pink diamond inventory, and the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand itself, to the British jeweller Boodles. The mine closed in 2020; the stones that are left will now be released slowly, over about a decade, starting with a high jewellery collection in 2027. https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/hope-diamond-smithsonian/ https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/hope-diamond-smithsonian/ Fri, 25 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0700 The most famous diamond in the world has been at the Smithsonian since Harry Winston donated it in 1958. Its blue comes from boron, its setting history runs through Cartier, and its paper trail starts with Tavernier in the seventeenth century. https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/black-princes-ruby-spinel/ https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/black-princes-ruby-spinel/ Fri, 25 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0700 It sits in the frontal cross of the Imperial State Crown, and it is not a ruby at all but a 170-carat red spinel. The legends of 1367 and Agincourt are reported history; the mineralogy is certain. https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/australian-opal-fields-guide/ https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/australian-opal-fields-guide/ Fri, 25 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0700 Australia produces the world's great opals, and each field has a signature: Lightning Ridge for black opal, Queensland for boulder opal, Coober Pedy for white opal. The GIA's field guides are the starting point. https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/lab-grown-diamonds-price-of-brilliance/ https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/lab-grown-diamonds-price-of-brilliance/ Wed, 23 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0700 Laboratory-grown diamonds now sit in a majority of new American engagement rings while costing a fraction of natural stones, and GIA has stopped describing them with natural grading language. The science of separation, the shifting report vocabulary, and the 2026 price reality. https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/sapphire-origin-science/ https://stonesandsociety.com/stones/sapphire-origin-science/ Wed, 23 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0700 A Kashmir pedigree can multiply a sapphire's price beyond what beauty explains. Inside the laboratories, origin is an opinion built from inclusions, spectra and chemistry, and the science stops short of certainty.