Brian Gavin proudly announces the release of his new mobile device application (app), intimately connecting mobile users with Brian Gavin Diamonds (BGD).  Brian Gavin commissioned the development of the app to facilitate a personal connection between BGD and its customers and fans. The app is free to iPhone, iPod and iPad owners and delivers VIP status to users.

The interactive nature of the BGD mobile app allows one to search for individual diamonds through its Diamond Search function. This advanced search design allows users to find diamonds that meet individual wants or needs by facilitating sorting through a variety of specific user-defined categories. In addition, the application allows users to search through BGD’s extensive inventory of fine jewelry, which includes engagement rings, pendants, eternity bands, bracelets and a variety of custom designed pieces.

The mobile app contains further features, all designed with the concept of creating a bond between BGD and mobile users who are customers, associates and friends. Some of the apps sections include:

• Special Offers – Becoming a VIP with the BGD app entitles one to exclusive special offers. Via one's digital device, offers and sales are sent directly to the member. These offers are not available to the general public, and represent deals and savings of a significant nature.
• News – In the News section, users are kept current with all new developments at BGD, including the hottest trends in the industry and any news items affecting the jewelry industry, in general and BGD, in particular.

• Education – Through the mobile application, Brian Gavin and his team share their many years of experience in the diamond and jewelry industry. Educational details about every aspect of selecting and buying jewelry is provided, allowing VIP users to become intelligent shoppers.
• FAQ – The FAQ section covers basic and detailed information regarding BGD
• Blog – The Brian Gavin Diamonds app keeps users connected with the BGD blog. Along with details about the industry, the blog features interesting articles that detail the process of having jewelry custom created, as well as fun and sometimes heartwarming tales of specific marriage proposals.
• Contact – The blog facilitates contact with Brian and his team at every level, using electronic and conventional methods, as well as providing an interactive map of the BGD location.
• Sharing – The Sharing feature of the application allows users to share details of the jewelry available or any other details within the app via email, Facebook and Twitter.

The Brian Gavin Diamonds mobile application is designed to take users to the next level, educating and informing them while forging a direct and personal link to Brian and his team.

© 2011, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

Brian is at the diamond factory in Antwerp sorting through his Brian Gavin Signature Hearts & Arrows production. Please let us know if you have any special requests by Monday so that he can hand select for you.

© 2010, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

A few months ago we received an e-mail from a longtime customer whose mother had dropped her ring and the diamond was chipped. She asked us if I could take a look at it and see if I could salvage it for her. On receiving it, I did my usual workup on the diamond and provided our customer with my predictions for the outcome. The diamond started off weighing 2.223 ct and was poorly cut. After the recut process, I predicted that the diamond would weigh approximately 2.028 ct – a 10% weight loss, but that I would retain the measurement of the diameter or “footprint” as much as possible.

We ended up with the diamond weighing 2.01 ct. In order to retain the weight above 2 carats I did not concentrate on ending up with a hearts and arrows diamond. As you can see our customer ended up with a beautiful ideal cut diamond which was clearly a better performer. The images below tell the whole story (please click on images twice for full view).

© 2010, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

I have received countless requests asking me how I approach my decision making process when recutting diamonds. The art of recutting a diamond is very different from the art of cutting a diamond from the rough. When cutting stones from the rough, I aim for one particular combination of angles which has been my recipe for over 10 years for over 7,000 diamonds. This combination can be found in my Brian Gavin Signature Hearts and Arrows diamonds.

When I perform a recut, I take all aspects of the diamond material into account. The diamonds that I recut do not necessarily fit my traditional hearts and arrows recipe. My primary goal is to end up with the best performing diamond without sacrificing weight loss, with optical symmetry and light performance being the main priorities.

At the end of February, I was contacted by a customer to perform a recut on her poorly cut .98ct round brilliant diamond. It was the diamond from her original engagement ring which was purchased 29 years ago and it had great sentimental value.  She decided that she wanted to do something special with it to celebrate her 30^th wedding anniversary this year. When I received the diamond I evaluated the different possibilities, using my years of experience and all the modern technical equipment that helps me to make my decisions. The preliminary reports were e-mailed to the customer and she agreed that I should proceed with the recut. Her diamond ended up as a .791ct ideal cut diamond with an AGS0 Cut Grade on the Sarin Report - it had started out as an AGS7. The actual diameter of the diamond only changed from an average of 6.10mm to 5.95mm. The customer decided that she did not want to have us send the diamond to the AGS to be graded and certified, relying on my professional feedback and the reports I provided to confirm the outstanding cut of the diamond.

Her beautiful new diamond was set into a 14K white gold halo pendant which was set with approximately .42ctw H/I SI Brian Gavin signature ideal cut melee, with a fine 16"/18" cable chain.

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© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

When I traveled to Russia for the International Diamond Cut Conference (IDCC) in 2004, I was fortunate enough to meet up with Gabi Tolkowsky, one of the world's most renowned diamond cutters and the sixth generation of the Tolkowsky family to make his name in the trade.

Brian Gavin and Gabi Tolkowsky

We met in the customs area of Sheremetyevo International Airport and we caught the taxi bus to the hotel. Seated next to him we had an opportunity to discuss various matters about diamond cutting in South Africa and his time spent in South Africa and we made an interesting discovery.

In the late 1980's, I made several trips back to South Africa. My father Ben was doing some polishing work for the De Beers  research lab in Johannesburg, South Africa. They requested that he polish syndite, a synthetic diamond material which is used for industrial applications, into very thin pieces with a high polish surface. This was a complicated process, but he had developed specific techniques and machinery that could do this. In polishing these thin slices for them, one of the biggest challenges was to stop the pieces from breaking, which proved very difficult.

During our discussion, Gabi told me that in the late 1980's there was a company in Johannesburg that was polishing the syndite he needed to help him cleave the Centenary diamond**.  He went on to tell me that when he received the whole pieces he would break them into smaller pieces as he needed them for "skerp" which is the Dutch word for sharp edges and which is used to make clean cut grooves (Kerf) in  the diamond. He was amazed that he had traveled halfway around the world only to discover that it was my father, Ben, who had been preparing the materials for him. We laughed at that fact that while Ben was trying to keep the pieces whole, he was breaking them into smaller pieces when he received them!!

Gabi Tolkowsky joking at the cleavers bench.

Centenary Diamond - Photo © Debeers Group

© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

I've had many requests over the years to describe what it is like to purchase rough diamonds

I went on a trip to investigate the purchase of rough diamond material in Moscow, Russia for the creation of A CUT ABOVE's

The invitation came from Alrosa, which is the diamond sorting and marketing division of the State Committee for Precious Metals and Gemstones of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.

This was  an exciting experience as it was the first time that I had been to Russia and I had no idea what to expect. Please follow my pictorial journey of buying rough diamonds in Russia!

Octahedron

© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.