I was in New Orleans in August 2005, a week before Hurricane Katrina I must add, and I visited M.S. Rau Antiques at 630 Royal Street, which is part of my itinerary whenever I am in New Orleans, as I can always rely on them to have exceptional jewelry that I would love to add to my jewelry collection.

The day I visited, Mr. Robert Lucky Jr. showed me some of their more interesting, at least for me, pieces of jewelry, which of course, I had to try on. One extremely fascinating piece was a gorgeous interchangeable Edwardian set, circa 1910, made of a 4.03-carat emerald and 2.92 carats of diamonds, still in its original box, that could be worn as a brooch, necklace or ring.

I have always liked and collected brooches, and an interesting brooch that I liked was a pretty, turn-of-the century flower pin made of 18k gold with an impressive 14.5mm South Sea pearl in its center, with its petals made of Ceylon sapphires, pink and gold sapphires, and diamonds, that could also be worn as a brooch or as a pendant, by detaching the diamond laden stem of the flower! I also liked their signed Tiffany & Co. brooch in the form of a galleon ship with its sails trimmed out in diamonds as well as the rolling surf below the ship.

Mr. Lucky told me about the changes that he has seen over the years in diamond jewelry, and he said that there is a rise in popularity of colored diamonds, with yellow diamonds being very popular at the moment, followed by red, green, blue and pink diamonds, although red are almost never available. In order of value of colored diamonds though, yellow diamonds are the least expensive. He showed me some very beautiful diamond rings including an Asscher-cut diamond, named for a Belgian who invented this exquisite cut at the turn of the century. In order to create deep brilliance in the diamonds he cut, Mr. Asscher cut the depth of the stone very deeply, without regard as to the waste of the stone. Today, jewelers can achieve the tabletop but not the depth, as it would be extremely costly to make this type of a modified emerald cut.

Then he almost blinded me by showing me a Golconda mine 5.13 carat D-color, flawless IIa diamond ring that almost stopped my heart! I have seen many diamonds in my day, but I have never seen anything sparkle like that magnificent ring. Golconda diamonds are extremely rare, and lack any traces of nitrogen, making them the purest of diamonds. He also told me that a D-color Golconda diamond is actually whiter than any other D-color diamond from another mine. He then tempted me to try on this remarkable beauty. I slowly slipped it on my finger and it fit! Perfectly, in fact, as if it was meant to be mine! If I thought my heart had almost stopped beating when I saw this ring, when I saw it on my hand, I think that it did stop for a minute or two. It was absolutely gorgeous the way it sparkled in the light. Now this ring would certainly make an entrance anywhere. When people would come up to me saying they had seen me from across the room I know it wouldn’t be my blue eyes that had captured their attention. At $778,000 though, I think I will wait for Santa Baby to put it under the tree for me!

Satisfied that I had enough excitement for one day, I made my way onto to Royal Street, dreaming of the Golconda ring. M.S. Rau Antiques was founded in 1912, and since that time they have had a reputation for excellence, backed with an extraordinary return policy, which is backed with a 125% guarantee. They also have a wonderful catalog that I regularly dream on, and when I can’t wait for the new catalog to come out, there is always their website.

In addition to their fine selection of jewelry, they also carry silver, furniture, walking sticks, game boxes, china, crystal, master paintings, and so much more, that really a require a trip to one of their showrooms or at least a look at their website to fully appreciate their collection.

In addition to their New Orleans showroom, they have temporarily opened a satellite showroom in New York at the Charles Cheriff Gallery.

Read our other articles on M.S. Rau Antiques in our Arts & Antiques section.

© December 2005. Luxury Experience. www.LuxuryExperience.com. All rights reserved.