Aquamarine puddings
A luxury Sri Lankan hotel now offers a dessert containing an 80-carat aquamarine stone.
Charging $AU16,246 for what it calls the world's most expensive sweet, the Fortress hotel has attracted criticism for publicising such excess in a country so impoverished.
But Fortress general manager Axel Jarosh said the chocolate pudding, called The Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence, was not obscene: "We have had a positive reaction both locally and internationally to the dessert, which we don't think is out of place."
According to reports, the dessert is a gold leaf Italian cassata flavored with Irish cream, served with a mango and pomegranate compote and a champagne sabayon enlighten.
It is decorated with a chocolate carving of a fisherman clinging to a stilt - an age-old local fishing practice in Sri Lanka. One serving of the dessert had already been made.
Blue diamond breaks record
A rare, vivid-blue diamond has raised the bar once more for the highest price (per carat) paid at auction for a gemstone.
Set into a ring, the 6.04-carat emerald-cut sold for $US7.98 million at Sotheby's Hong Kong autumn sale.
London-based Aliza Moussaief of Moussaief Jewellers was the lucky buyer, bidding for the ring in a furious contest.
Guess founder buys-up big
The founder of Guess Jeans has purchased the second-most expensive diamond ever sold at auction.
After spending 18.2 million Swiss francs ($AU18.5 million) at Sotheby's Geneva auction, Californian resident Georges Marciano named the flawless, brilliant-cut diamond after his daughter, Chloe.
The diamond weighs 84.37-carats and has only been bettered by the 100.10-carat Star of the Season diamond, which sold for $AU16.5 million in May 1995.
Add it up, boys
A US-based engagement and wedding website for men has added a diamond engagement ring calculator to its features.
Groomgrove.com invites potential grooms to calculate possible expenditure based upon a traditional rule of thumb: two month's salary.
The website also offers information on how to buy an engagement ring, propose in style and spot a quality diamond.
Diamond lingerie is Victoria's secret
Renowned lingerie company Victoria Secret has collaborated with the US-based Mouawad diamond house to create underwear embellished with $US4.5 million of diamonds, rubies, emeralds and yellow sapphires.
Since 2003, Victoria Secret has teamed up with diamond houses to create and parade diamond-set underwear. Each year, a different model showcases the Victoria Secret Fantasy Bra - encrusted with diamonds.
Presented as a gift set, Victoria Secret's newest diamond range comprises a g-string, garter, cuff bracelet and matching barrette.
Earrings that don't smoke
An American company has developed an earring designed to help its wearer quit smoking.
ZeroSmoke is a 24-carat device worn on the ear using acupressure to deter the wearer from lighting up.
The units were distributed free in New York's Times Square late last year as part of an anti-smoking day hosted by the American Cancer Society.
A gem of a gown
A Chinese jeweller has created a wedding dress studded with 10,000-carats of gemstones.
The white dress worth nearly $US133,000 ($AU147,886) is loaded with blue and purple gems has reportedly been unveiled by a retailer in the Jiangxi province.
Red diamond reaches world-record
A rare, red-diamond ring has sold for 2.97 million Swiss francs ($AU3,080,878) at a Christies auction in Geneva late last year.
British jeweller Laurence Graff bought the ring whose octagonal, purplish-red stone weighs 2.26-carats and is the largest red diamond to appear at auction, according to Christies.
The rosy gem eclipsed the previous record for a red diamond - a 1.92-carat gem that sold for more than $AU1,773,686 in 2001.
Also sold at the last auction was an emerald and diamond necklace that belonged to German Princess Katharina Henckel von Donnersmarck at the end of the 19th century. It sold for just over 2 million Swiss francs ($AU2,036,626).
The Christie's jewellery sale netted at total of 53.9 million Swiss francs ($AU54,842,666), with 80 per cent of lots sold to new owners.
Healing jewellery
A Melbourne artist is devising a collection of jewels to aid the sick.
Leah Heiss has joined scientists at Nanotechnology Victoria to create adornments with function, like the button-sized MicroArray patch that administers insulin through thousands of tiny needles applied to the skin.
Heiss' jewellery marries the patch with designs targeted to specific wearers such as a chunky, coloured ring or wrist cuff for teenagers or retro earrings for an older woman.
"Often the scientific community involved in making and marketing technologies doesn't have the time to think about their emotional impact," said NanoVic's scientific and commercial director Bob Irving.
Heiss' designs are intended to bridge this gap.