The Swatch Group introduced their first collection of watches on March 1, 1983, and since then, they have produced a large range of different quartz watches. The company began as a way of rebuilding the Swiss watch manufacturing business, which had lost ground to Seiko and other Japanese watch companies during the 1960s.

Swatch’s first collection of watches, unveiled in Zurich, Switzerland, introduced a very bold style and design. The watch mechanics were simpler and required fewer parts, a design which made the watches both easier to work on and more efficient to manufacture. It was this innovative new design that helped put Switzerland back on top of the watch market.

Everyone knows what a quartz watch is. In fact, quartz watches are so common these days, that we don’t even bother to notice them anymore. They are probably the most popular form of watch in the world and possibly, most of us have owned a quartz watch at some point in our lives. Even the most poorest people in the world have heard of them and most likely, they may owned one.

The Earth Star - No Picture

The Earth Star was found in the Jagersfontein Mine in 1967. It was cut from a raw stone of about 248.9 carats into a Pear shaped stone weighing 111.59 carats. At the time it was considered the largest faceted brown diamond in the world. This particular stone shows a degree of brilliance that is not usually found in gems with such a strong color. It was sold in 1983 to Stephen Zbova of Naples for $900,000.

Eureka Diamond

An Emerald Cut diamond is a diamond that has been cut to a rectangular or square step cut with diagonally cut corners. It usually has 2 to 4 rows of parallel facets to the center of the stone. A very popular style of cut used for Emeralds hence the name. What makes this cut unique is the large flat face (table) when viewed from the top.

This flat face highlights the clarity of the diamond so only high quality diamonds are cut to this shape. The lack of impurities and inclusion in the stone will increase the price so emerald cut diamonds are usually more expensive than other cuts with the same caret weight.

The first wave of gem-quality manufactured diamonds hit the market late in 2003. Man-made diamonds is nothing new and the technology has been available since the mid 19th century. Small diamond crystals were created for industrial purposes such as grinding wheels, drill bits and saw blades. What is new is that a Florida based company can now produce rough 3-carat gem-quality diamonds 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at a cost of less than $100 dollars.