The diamond top created by diamond company Dalumi and Italian designer Gianfranco Ferré will be auctioned during a private preview as part of the official opening ceremonies of the Dubai International Jewellery Week on Dec. 12.
 
The Private Preview will include several members of the Royal Family and local VIP’s. The exclusive preview, by invitation only, offers guests a glimpse of things to come over the next three days before the show is open to the public. Exhibitors will unveil their best designs and product launches for the first time to both the media and invited guests.

The highlight of the private preview will be the unveiling for the first time in the Middle East of the one-of-a-kind Gianfranco Ferré diamond-studded top, which will be put on auction for silent bidding from Dec. 12, 8:30 p.m and will close on Dec. 15, 6 p.m (Dubai time).

The body-hugging top, carrying 905 stunning diamonds mounted in 18K white gold, and woven with 254 cts. has been designed and conceived by the late, renowned fashion designer Gianfranco Ferré. All diamonds are G/H colour, VS/SI1 clarity. The top’s value is estimated to be approximately $1.5 million.

The diamond top is matched with black tuxedo pants and a black silk cape. The entire outfit was worn on the runway by British rock singer, Skin, concluding Gianfranco Ferré’s women collection for fall/winter 2007/2008.

Before arriving in Dubai, the sparkling top traveled around the world and been on display in the major Jewelry Shows in Basel, Las Vegas and Hong Kong, and Tokyo. The top has also been displayed in many Gianfranco Ferré boutiques around the world.

“We are particularly proud of this project with Gianfranco Ferré,” Yuval Kemp, Dalumi Marketing & Business Development director, said. “Thanks to the sum total of our know-how and technologies, his design talents and creativity, we’ve produced something really unique and amazing, definitely able to make a lasting, irresistible, even inspirational impression.”

“Involving diamonds in the design process to this extent means creating pure beauty, capturing sense of mystery, magic, dream dimensio,” explained Gianfranco Ferré, while presenting his creation on last February. “Working so with such an important ‘raw material’ gave me a clearly superlative chance to express my creativity. Seeking equipoise between the wealth of the diamonds and the sensation of lightness I wanted for my shirt, I had the preciousness of the gems define the creation’s very soul, the essence of its identity.”

JCK