All About Tanzanite
Tanzanite, part of the Zoisite group is a rare and much desired gemstone. It is an intriguing and dramatic stone that is considered alongside Sapphire to be the finest blue stone in existence - despite its scarcity, and only recent and fast rise in public awareness.
Beautifully transparent, the gemstone is of an indigo-violet hue and the only place in the world in which it is found is in a particular area of Tanzania. First recorded as recently as 1967, it was launched into the jewellery industry by New York’s Tiffany & Co. in the late 1960’s.
The value and pricing of Tanzanite is based on the intensity of the colour; a dramatic blue stone will be worth more than a purple or violet toned stone. However, so long as only one source exists in the whole world this gemstone will remain highly valuable and in popular demand.
A relatively soft stone, it can be brittle and chip in certain conditions, and it is not as well suited to everyday wear as other gemstones. If you own Tanzanite-set jewellery that you would like to keep protected from the general wear and tear of everyday life, and you are looking for a form of short-term lending, then Borro could offer you the perfect option.
We store all assets in the historically renowned London Silver Vaults in Chancery Lane, in climate controlled and timelocked storage facilities with 24 hour security surveillance.
Visit our website at Borro.com, or phone us free on 0800 756 9877.
DID YOU KNOW…?
As beautiful as the stone is, Tanzanite has been outlawed in certain countries resulting in a large mark up on it’s price at point of purchase…
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Pop Goes the Weasel!
What on earth does that mean?
Well, “pop” is Cockney slang for “pawn”, but would you really get much of a loan secured against a weasel?
Let’s go back to the beginning. A Cockney is someone of working class origin, who was born within earshot of the church bells of St Mary le Bow (Bow Bells). Apart from using “pop” to mean “pawn”, Cockneys also use rhyming slang. For example, “apples” = stairs.
Now if you’ve noticed that “apples” doesn’t rhyme with “stairs”, you’re not wrong! The thing is, Cockneys choose phrases that rhyme with the substituted word, and then omit the part of the phrase that rhymes. Confused? You soon will be! Here are a few examples:
“apples and pears” = stairs (Cockneys say “apples” instead of “stairs”)
“dog and bone” = phone (Cockneys say “dog” instead of “phone”)
“weasel and stoat” = coat (Cockneys say “weasel” instead of “coat”
Now we’re getting somewhere! If you’ve understood all of the above, then it is eminently clear that Pop Goes the Weasel means that someone has pawned their coat. (NB – there are other conflicting theories about the meaning of the word “weasel” in this rhyme, but I like this one, and I can’t be bothered to explain the derivation of the others, which include “weasel” = “iron”, “spool” or “bobbin”).
Anyway - I digress… The original words of the rhyme are:
Half a pound of tuppenny rice
Half a pound of treacle
That’s the way the money goes
Pop goes the weasel
Up and down the City Road
In and out the Eagle
That’s the way the money goes
Pop goes the weasel
It’s basically all about cash flow. If you were a 19th Century Cockney, you might spend your money on necessities (rice & treacle), and then you might go out on the town (City Road) to spend some time at the Eagle (pub & music hall). But then, if you overspent, you might pawn your coat (pop your weasel) until the next pay day.
So, back to the beginning. Would you get much for popping your weasel? (Pawning your coat?) Probably not a lot - unless it was diamond encrusted, or it belonged to the Duke of Wellington or Marie Antoinette.
However, Borro.com offers asset backed loans against personal valuables of all kinds, such as gold, jewellery, art or antiques. A Borro loan ranges from £100 - £100,000 for 1 - 6 months (extendable by mutual agreement) at 4% - 6% interest per month.
Borro.com frequently transfers loans within 48 hours of application. Everything can be done online, at home, on your pc, so it’s all discreet, convenient - and fast!
If you need a loan, our team of experts will quickly advise you on the loan value of any personal assets you might wish to pledge.
Just get online to Borro.com or phone us today on 0800 756 9877.
WOULD YOU ADAM AND EVE IT…?
Borro.com will give you bread and honey for your Tom Foolery and more. Spread the dicky bird!
[Translation: Would you beleive it, Borro.com will give you money for your jewellery and more. Spread the word!]
Diamonds Are Forever?
The allure of diamonds has existed almost since the dawn of civilisation. The earliest references can be found in the Bible and the Book of Exodus dating from 1200BC. The first deposits were to be found in the ancient mines of India, where manuscripts dating to the 1st century BC have been discovered laying claim that diamonds were known during the Buddhist period of around 400BC, and it is these ancient mines from which the diamonds mentioned in the Bible may have originated.
Although Arab traders were instrumental in developing trade between Europe and India, as well as being the first to use the carat as a unit of measurement, the earliest recorded documentation of the Indian diamond fields in modern times was by J.B.Tavernier, the famed French jeweller and traveller, who visited the East between 1630 and 1668. Although not the first European to visit the ancient Indian mines, he was the first to chronicle them. They stretch from the Godvari river in Hyderabad in the North, to the Pennar river in Madras in the south, and the name of the now ruined ancient fortress of ‘Golconda’, which originally served as a commercial trading centre for the region, has now survived to describe the historic diamonds peculiar to India.
At the close of the of 16th Century the output of the ancient Indian mines began to decline. However around the same time, prospectors searching for gold in the Tejuco region of Minas Gerais in Brazil discovered diamond deposits. The region was renamed Diamantina as the region became the scene of feverish diamond mining activity. The first and most important event was the opening of the diamond mines at Minas Gerais in Brazil in 1723 - just as the Indian mines of Golconda were being exhausted. This led to an increased availability of rough diamonds on the market,which were facetted using recently improved cutting techniques. Such was the quantity of the diamonds produced that the prices in European markets dropped sharply, leading to false rumours spread by merchants importing Indian stones that the Brazilian diamonds were inferior quality diamonds mined in India which had been shipped via Brazil. In retaliation the Brazilian exporters shipped their diamonds to Goa before selling them in Europe as fine quality Indian stones.
As the 18th century progressed, Brazil was to become the foremost source of diamonds until the deposits became exhausted in the 19th century. This co-incided with the discovery of new diamond deposits in South Africa, providing a supply of diamonds which took over the market previously provided by the now exhausted Brazilian mines. As in the 18th century, diamond prices fell due to a new oversupply, and it was not until the1880s that diamond prices finally stabilised when de Beers achieved a dominant market position by aggressively acquiring its competitors.
Today we are constantly searching for new deposits of diamonds to replace those that are running out. In recent times, modern technology has made it possible to mine stone in the inhospitable frozen waste lands of Russia and Canada.
Will the supply of diamonds one day run out? Who knows, one day we may be mining stones in deep space!!
Diamonds are always a safe investment. If you are looking for a loan against diamonds, the Borro valuation team are second to none, and will be happy to provide you with top dollar loan estimates online. Borro frequently advances asset loans within 48 hours of application. So, if you need cash fast, it’s easy at Borro.com.
DID YOU KNOW…?
Scientists beleive that one day diamonds may be found on the moon…
Garnet
Derived from the Latin word ‘granum’ meaning ‘grain’, this exciting and versatile stone goes beyond the insignificant dark red gem conjured up in most people’s minds by the word ‘garnet’. Recent discoveries of numerous types mean that garnet is available in almost every colour and can be nearly as costly as sapphire.
At the Sotheby’s auction of the Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis in 1996, a nineteenth century garnet flower brooch sold for $145,000. 1996 was also the year in which a university student found in central Australia what is believed to be the biggest garnet in the world. This giant stone measures nearly a hundred feet across!
Garnets have been widely known for thousands of years. Even Noah, it is reported, used a lantern from garnet in order to safely steer his Ark through the darkness of the night. Garnets are found in jewellery from ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman eras. Many courageous discoverers and travellers wore Garnets for protection, as they were considered popular talismans and protective stones, because it was believed in those days that Garnets illuminate the night and prevent their wearer from any sort of evil.
Borro.com, the world’s first online pawnbroker, is UK government regulated, and all Borro contracts are approved by the Office of Fair Trading. Everything can be arranged online, from home - discreetly, conveniently and without intrusive questions, credit checks or lengthy bureaucratic processes.
If you are seeking a loan against garnets, or personal valuables of any kind, get online to Borro.com.
DID YOU KNOW…?
Garnet comes in every colour apart from Blue…
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Blunder Lets ‘destitute’ Imelda Marcos Keep Her Jewels
When she emerged in public last week, Imelda Marcos wept and declared herself destitute. Luckily for the former First Lady of the Philippines, the Government in Manila said yesterday that she could have back a $310 million (£190 million) cache of jewellery confiscated from her 23 years ago.
The order, which provoked fury among ordinary Filipinos but may help Mrs Marcos to rebuild her notoriously excessive shoe collection, was issued because the Government forgot to lay claim officially to the jewels.
At the peak of her husband’s power, Mrs Marcos was numbered among the richest women in the world, but has since complained of her poverty. She has also made much of her need to dip into her late husband’s military pension to make ends meet.
However, now she has her jewellery back, she will always be able to raise cash - either by selling it, or using it as security for a loan.
If you need cash, you can always raise a fast loan from Borro.com by pledging personal valuables, such as gold, jewellery, watches, art or antiques, for an asset backed loan.
Borro.com, the world’s first online pawnbroker, offers loans of £100 - £100,000 for 1 - 6 months (extendable by mutual agreement) at very affordable, low interest rates.
Everything is arranged online, at home, on your pc. With Borro there are never any intrusive questions, credit checks or bureaucratic delays. A Borro loan is always totally discreet, convenient - and fast! Borro loans are often transferred within 48 hours of application.
Borro.com is UK government regulated, and all Borro contracts are approved by the Office of Fair Trading.
Check out Borro.com online today!
DID YOU KNOW…?
‘Crown Jewels’ not only refer to HRH Queen Elizabeth’s jewels but any artifact belonging to the reigning royal family of any country. Most ’Crown Jewels’ are kept in Museums…
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Book Dealer Re-Joyces in Ulysses
Last week a first edition of Ulysses, by James Joyce was sold for £275,000 to an undisclosed buyer by an antiquarian book dealer at the Olympia art fair, making it the highest price ever paid for a Twentieth Century first edition.
Regarded by some as the greatest novel of the Twentieth Century, and by others as unreadable, Ulysses has always been something of an enigma. Taking its title from the Latin name for Odysseus, the work strongly alludes to Homer’s Odyssey, detailing the travel of the central character, Leopold Bloom, through Dublin on single day.
The reasons behind the extremely high price paid for this work reveal much about the novel’s chequered past. Prior to its publication as a single work in France in 1922, the work was serialised on both sides of the Atlantic. A section towards the end of the book which was deemed obscene, led to it being banned in the United Kingdom and America until the 1930s. This meant that many of the original copies of the work were either lost, or destroyed.
The recently sold copy was purchased under the counter from a bookshop in New York, shortly after its publication. It is number 45 of the original edition of 100, and only one of four copies from this edition known to be still in existence, and also signed by Joyce himself. The work is also in exceptional condition, because the owner, Mrs Hewitt Morgan, left the book unopened - apart from the famous section which led to the book being banned. It was undoubtedly the illicit nature of the book that led to its owner keeping it hidden away, out of daylight, and also, crucially, in its original box.
Though there are many odd factors about Ulysses that contribute to making early copies arguably among the most collectible works of the modern age, it was the exceptional condition and rarity of this particular first edition that made it so valuable. Antiquarian book dealers and collectors pay the highest prices for works that are both rare, and as close as possible to the condition in which they were published. Books published far more recently, such as the Harry Potter series, can also be extremely valuable. A signed first edition of the first Harry Potter book, The Philosopher’s Stone, which was initially published in a small edition before it became a phenomenon, sold for £27,370 at auction in 2007.
With hundreds of books being published every week, it is only first editions of rare or significant works - in good condition - that are of proven value. So if you have a collectible first edition, or rare volume, Borro is happy to lend between £100 and £100,000 secured against it. There is no need to sell your first editions in order to raise cash, and when you have paid off your loan, you get your asset back, to appreciate even more!
DID YOU KNOW…?
A rare first edition of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ was sold for £7,000 at auction…
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Lindsay Lohan Loot Lifted - Questioned by the Met
The ‘Mean Girls’ actress is one of several people expected to be questioned after a pair of diamond earrings and a necklace worth £250,000 - specially designed by fashion house Dior for Lindsay’s photo shoot for Elle magazine - went missing.
A police spokesperson said: “We will be speaking to a number of people in connection with the allegations.”
Lindsay, 22, is said to have been “taken back” by the jewellery during the shoot.
A source told MTV: “She kept going on about the jewels asking if she could have them. We all thought she was joking.”
In 2007, Lindsay was accused of stealing samples from another fashion house during a magazine photo shoot.
A source told the New York Post newspaper: “Louis Vuitton had sent over some samples for her to wear in the shoot. Lindsay kept shoving the clothes into her bag, and a stylist’s assistant kept getting them out of the bag, only to have Lindsay keep trying to take them.
“She ended up walking off with a very expensive shirt and some other items. They were furious and kept trying to get their clothes back, but Lindsay walked out with them and never returned calls.”
But surely Ms Lohan doesn’t need to beg or steal her jewellery? Even if she needed some short term cash to tide her over until she received her next royalty cheque, she could always get a loan against the jewellery she already owns.
If you need money in a hurry, we don’t recommend stealing jewellery. That can be very risky!
What we do recommend is getting a loan against your existing assets, such as gold, jewellery, watches, art, antiques or memorabilia. This way, you can get short term cash without losing ownership of your treasured possessions. Then, when you have paid back your loan, you get your valuables straight back again.
Borro.com is the world’s first online pawnbroker. Everything is done online, at home, on your pc. So it’s discreet, convenient - and fast! It’s safe too! Borro.com is UK government regulated, and all Borro contracts are approved by the Office of Fair Trading.
For loans between £100 - £100,000 for 1 - 6 months (extendable by mutual agreement), get online to Borro.com or call us free on 0800 756 9877.
DID YOU KNOW…?
Borro.com have procedures in place to ensure no loans are provided against stolen goods…
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Little Pots of Genius
In 1946 at the age of 65, Pablo Picasso, arguably the most innovative artist who ever lived, embarked on a new body of work in a medium he had never used before. The spark came that summer, when Picasso visited an exhibition of local pottery in the Mediterranean town of Vallauris. It was there that he met Georges and Suzanne Ramie who owned and ran the Madoura pottery.
The artist entered into an informal arrangement with the Ramie’s. They would set aside an area in their pottery for him to work, and he would allow them to produce editions of his ceramics.
By 1946, Picasso was without doubt the richest and most famous artist on the planet. He could have used the finest clay to make his works, but instead he chose the rough clay favoured by these local French potters, which lent itself to his free and unconstrained style.
The arrangement was more successful than either the artist or the Ramie’s could ever have imagined. Over the next 24 years Picasso produced over six hundred different editions of ceramics, ranging from 7 to 500 in number. These pieces allowed Picasso to develop the ideas he had originally conceived in his paintings and drawings in a new format. The result was an intriguing body of work.
Until recently, Picasso’s ceramics were regarded as a mere aside to his relentless creative output on canvas. In the past decade, or so, stand alone exhibitions and books about the ceramics have highlighted the importance of this aspect of his oeuvre.
The extremely high prices achieved for paintings and even prints by Picasso have placed his work beyond the reach of all but the richest buyers, and though the most collectable pieces of ceramics can fetch thousands, generally, Picasso’s ceramics are far more affordable than his drawings or paintings.
So, if you have Picasso plates, bowls or any other examples of his work in ceramic, there has never been a better time to release the collateral locked up in your collectables. If you are seeking a loan, Borro.com will advance sums between £100 to £100,000, secured by the pledge of your personal assets.
For more information, check out the Borro.com website, or call our experts on 0800 756 9877.
DID YOU KNOW…?
Many Art collectors often acquire loans to release equity from their pieces while they line up a buyer…
Turner, the Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (23 April 1775 - 19 December 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style is said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism.
Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivaling history painting. Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting. He is commonly known as “the painter of light”.
In January 2009 “Temple of Jupiter Panellenius Restored” (1814-16), was sold by Richard Feigen, a Manhattan dealer, for $12.9 million / £9.1 million - a figure which represents the second highest price ever realised for a work by Turner at auction. Two bidders competed for the painting but the winning bid came from an anonymous buyer on the telephone.
The seller originally bought the painting at Christie’s in London in 1982 for $1.1 million. If you have works of art or antiques, which may have appreciated in value since you acquired them, our expert valuation team will be happy to estimate their current worth.
Borro.com offers loans from £100 - £100,000 for 1 - 6 months secured against personal assets, such as art, antiques, memorabilia, gold and jewellery. For more details, please visit the Borro.com website, or call us free on 0800 756 9877.
DID YOU KNOW…?
Oil paintings require careful handling, and can only be stored under specific temperatures. Our team of expert valuers are well versed on how to handle works of Art…
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Treasure your Tourmaline - Pledge It Don’t Sell It!
Tourmaline is a popular gemstone that first appeared in the Western world in 1703, when the Dutch began importing them from Sri Lanka. Originally given the name Turamali, meaning mixed colours, this favoured gemstone has become an essential component of Western jewellery design.
The value of these stones has at least tripled over the last few years and Tourmaline owners may find their valuables are worth more than they might expect. At Borro.com we lend against this treasured stone, our rates are extremely competitive and you can be assured that higher value loans will not be found anywhere else.
Tourmaline is notable for the electrical charge it produces. It is the only mineral to show permanent electricity on the earth, and is also a natural source of negative ions and far infrared rays.
It is reputed to be beneficial in improving circulation, relieving stress, increasing mental alertness and strengthening the immune system, explaining why its use is promoted widely in the health and beauty industry.
There are three main types of tourmaline, classifiable by the dominant proportion of particular elements: iron tourmaline (schorl), black in colour; magnesium tourmaline (dravite), brown; and alkali tourmaline, which may be pink (rubellite), green (Brazilian emerald), or colourless (achroite).
Many tourmalines consist of two, three or more colours, and the best known colour combination is the watermelon tourmaline - displaying a pink centre with a green rim, evocative of the cross-section of a watermelon.
Borro.com will be more than happy to advance an asset loan against your Tourmaline jewellery. Later, when you have paid off your loan, you will get your valuables back, maintaining your sound investment - and in the future, you will be able to hand them safely down to your family.
Borro.com is regulated by the UK government, and all Borro contracts are approved by the Office of Fair Trading, ensuring that borrowers enjoy every possible legal protection.
DID YOU KNOW…?
Tourmaline is the birth stone for October…
