Graff Diamonds Sues Hong Kong Pawn Shop Over Diamond Stolen in 2007 Heist

Graff Diamonds Ltd. sued a Hong Kong pawn shop seeking the return of a yellow diamond that the jewelry retailer says was stolen from a London store in 2007.

The 16.64 carat diamond was part of more than $20 million in jewelry stolen from Graff’s store on Sloane Street in London on July 5, 2007, according to the complaint in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

The pawn shop, Yau On Co., submitted a stone to the Gemological Institute of America, a non-profit group based in Carlsbad, California, that sets standards for gemstone quality, analysis, grading and certification, according to the complaint.

The institute determined that the stone submitted by Yau was the yellow diamond stolen in the robbery, which had at some point been recut and reconstituted as a 16.28 carat modified cushion cut diamond, according to the Jan. 6 complaint. Yau has refused to agree to allow the institute to return the stone, which is being held in a lab in New York pending resolution of the dispute, according to the complaint.

Graff is asking a judge to declare that it’s the true owner of the diamond and to order the jewel immediately returned to the company. It also seeks the costs of the lawsuit and attorney fees.

Pawn Shop Spokesman
Danny Hung, a spokesman for Yau On and the son of the owner, said in a phone interview that he wouldn’t have bought the stone had he known its history.

Hung said he took in the diamond from someone who he didn’t identify and that it was once owned by someone wealthy in mainland China. Hung said he had a certificate for the stone that wasn’t issued by the owner’s company and that he later found out it was a stolen item from London.

Graff is preparing to raise $1 billion in an IPO in Hong Kong next year, a person familiar with the matter said in November. The company’s founder and chairman, Laurence Graff, 73, who was listed at 459 on Forbes magazine’s list of worldwide billionaires in March with a net worth of $2.5 billion, has twice set records buying gems at auction.

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Explore more about wine through San Francisco wine tours

A northern part of San Francisco is the place for wine tours and most predominately Napa Valley and Sonoma. Usually tourists are picked up from their respective hotels or any given landmarks and the tourist guides used to show them through the wine tour. Wine Tours might vary las some may be a day trip while others are overnight tours.

Napa Valley Wine Country Tour with Lunch

The Napa Experience Tour by the Wine Country Tour Shuttle is the Most Comprehensive Napa Valley Winery Tour from San Francisco! This tour provides many great unique features such as 4 Premium Napa Winery Stops, Goes into the heart of Napa Valley not just nearby, Picnic Lunch, Winery Tours and the best part a 50 minute relaxing Ferry/Bay Cruise from Napa area back to San Francisco (which totally avoids traffic coming home). This tour is truly unbelievable from the expert narration from their Wine Country Guides to the great wineries they visit. At only $99 per person, plus tasting fees (we highly recommend this unique tour). Tour Highlights include: Andretti Winery,V. Sattui Winery (Picnic Lunch Included), Franciscan Estate Winery and White Hall Lane (Winery Tour included) and a unique Ferry/Bay Cruise to the San Francisco that completely avoids going home traffic.

Redwoods and Wine Country tours

Redwoods and Wine Country tours is a one day trip that is accompanied along with hotel pick up and drop facility. This tour makes you travel through the wine country where you get to enjoy the wine samples and also get to learn more about winery. The tour usually takes passenger through the Muir Woods National Monument and over the Golden Gate Bridge. The tour package usually includes three wineries and halts at a winery wind cave.

Wine Country Tour

The Wine Country Redwoods Combo tour combines nature and culture. Heading over San Francisco after you are picked up at your hotel our guide takes you over the Marin headlands down into Muir Woods Valley. In Muir Woods you'll spend around an hour, strolling under the Coastal Redwood Sequoia trees. Then as we head over the headlands again you will see the magnificent views of the valley and learn about historic Wine Country on your way to Sonoma

For more information's visit our site: San Francisco Tours

Most luxurious blue diamond sold by petra diamond Ltd

Petra Diamond Ltd recognized by its largest Cullinan diamond (507 carats) ever mined in the world, added yet another record to its list of attainments by selling a 4.8-carat blue diamond for a record price ever offered for a raw stone – $1.45 million.

As you may already be aware, blue diamonds are very rear due to the process of their structure. Blue diamonds are not that large as white or yellow and the largest representative of blues is the world-known The Hope Diamond (45.52 carats), which has been recently seen in a new stylish embrace. But a record-holder among blue diamond’s is a smaller gem of just 7.03 carats in size, which has been sold for an dreadful great sum of money - $9.49 million, making $1.3 million per carat.

Such high price tags for fancy colored diamonds are determined mostly by their insufficiency in number, size and of course due to high demand. Indeed, whatever the price is the celebrities are always ready to liberally spare money just to cater for their whims.

But as far as this blog is dedicated to man made diamonds, we are revolving around reasonably priced (yet not very cheap) another for mined diamond – these are man made diamonds. They can be of any color including blue, but not of any size so far. If you like diamonds and blue stone is your dream but the only difficulty on your way to buying it is its high price, then you can view lab grown diamonds as an option that can make your dream come true. With lifetime assurance and pay back, with GIA certificate confirming the 'realness' of man made diamonds, you can be sure your diamond is real.

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China became 3rd biggest tourism market

According to a report issued by the National Tourist Administration, China has become the third-largest tourism marketplace in the world. Total income from inbound and outbound sightseeing for the five years leading up to 2010, totals six trillion yuan.

China’s fast-growing tourism industry has become a cash cow for country. In the 16 years from 1994 to 2010, the country’s total tourism income has raised 11-fold. In the 5 years to 2010, China has established 9.3 billion people from at house and abroad. That’s a whooping six trillion yuan in tourism dollars.

According to China National Tourist Administration, the country has not only become the biggest end for tourists in Asian countries, but it also ranks in the top three global destinations for travelers.

During the 11th Five Year Plan, the tourism industry has largely support economic growth in China. It’s contributed over 90 percent to the hotel business, and over 80 percent to the aviation and railway industries. In the process, tourism has created over nearly 14 million jobs in tourism industry, and 60 million jobs in other regions.

During the past five years, China has sign cooperation plans with the U.S., Australia, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. The country is expected to make 100 million new outbound departures each year from now to 2015.

Google Speeds Up Travel Searches, Annoys Travel Search Sites

Google
Using Google, we simply typed "IAD to LAX" into the search box and immediately (or, as Google would prefer, in 0.22 seconds) got the results in the familiar Google format -- paid ads on the top, then the results, then more results for other pages related to the topic.

As on the other sites, we simply select the flight we want and hit "Book." Unlike Kayak, Google didn't try to direct us to Expedia.com, Cheaptickets.com or any other third party; it took us right into the United Airlines reservation system and brought up a final purchase screen confirming the itinerary and price.

Like Kayak's pages, Google's pages contain advertising, which remains Big G's primary revenue source.

Consumers complain about advertising, of course, but it is the basis of the free press that is in turn the basis of American democracy, so perhaps the less said about that the better.

The problem?
So what's the problem? Well, the other travel sites say the problem is that Google will in short order put them out of business by "favoring" its own searches. It's what they've been saying since Google bought ITA Software Inc. last year.

ITA is the mother lode of flight data. It supplies the information used not only in Google flight searches but also in nearly all of the competing searches, including Kayak, Expedia, etc.

The Justice Department allowed the purchase to go forward after Google promised that it would "build tools that would drive more traffic to airline and online travel agency sites." The other sites are now complaining loudly that Google isn't doing that.

Proper role
The question comes down to whether Google must forever more be nothing but a passive search engine, combing through data posted on the Internet by others or whether it should try to live up to its mandate to "organize the world's information."

Providing comprehensive, impartial flight data quickly seems to fit into Google's mandate and also, just in passing, would seem to be a benefit to consumers. Google is not obligated to think first of consumers, of course, but publishing has traditionally been a public service business -- providing information that meets consumers' needs in a reasonably impartial manner.

If other businesses are damaged by that, it may be what in other venues is called collateral damage. It wasn't many years ago that the online travel agencies were being vilified for running bricks-and-mortar travel agents out of town.

Some of those traditional travel agents found ways to adapt and survive. The Expedias of the world may have to do the same.

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QATAR TOURISM AUTHORITY PARTNERS WTA FOR GRAND FINAL IN DOHA

World Travel Awards (WTA), “the Oscars of the travel industry”, will host its Grand Final Gala Ceremony in Doha, Qatar, in partnership with Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) on January 11, 2012.

The most important decision-makers in global travel and tourism are set to attend the glittering ceremony, which will be staged at Katara Cultural Village, Qatar’s ground-breaking new arts and exhibitions complex.

Created under the leadership of HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, Katara Cultural Village was born out of a vision to position the State of Qatar as an international cultural lighthouse through theatre, literature, art, music, conventions and exhibitions. Katara features a remarkable array of attractions, from an opera house and art galleries to world-class restaurants and a beach.

Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) Chairman, Mr. Ahmed Al Nuaimi, said the choice of Doha to host WTA’s Grand Final reflects the country’s growing importance and stature in the industry and that QTA was lending as much support as possible to make the awards the best ever.

“The staging of the ceremony in Doha is an illustration of the confidence the travel and tourism industry has in Qatar as well as the potential it has to develop further,” said Mr. Al. Nuaimi.

“Qatar has allocated more the US$25 billion for the development of tourism infrastructure in preparation for the 2022 World Cup. WTA’s Grand Final forms part of our country’s growing roster of world-class events, ranging from art and music to sport and travel.”

The evening marks the culmination of a year-long search for the very best travel and tourism brands in the world, and will feature the winners from WTA’s regional heats competing head to head.

The regional ceremonies included Middle East (Dubai, UAE), Europe (Antalya, Turkey), Africa and Indian Ocean (Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt), Asia and Australasia (Bangkok, Thailand), and Caribbean and The Americas (Montego Bay, Jamaica).

Graham E. Cooke, President and Founder, World Travel Awards, said: “We are delighted to host our Grand Final Gala Ceremony in Qatar as it is such an exciting place to be right now.”

“Our Grand Final will see the winners of our five regional heats, who represent the cream of the global travel and tourism industry, compete head to head for the ultimate travel accolade.”

WTA has partnered with tourism marketing firm Phenomena to bring the ceremony to Qatar.

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Egypt's Islamists try to calm fears over tourism

Egypt's main Islamist parties on Sunday launched separate conferences aimed at promoting tourism as they scrambled to allay fears that the lucrative industry is under threat from religious conservatism.

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) – the political arm of the influential Muslim Brotherhood – announced a conference in Cairo entitled "Let's encourage tourism" that brought together industry leaders and party members.

Meanwhile, Al-Nur, the ultraconservative party representing followers of the fundamentalist Salafi brand of Islam, said it was launching a conference to promote the industry in the Egyptian southern city of Aswan.

About 15 million holidaymakers visited the country last year, attracted by its Pharaonic sites and Red Sea beach resorts. The industry is a key money earner and source of foreign currency.

Islamist parties won a crushing victory in the first stage of parliamentary elections which wrapped up last week, leading to fears they might impose strict Islamic law that could scare off Western holidaymakers.

Some Islamist candidates or religious scholars have advocated destroying ancient monuments – seen as a form of idol worshipping – and bans on alcohol, mixed-sex beaches, gambling and even bikinis.

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