Gemstone miner Gemfields (AIM: GEM) said it provided the Zambian emeralds for two bespoke '46664' bangles - named after Nelson Mandela’s Robben Island prison number - designed by Sabine Roemer and worn by Oscar nominee Morgan Freeman and Invictus producer Lori McCreary at the the 82nd Academy Awards over the weekend.
The 46664 bangles were specially designed for Freeman and McCreary, and were handmade using locally-produced 18K yellow gold and platinum with the diamonds coming from South African diamond company Namakwa.
Freeman, who was nominated an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Nelson Mandela in Invictus, and business partner Lori McCreary requested Roemer to make “something different” to wear for the Oscar ceremony, inspiring the designer to make something “100% African,” the company added.
Freeman has previously purchased a diamond encrusted sculpture of Nelson Mandela’s hand at his 92nd birthday celebration in New York in 2009.
Gemfields’s prime asset is the Kagem mine in Zambia, where the company produced emeralds and beryl averaging 365 carats per tonne in the three months to 31 December 2009, with overall quarterly production totalling 4.9 million carats.
The mine covers an area of 43 sq km (square kilometres) with the license area hosting six known TMS belts with over 13 km (kilometre) strike length. In its half-year results for the period ended 31st December 2009, Gemfields reported US$7.2 million in cash and a gemstone inventory with an estimated value of at least US$9 million.