Cleopatra is said to have covered the floors of her palace with fresh rose petals and drenched the sails of the Royal barge in rose water before meeting Anthony. The summer smell of roses and the over blown flowers whose petals create delicate carpets in the garden allow me to savour an English garden at its best. I too would have liked to have been Anthony. And the rose ring painted in diamonds, leaves a lingering sparkle: the earrings in the same style are as classic as an English summer rose.

One of the most renowned and romantic stones of all, the diamond has a rich and sparkling history. A symbol of eternal love famed since ancient Greece, etymology denotes that the word diamond comes from the Greek 'Adamas' meaning unconquerable, and so it is, as the hardest of all gemstones.

The birthstone for April, these jewels are believed to increase energy, detoxify the body from impurities, and bring you inner courage. In shades varying from colourless, pale yellow to green, red, pink and blue, diamonds are found in lots of colours across South Africa, Australia, as well as Namibia, Russia and China. The most prized, pure diamonds are colourless and all are composed entirely of carbon.

They are graded by the 4 C's, carat weight, colour, clarity and cut. Diamonds are faceted to display a unique combination of this adamantine lustre and fire, displaying a higher degree of dispersion than any other natural colourless gemstone. A high degree of skill is required to ensure precision, proportion, and precise facet edges, as well as sharp scintillation. A popular cut is round brilliant, with 57 well-proportioned facets to show off the optical effects of brilliance and dispersion, but there are other cuts including square, pear, marquise and oval.