A respective of work by contemporary artist Damien Hirst is scheduled to open at London’s Tate Modern on April 4, 2012 and include the artist’s iconic diamondskull. 

The diamond skull is entitled “For the Love of God” and is a platinum craft of a genuine human skull that dates back to the 18th century.

While the sparkling skull features the original skull’s actual teeth, the cast is encrusted with 8,601 diamonds and embellished with a pink diamond weighing 52.4 carats. The skull – which debuted in 2007 and has become a major modern art image – is valued at some £50 million, but will be on display at no cost to visitors in a special dedicated viewing room.

The londonist blog writes that the skull was scheduled to take an international tour this year, but that Hirst’s company, Science, decided that the diamond-decked head would be incongruous with the reigning economic climate.

Needless to say, the Tate will be increasing security for the display.

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Not everyone in law enforcement starts out as a police officer.

Take FBI Special Agent Dan McCaffrey – recently profiled in the New York Daily News - who was familiar with a jeweler’s loupe long before he wore a badge.

Although he comes from a family of cops, McCaffrey’s first job was with the luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co, where he gained expertise in gemstones and diamonds and made his way up the ladder to serve as director of operations.

Eventually, he began working with the FBI to help solve large-scale jewelry thefts, such as the case of $14 million of loose diamonds that went missing in Belgium. McCaffrey tracked the stolen stones back to a diamond dealer on 47th St, arrested the perpetrators, and personally flew the merchandise back to Belgium.

Another case McCaffrey brought to a successful close was that of a 19-carat diamond stolen from a courier and eventually resurfaced at Cartier’s New York maison, which has been commissioned by a Russian businessman to set the stone as a diamond necklace.

Despite his Irish name, McCaffrey speaks both Spanish and Yiddish, which he says is a great help in navigating the ins and outs of the diamond trade.

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We at the Israel Diamond Portal Blog are animal lovers, so it's always nice to hear that a loving dog has found a good home. A blog entry by Diane Haithman (and her trusty pal Heidi) at studiocity.patch.com informs us that jewelry store owner Dana Kathryn has adopted a German Shepherd named Charlie!

We're sure that Charlie will be a great ambassador for her business, as well as providing security, but Kathryn might want to take care not to leave any loose diamonds lying around. Recent events have shown that some dogs have what could be described as very expensive taste...

A Georgia dog named Honey Bun recently made the national news after swallowing a package of loose diamonds his owner, jewelry store proprietor Chuck Roberts, had left on the desk while he got up to help a customer. Roberts rushed Honey Bun to the vet. Did you know that carbon doesn't show up on an X-ray? It doesn't – but two blank spots seemed to prove that that pup had indeed eaten the stones. 

In due course, the diamonds found their way out. Neither the dog nor the diamonds were hurt.

We can't stress this enough - diamonds are for wearing, not eating

Last spring, Honey Bun's achievement was bested by Sollie, a dog belonging to Rockville jewelry store owner George Kaufman, who gulped down a three-carat diamond worth $20,000. Diamonds are indeed the hardest substance in the world, and when the rock came out again, it was sanitized and returned to its owner.

But at least the dogs had no criminal intent, which is more than can be said for dog walker Nicolas Barbanica, who has pleaded no contest to charges that he stole thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from his clients (the two-legged ones.)