Thanks for taking a look at this Haroldo Burle Marx 18 Karat Gold Imperial Topaz and Diamond Ring. Stones of this caliber are very difficult to find in today's market. The majority of highly prized stones, like this one, can cost more than diamonds. This Imperial Topaz is among the most desirable in color, and would be most certainly coveted by any collector. It is approximately 9 carats in size, and is surrounded by approximately .75 carats of diamonds. It's a size 5.5, and it can be sized.

If you own a piece of jewelry made by Burle Marx or Bruno Guid, there's a very good chance it originally came from us. The ALTOMAR Collection located in the famed Watergate Hotel had world rights to Burle Marx Jewelry for the last decade of his life until his death in 1991. Today, we have access to the largest collection of Burle Marx pieces in the world. Bruno Guidi was Haroldo's Chief Designer and Master Goldsmith for more than 35 years.

Alta Leath's Altomar Collection boutique captured her enthusiasm. Her love of gems and minerals began in college. In 1981 Alta was on a business trip with her late husband to Rio de Janeiro, where she sought out legendary jewelry designer, Haroldo Burle Marx. After they met, she bought all the gems he was cutting from a six pound opal, convinced the 75 year old artist to come out of retirement, and began to turn her love of gems and minerals into a profitable business. In 1982 she began selling and investing in Marx's work. After the first two years, the venture proved to be a financial success.

Haroldo Burle Marx referred to Alta as his "locomotive" and credited her for whisking him back into action. "I still feel like a youngster with a lollipop", he once remarked. "Today I get very much excited. I feel my things are art pieces. But all of my work is done with feeling, so it is hard for me to measure without my feelings getting in the way."

Marx, Alta, and his clients are not the only individuals who view his work as art. Paul Desautels, the most influential American curator of the 20th century, and Curator of Gems and Minerals in the Department of Mineral Sciences of the U.S. National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) in Washington, D.C, remarked in a New York Times interview, that he thinks the gems are at the top of the market and are meticulously crafted.

Each Marx Creation is intricately detailed to scale through architectural blueprints. On one piece, craftsmen in Marx's studio spent six months making an emerald and diamond necklace. The process of setting the stones took an entire month. The necklace was sold the first day it was displayed in the boutique.

Classic, timeless lines characterize the jewelry. Marx has managed to draw from Incan, ancient Rome and other cultures for creative direction, and then blend them all with his own style.

Burle Marx is without question one the greatest jewelry designers that ever lived. His customer list looks much like a social registry. Cicely Tyson, Madame Ferragamo, Placido Domingo, Natalie Wood, The Shah of Iran, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, and the Empress of Japan were just a few of his customers. In 1989 over half a million dollars worth of Burle Marx jewels were on display at The Houston Museum of Natural Science for a period of two years. Burle Marx was featured in Connoisseur Magazine, Town and Country, Vogue, U.S. News & World Report, and The New York Times.

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