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Mondial auctions pink diamond pendant and raises $14,500 for indigenous school
« Back | 02-Aug-2011
At an auction in Sydney’s historic Queen Victoria Building last night, Australia’s leading pink diamond jeweller raised an astounding $14,500 (almost twice the reserve) for Indigenous school Gawura with the sale of the “Number 1” Argyle Pink Diamond Limited Edition O Pendant, the very first in the series of individually numbered pieces of only 100 worldwide. This donation of $14,500 will cover the costs for two children’s tuition fees for one year at the Gawura school.
“We are extremely pleased with the result,” says Michael Neuman, gemmologist and co-owner of Mondial. “As this is the very first pendant of the series we anticipated that it would be extremely coveted, and we are thrilled that we’ve been able to contribute to the wonderful efforts of the Gawura school.” Gawura is an initiative which supports literacy and numeracy programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children at St Andrew’s Cathedral School, in Sydney. “Gawura is a small school right next door to the Queen Victoria Building and does remarkable, life changing work in the area of education and social development for indigenous kids and their families - all with very little assistance from the government and no media attention. This is why we chose to support them when we decided to auction this amazing piece of jewellery,” says Neuman. “We are extremely grateful to Mondial for donating all of the proceeds from the auction to Gawura,” says David North, Head of Gawura. “On average, it costs more than $800,000 a year to run the Gawura schooling program for 39 students from Kindergarten to Year 12, so this contribution, really does make a difference for our students.” Launched in 2007, Gawura was formed in response to the overwhelming evidence of social disadvantage among people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. “The Gawura education program is not merely a scholarship; it focuses on the children’s literacy and numeracy attainment, at a level of adequacy with non-indigenous children, in a culturally sensitive environment,” says North. To find out more about Gawura visit www.gawura.nsw.edu.au/home. About Mondial
Today, Mondial remains a family-run business, just as founder Fred Neuman, jewellery connoisseur and doyen of the industry, established it 50 years ago, when he first commenced the business with his wife Maria. After many years in the diamond retail and wholesale business, they opened Mondial in 1993. It was arguably the first jeweller in Australia to specialise in natural coloured pink diamonds. It is currently managed by Fred’s son Michael Neuman; a graduate from the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) and coloured diamond expert and his cousin Jacob Neuman. The store holds the largest selection of pink and coloured diamonds in the country. In 2009 Mondial opened its second store, Mondial by Nadia Neuman in the Strand Arcade, managed by Fred’s daughter and award winning jewellery designer, Nadia Neuman.
