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Artsists of Gemstone Creative have created portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Barack Obama, and the Queen that are made of diamonds and precious gemstones.

Gemstone Creative is a new and exciting company that takes the lead from these classical examples of fine craftsmanship and gives the concept a contemporary twist.

Portraits start from around 8ins x 8ins and contain at least 2,600 stones such as sapphire, amethyst and peridot. The biggest image the company has made so far measures around 24ins x 24ins and contains an extraordinary 22,500 stones.

According to Mark Hirschel, director and co-founder of Gemstone Creative: “Our prices start from £2,700 for a crystal portrait but the sky is the limit. It would be very easy to exceed one million pounds by creating a large portrait made entirely of diamonds and set in gold or platinum.

“The intrinsic value of such a piece would be huge – and that is before you consider the amount of time and skill taken to make it. Our prices are so upmarket business has not been affected by the recession.

“Customers may have lost a lot of money through investments but the sort of people who usually commission our work still have vast sums. We offer the finest workmanship and give the customers 100 per cent control.”