MOURNING JEWELRY FROM THE VICTORIAN ERA The Victorian era (1919-1901) is famous for it's deeply romantic sentiment, as well as it's tales of hardship and loss. With such a high mortality rate, death was an ever present reality of each day. Women were the public face, the mascot if you will, for the whole family unit- and it fell on their shoulders to express the grief of losing a family member through her personal dress and fulfillment of other societal customs. Widows were

Featured Gemstone: GARNET When most people think of Garnets a deep wine red gem comes to mind. The truth is that Garnets are a whole family (group) of gemstones that forms naturally in a wide range of colors including green, orange, yellow, purple, red and even black! While all varieties of Garnets have the same crystals structure, the component ingredients are variable, which is responsible for the array of different colors. The most iconic (and the most common) of which is

Tourmaline is a natural gemstone that come is a wide variety of colors. Tourmaline has a long history of use in jewelry, and was even instrumental in the 19th century when chemists were experimenting with the polarization of light. Tourmaline’s colors have many different causes. It’s generally agreed that traces of iron, and possibly titanium, induce green and blue colors. Manganese produces reds and pinks, and possibly yellows. Tourmaline forms in Pegmatites, hollow pockets

Just a little inspriation! I am obsessed witht this ancient Celtic 'Gimmel' ring made in 1400 CE. It is gold enamel set with diamond and semi precious stones, and the interlocking hands mechanism twists to open the ring into three bands! #ancient #antiquejewelry #antiquerings #artdeco #arthistory #crystals #fashion #gemology #gemstones #history #jewelry #naturalhistory

Sumarian Seal Ring with Rubies and Gold 2700 BCE The story of jewelry starts deep in human prehistory. Learning about the history of adornment is fascinating to me! It has ignited a feeling of connection to the past, knowing my love of jewelry was similar to my early ancestors.The oldest evidence of jewelry specific adornment dates back 82,000 years to the Grotte des Pigeons, in eastern Morocco where 13 carefully drilled Nassarius shells were discovered with distinct traces o

Welcome to my blog! It’s a place i hope to share my knowledge and enthusiasm about gemstones and antique Jewelry. I have been fascinated with gemstones since childhood, and I have worked in the business for ten years. I am a Gemologist, having completed a graduate program at GIA (the Gemology Institute of America http://www.gia.edu/ ). My study of gems has led me to towards a passion for antique jewelry. I love old jewelry for several reasons, foremost among them the level of