Category: Blog

One of my favorite things to do is create sentimental pieces that tell a story. For me personally, jewelry is not as much vanity as it is fond reminders of special people, vacations, or general memories. Some pieces are considered rare and collectable, and I suppose the romance behind that is not lost on me. […]

How is this gem or jewelry related? Well, my daughter is one of my most precious gems and is genetically impacted by this condition of the POGZ gene mutation, known as White Sutton Syndrome (WSS). It has been an absolute honor to be able to sit on the Board of Directors for this organization! As […]

Permanent  jewelry is a trend of soldering chains onto the body, not to be removed. I’m sure there’s a symbolic appeal for permanency for the sentiment. People get tattoos for similar reasons. Logically, it makes no sense to me. Chains still snag or break; wear down or dull over time. Why not just get a […]

…This title may be a given, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked about metaphysical properties of gemstones. I honestly don’t know. Gemology is the scientific study of rarer, valuable, and durable/wearable crystals. I deal with mostly faceted material for jewelry. This involves the use of lab tools to help identify […]

Why do luxury brands such as Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany & Co, Bvgari, Cartier, and others charge so much more than comparable fine jewelry elsewhere? As assumed, you aren’t just purchasing a designer piece, you’re also purchasing what’s behind the name as representation. It is usually the luxury designers who set out inspiration for […]

One of the things I love about gemology is it promotes an appreciation for things unseen, when only taking a simple glance. Magnification opens up a whole other world of appreciation when discovering the story a gem tells within. By looking under magnification we can sometimes determine even at the origin of some gems based […]

Cultured freshwater pearls were once easy to spot. They typically lacked the luster their saltwater rival Akoya pearls had. Akoya pearls are produced in saltwater in Japan. Mikimoto may come to mind. Akoya pearls are most often nucleated with a shell bead and mantle tissue that causes the mollusk to excrete layers of nacre around […]

I feel so fortunate to live where I do; to be able to travel to the source of my state gemstone. Oregon sunstone is only found in Oregon! It is a variety of feldspar (like labradorite, bytownite…) that gets it’s color often from copper inclusions. Sometimes we see these little glittery adventurescense and we call […]

Looking for something unique and uncommon? The mall is probably not going to have as much to offer. Most of the big chains work with large quantities, which means more common gem material and most marketable designs. Of course there are exceptions to this! There are just a few main corporations I know of that […]

Let’s first look at simulants vs synthetics… —Simulants are defined as gemstones used to resemble another gem. For example, a diamond simulate might be a natural white zircon, cubic zirconia, or a synthetic moissanite. It could even be glass. —Synthetics are gems with the same chemical and similar physical properties to it’s natural counterpart; except […]