Sapphire Sapphire gets its name from the Greek word "Sapphirus" which means blue and is a member of the corundum family along with Ruby. It comes in a variety of colours including blue, pink, orange, yellow, green, purple, black, and colourless. Historically only the blue variety was called Sapphire. With the green variety being [...]
Ruby Ruby is a member of the corundum family of gemstones. There are two gemstones in the corundum family, Ruby and Sapphire. Low-quality corundum gemstones are typically used as cutting and polishing agents. The best known of these would be emery paper, which is mostly fine-grain corundum with the addition of magnetite, hematite, and [...]
Emerald The gemstone Emerald belongs to the beryl group and is the most precious variety of beryl. The other varieties of beryl are Aquamarine, Morganite, Red and Green beryl, Heliodor, Maxixe, and Goshenite. Emerald derives its colour from the element chrome, while green beryl is coloured by vanadium. The colouring agent chrome is oftentimes [...]
Amethyst Amethyst is a member of the Quartz family and it ranges in colour from pale lilac to deep purple. It gets its colour from Iron and other trace elements such as manganese. The paler shades of Amethyst are often called "Rose de France". Siberian Amethyst is a deeper shade of purple and is [...]
Cleaning Antique Jewellery Antique jewellery is a beautiful and timeless investment, but it is important to take care of it properly to ensure that it lasts for generations to come. Gold Jewellery Gold jewellery is relatively easy to take care of. To clean gold jewellery, simply allow it to soak in a lukewarm solution [...]
Diamonds Explained There have been numerous books written in great detail about diamonds. In this article, we are going to summarize how diamonds are graded. Every diamond is unique and there are a number of factors which affect a diamonds beauty and therefore its value. These factors are known as a diamonds four C`s, which [...]
How To Find Your Ring Size Firstly make sure that your finger is at normal temperature, before measuring it. If your finger is cold then it will shrink or if your finger is hot it will expand, giving you an incorrect measurement. To measure accurately you will need a ruler or measuring tape, a pen [...]
Mid-Century Jewellery The term Mid-Century generally covers the design style of the 1950s. It received its name in 1984 from a book called "Mid-Century Modern : furniture of the 1950s". Suburban California in the 1950s pretty accurately sums up architectural and interior design of the time. Low flat roofs with lots of large windows [...]
Retro Jewellery Retro jewellery also called cocktail jewellery generally covers the period from the late 1930s to the 1940s. It was a period of jewellery history which was greatly influenced by world war II. Leading to large, bold and colourful statement pieces becoming popular. The war as can be imagined sent Europe into disarray. [...]
Art Deco Jewellery The Art Deco period started in 1920 and continued until 1935. It received its name from the International Exposition Of Modern Decorative And Industrial Arts, held in Paris in 1925. The Art Deco jewellery period is regarded as one of the most important in the history of jewellery design. The era is [...]