ROMANTIC #RUBY JEWELS from #FOREVAGEMS and ETSY

Outstanding Pear-Cut Unheated Ruby & Trillion-cut Diamond Ring from  Forevagems

Are you disappointed in your desire to find a genuine, unheated, truly deep red RUBY DIAMOND ring? Is the quality of the ruby and the accompanying diamonds of importance? If so, then scurry over to take a closer look at this outstanding Pear-shaped Unheated Ruby ring, flanked on each side by a brilliant, trillion-cut diamond of VS1-VS2 clarity and F colour that has just been listed at #ForEVAgems. What a beauty! It comes with both a GRS certificate from the recognized Gem Research Swiss Lab  and a recent appraisal by Sherrie Taylor, appraiser, in Burlington, Ontario. What a wonderful way to say "I love you" for a birthday, Valentines or Christmas.

So what else is out there for Ruby Lovers? Well, perhaps you'd prefer to have a stunning antique French Neglige Pendant like this one below being offered by MagpieAntique at Etsy:

It was love at first sight for me when I discovered this neglige as I once owned a pair of earrings that was a perfect match for this pendant. I love the subtlety of the diamonds encircled by diamonds in an almost belle epoque style. Graceful, feminine and a rare find indeed. 

My Etsy search also yielded the two fabulous RUBY EARRING sets below. I found the first set, which features natural red rubies and natural diamonds, all set in 18k, at NaturalGemsAtelier on Etsy:

The set below, from eternaltouch at ETSY has only a small ruby in the center, but those diamonds surrounding it are dazzling! What an addition to your New Year's Eve glitter!

Returning to rings, while I did a double take at the asking price on this Victorian Ruby Diamond Ring below, I just had to share it with you. You'll find it at SalonUber at Etsy. It's exquisite. What makes this ring expensive? Well apart from its antiquity, both the natural ruby and the fabulous diamonds surrounding it are old European mine cuts. As the seller tells us, old mine cut diamonds are far more fiery than modern diamonds! In my experience, one should always expect to pay more for old mine cuts!

We do have one more absolutely beautiful RUBY DIAMOND COCKTAIL RING at #ForEVAgems that I'd like to share with you. This is semi hand-made, or if you wish, refurbished, in that the owner had the lovely neon-red natural ruby as part of her gem collection but needed a mount to set it in. When she located and purchased the vintage mount for it, it resulted in a wonderful marriage of a ruby and diamonds. 

Brilliant unheated neon pink/red ruby in a lacy vintage diamond  setting from  #Forevagems

So which of these romantic ruby jewels grabs your fancy? Do you love rubies? Why not leave us a comment? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for subscribing...if you have...and if you haven't, please subscribe now. It's nice to believe someone is reading this ForEVAgems blog LOL.

OCTOBER #BIRTHSTONES REFLECT AUTUMN COLORS: #OPALS, #TOURMALINES

If you live in North America, you know the beautiful autumn season with its magnificent colours is nearly upon us. And if you're an October baby, you have your choice of 2 glorious gemstones to celebrate your birthday: opal and tourmaline. Take a look, for starters, at the incredible "fall" colours displayed in this Mozambique tourmaline I found in ChouhanStylish's shop on #ETSY

What a magnificent display of reds and yellows...just like we'll soon be seeing all around us as those leaves come tumbling down. Just picture that stone set in a ring or necklace. That is what ChouhanStylish can make for you. And here's another really pretty multicoloured tourmaline ring from AnemoneUnique at ETSY:

That particular tourmaline is known as a "watermelon" tourmaline and it's fairly obvious why. But what I find really cool about that stone above is it reflects the actual change from summer to fall. Just like tree leaves in early October, some leaves are still green while others are turning. 

Of course, not all tourmaline is multi-coloured. In fact, one of the most prized tourmalines are "paraiba" tourmalines, like the one is this incredible ring my daughter, owner of her #ForEVAgems shop at Ruby Lane, designed and had custom-made for herself some years back: 

Custom-designed Paraiba Tourmaline & Diamond Cocktail ring from Forevagems

Tourmalines aren't all that rare, but the cost of a Paraiba tourmaline depends on the carat weight of the stone and its colour. The rarest colour of tourmalines, hence pricier, are the blues and reds. So keep an eye out for those. 

Now, let's look at October's other birthstone: OPAL. I absolutely adore opals and have found they are a popular stone with many buyers, regardless of the time of year. Like those multi-coloured tourmalines above, the delightful thing about opals is the range of colours ie. "fire" that really good opals display. Look at the glorious "autumn" colours in this "fire opal" cabochon and diamond cocktail ring sold recently by Forevagems:

If earrings are your favorite kind of jewelry, here's a pair I really like that is being sold by justopal at ETSY:

These are natural Australian opal doublets but look at the colours emitted: reds, blues, oranges, greens. So very pretty. Speaking of opal "doublets",  "triplets" etc. you might wonder what is the difference between them and a solid opal. Well, doublets and triplets are slivers of opal that are mounted onto a black backing. Solid opals are "all" opal, like the pendant I have for sale HERE:

Solid Opal with diamond pendant on 14k Italian box chain available from Forevagems

If you'd like to know more about opals, doublets, triplets etc., check out this link at OPALS DOWN UNDER.  meaning, Australia, which is, of course, where some of the world's best opals are found!

There's certainly no shortage of creative artisans on #ETSY who can make you a ring, earrings, bracelet, pendant or whatever you desire using opals or tourmalines. But if you're not looking for handmade items, which are generally a little more affordable, and you want vintage or antique jewelry, I really suggest you check out Ruby Lane. If money is no object, Arnold Jewelers in Florida has this incredible natural diamond and freeform opal pendant below just for you! Happy Birthday!

WHAT RED GEMSTONE IS RARER THAN #RUBY? RED #SPINEL!

Many of ForEVAgems' clients want a ruby ring but really good, non-synthetic rubies, depending on the size, can be very expensive. So what's a ruby lover with a limited budget to do? Settle for a tiny ruby or synthetic ruby? Is there an alternative?

What they might do instead is consider the gemstone, #Spinel. No, it's not a ruby but if you can find a red spinel ring, you should consider this beautiful gemstone as its deep red variety most closely resembles rubies. But here's the surprising rub: according to the website, Minerals.net, 

"Fine red spinel is actually rarer than ruby of equal colour". 

Wow! So doesn't that mean it'll be even more expensive? Not really...because its rarity prevents jewelry makers from "pushing it", meaning you might find a red spinel ring for 30% less than you'd pay for a similar ruby ring.

Below is an absolutely gorgeous purplish pink/red Spinel and diamond ring we acquired at a Dupuis Estate Auction some years ago. I was so excited when I won it! Even though its colour wasn't deep ruby red, it was spinel...and given spinel's rarity, that was good enough for me:

Superb Designer Signed Pink/Red/Purple Spinel & Diamond Dinner Ring available from  http://www.forevagems.com 

But you see, that's the interesting thing about spinel: it also comes in other colours. One of the loveliest rings we ever sold was a deep blue spinel, similar to this 1940's Blue Spinel ring I found in ONERS shop on ETSY:

1940's Blue Spinel 14k gold ring from Oners on Etsy

Or how about this Purple Spinel and Diamond Ring from GemsTreasuresofGrace on ETSY:

Purple Spinel & Diamond 18k Ring from ETSY

On the other hand, if you're not afraid of spiders,  here's a delightful Boho ring featuring blue spinel that I found in the ErieCanalCollectors Shop at ETSY:

Boho Spinel Spider Ring from ErieCanalCollectors at Etsy

On a parting note, you might be interested in this story I found on Minerals.net where you can see many variations on Spinel gemstones in both finished and raw state. Back in the 1400's, a deep red spinel gemstone, believed at the time to be a ruby, was set in this crown shown below. This became known as "The Black Princes' Ruby". Just goes to show how closely a really good red spinel resembles the more often desired red ruby!

This photo of Black Princes' Ruby Crown as shown  at Mineral.net

Jewelry, like art, speaks to each of us in different ways. #Pearls

When I decided to re-enter the fascinating world of Estate, Vintage and Antique jewelry, one of my first stops was an online Dupuis auction. It was on that stop that I found the exquisite gray baroque  pearl ring below:

Talk about love at first site! This antique ring with its 14k gold leafy setting was so different. I just had to buy it. Well I didn't have it long. Almost as soon as it was listed on #Forevagems, it was sold. But what it did for me was rekindle my appreciation of pearl jewels. 

I even started a board called PEARLESSENCE dedicated to pearls on Pinterest. Check it out when you have time. There's some incredible pearl jewelry on there, including this Coral Black Pearl beauty created by Arosha on ETSY:

Coral Black Pearl Ring by Arosha on ETSY

Isn't Arosha's work superb? And the colour of that black pearl...well it's breathtaking!

At an online auction run by HERITAGE AUCTIONS, I discovered and bid on this outstanding Pearl & Diamond Spray ring shown below.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this one for the first time. Then I couldn't believe my eyes when within a week, a diamond had fallen out and had to be replaced! Just after that was done, a prong holding said diamond fell out altogether! Oh the woes of buying vintage jewelry! 

Of course, I had to get it repaired and was most fortunate to discover a jewelry repair service offered by Rudix Jewellery in Hamilton. His jeweler did a fantastic job, and just this past week, the lady who purchased this ring from me, left me this lovely feedback on her beautiful pearl diamond ring: 

"This is the most amazing ring. It is like wearing the universe on your finger. The pearl is the sun and all the diamonds are the planets. I love this ring!"

Needless to say, her comment made my day! But it also showed how jewelry, like art, speaks to each of us in different ways. 

Just today, one of Forevagems' pearl loving clients in Australia received this absolutely adorable Victorian Cultured Pearl Daisy Ring below. We know she will love it because as good as our photos are, no camera lens with only one eye, as it were, can quite capture what we see with two eyes! The glitter in the diamonds in that daisy ring is unreal!

Victorian Cultured Pearl Daisy Ring recently sold by Forevagems

Well, that's it for today's post, except to give you advance notice that starting Friday, August 17th, Ruby Lane is holding a 50% off RED TAG SALE for 72 hours. These are sales you don't want to miss. And of course, ForEVAgems is participating. You can already preview ForEVAgems RED TAG SALE items now. Looking forward to having you browse our selection. Ciao for now!

Discovering #Hand #Made #Jewelry on #Etsy

As much as I love vintage, antique and estate jewelry, since joining ETSY I have been discovering some of the amazing creations by gifted artisans. Oh how I envy their skills. But at my age, twisting wire and threading pearls and gemstones to make necklaces and bracelets, or gluing swarovski crystals into a brooch is too much for my arthritic fingers and poor eyesight. So I have to be content with enjoying what others have created, and at Etsy, creativity abounds!

Here's a lovely necklace I discovered this morning in the shop, rekamistworzone, located in Poland:

The designer and maker of this piece, Iwona,  calls this stunning necklace "Art Nouveau Violas". Well I can certainly see the Art Nouveau influence. It's fashioned out of silver and gold-plate, and look closely: there's a lovely bit of Australian opal in that viola bud. Isn't it beautiful?

With work like this, it's no surprise that Iwona has had over 425 sales since she opened her Etsy shop in 2011. Want to know more about this Art Nouveau Violas necklace or see what else rekamistworzone has in her shop? CLICK THIS LINK.