NO, it's not too early to start your #Christmas shopping! Those who wait till after Thanksgiving often end up feeling frantic. And unless you really love dashing from one retail shop to another and standing impatiently in line in those last 12 days before Christmas, why not check out some of the lovely items already being offered by #vintage #jewelry sellers at RubyLane and #Etsy. So much to choose from without leaving home!
At #Forevagems on Ruby Lane, these 4 fabulous vintage pendants shown below have already been reduced, some by as much as 50%. Now tell me this isn't a great time to buy before they are snapped up by some other savvy earlybird shopper!
And since this blog is about #Vintage, #estate, #Antique and #artisan jewelry, let's wrap this up with this wonderful ANTIQUE Victorian Locket Chain Pendant from PritiStar at Etsywho carries some of the most amazing antique pieces I've seen and at excellent prices:
Well, as they say in show biz, "that's a wrap" for today's blog post. I hope I've given you some great gift ideas for #Christmas...or birthdays...or anniversaries, or any occasion that calls for a pretty pendant. Check 'em all out now!
For years, we've heard ForEVAgems' customers say how much they'd love to have a #Star #Sapphire diamond ring. So we've kept an eye out for this unique gemstone, and when we came across the purple star sapphire shown in the video below, we flipped out!
We were lucky to acquire this gemstone some years back, complete with full certification of its authenticity as a star sapphire. But we didn't have a ring mount we thought was beautiful enough for it. So it sat in our safe until we found the magnificent diamond ballerina mount you can see in the video. Talk about a spectacular ring! If you'd like to know more about this glorious ring, you can read all about it HERE.
So, to help you fill in the blanks about star sapphires, we again consulted GemSelect and learned that a star sapphire is a "rare variety of sapphire that exhibits a rare asterism under specific lighting", meaning you can see " a six-rayed star in the sapphire that appears to float across its surface." How unusual is that!
As for colours, the most desirable, according to GemSelect, is "a vivid, intense blue" perhaps closer to the one above which is being sold by MissIrisJewelry on Etsy.Apparently, star sapphires can be found in several other colours e.g. orange, green, pink and even lavender like the one below which I also found on Etsy in a shop named DragonsBreath:
But as I searched for samples, I found it very hard to find star sapphires in colours other than a very pale blue. Those seemed to be quite common. I found one red but for the life of me, couldn't see the star in any of the photos. Then I located this one in a shop at 1stDibs:
That's more like it! Nice Victorian ring that one. But forgive me for being biased, but I still love our purple star sapphire in its brilliant diamond baguette ballerina setting best of all! Oh that glitter!
Well that's it for today folks. As you may notice as you check out those links, good star sapphire rings aren't inexpensive. If you find one that seems really "cheap", ask for certification to prove it's a bona fide star sapphire before you buy!
Do you own a star sapphire ring or other piece of jewelry? Why not tell us about in the comments section of this blog. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for reading!
While surfing then net a month or two back, I came across this rather incredible Art Deco brooch that sold at a Leonard Joel Auction back in 2010 for $26,000! I have never seen a piece like this so I thought there might be other Art Deco jewelry lovers out there who would be as awed as I was.
It's a brooch made of opals, conch shell and diamonds. Apart from the magnificent design, what caught my eye first was that large fiery opal. Look at those colours! The entire piece is set in platinum. The original estimate for what this brooch would fetch was $10, 000- $12, 000. At a guess, the person who consigned this must have been thrilled by what someone else wanted to pay for it.
If I had that kind of money, I would have bought it too. Oh well, a girl can dream.
You can read all the details on this Art Deco marvel at THIS LINK. It is definitely something I'd classify as a "forevagem", wouldn't you? Let me know what you think of it in your comments or feedback. Thanks for visiting.
