Distinction Jewelry – The Blog

I’ve still got a good handful of custom orders in progress, but here’s a sneak preview of where I’m going to be focusing my efforts this spring and early summer:

• Guaged earrings, for those of you with stretched piercings.  Look for a variety of designs, starting with 12, 10, and 8 guage.  I’ll be offering a growing selection in both single earrings and pairs.
• More rings featuring beautiful faceted colored gemstones.
• Additions to my popular but currently woefully sold out Galaxy Series.
• Fair trade/ecofriendly items featuring recycled silver, fair trade gems, and stones cut in the US.

 

If you love colored gemstones but don’t have a fortune to spend on that cocktail ring in the jeweler’s window, don’t despair.  Thanks to some little-explained quirks of the gem trade, you may be able to indulge in the color and sparkle you love without taking out a second mortgage on the house!

Ever look around at the prices of loose gemstones online and been completely baffled?  Ever wondered why one site has a sapphire for $50.00 and another for $50,000?  It all has to do with rarity.  

Should I not have said quality, you ask?

Not really.  Quality tends to be an abstract when it comes to colored stones.  Pricing factors include availability, demand, color, size, cut, clarity, origins, and treatment.  I plan to go into some of these factors in more detail in a later article; my point for this one is simple: beautiful gemstones need not cost a fortune.

If there is a certain color you love, you may be happy to find that there is a lesser known or less traditional stone that will provide just what you are looking for.  Aquamarine is a costly stone, but many shades of aquamarine are well emulated by blue topaz.  Emeralds cost a fortune, but chrome diopside provides beautiful, rich green and great clarity at a fraction of the cost.

If it’s a particular, precious stone that is important to you, for example a birthstone, you may find that even precious gems can be affordable in smaller sizes, for instance in the 3-5mm range.  That will, given the right setting in a ring, give you the beauty and the stone you want without bankrupting you.

I love colored gems and would be happy to guide you to a choice that works within your taste and your budget; I welcome custom orders and have both a large inventory of beautiful, reasonably priced gems and some excellent sources for anything you might want me to order.

By the way….the beautiful chrome diopside ring shown in the photo above is available through my etsy shop for only $100.00!  Take a peek!

Sleek and modern, this sterling silver cuff with chain strikes me as Tiffany meets Goth Girl. It is made of highly polished solid sterling silver, with soldered links and a handmade, soldered clasp. A versatile piece that can go from the office to the club without blinking. (more…)

Dichroic glass is unparalleled in its stunning, eye-catching beauty. If you haven’t seen dichroic glass in person yet, you owe it to yourself to do so! Photographs simply cannot convey the color range, or the way dichroic jewelry catches and reflects light. It simply must be admired in person. Once you own a piece of dichroic jewerly, you will be entranced by it! You are virtually guaranteed to receive notice and compliments any time you step out of the house wearing dichroic jewelry. (more…)

I’ll admit it – I’m still in the denial stage of grief over the cancellation of one of my very favorite television shows, Stargate Atlantis.  Not only that, but the promises of “You’ll get a new show to replace it with,” and “We’ll make a movie,” sound a little too much like “Don’t worry, Timmy, we’ll get you a new puppy and he’ll be just as nice as the old one I just backed over with my truck.”

To which I respond with a pout and a sniff: “But will it have Shep in it protecting his team and looking really good in tight black t-shirts?  And will it have Carson with his compassion and his gentle Scottish accent?  Will it have Rodney making sure we know he just saved a universe or two and ensuring that we don’t stick citrus in his lunchbox? How about Ronon, to hug people and hit them with really big sticks?” (more…)