Antique Jewelry

So you want to find out about the color changing alexandrite before purchasing an estate alexandrite ring, a vintage bracelet or a necklace.  To follow are some interesting facts about this rare and beautiful stone. Rare alexandrite is a color-changing stone of chrysoberyl.  The highest quality changes from vivid green in daylight to raspberry red in incandescent light. It was discovered in Russia in the Ural Mountain range in 1830. ...

So you love estate jade rings, vintage pendants, rings and bangle bracelets then you will want to know a little something about jadeite. China is jadeites main center for polishing.  Many jadeite cutters from Hpakan, Lonkin, Mogaung and Mandalay still cut the “ancient way using a hollow bamboo lathe treated with sand and water”. Producers of jadeite cut it into regular decorative jewelry forms such as bangles, jade rings, pendants...

Tanzanite’s bluish purple color is close to the color of a blue sapphire but its intense violet blue hue is a color all its own. Cutting Tanzanite Cutting plays an important part in the display of its color and financial considerations are given to the cutting of the tanzanite rough.  When cutting tanzanite to show off its bluish purple color, rough is not wasted.  That is why bluish purple tanzanite...

Tanzania is the only source for tanzanite.  It has two distinct markets: one for the gem quality tanzanite and another for the smaller pale colored stones.  Gem quality tanzanite is only found in the Merelani area in Tanzania. Tanzanite was first found in 1967 and over time there have been sharp fluctuations in the market place.  When tanzanite is plentiful, the price goes down and the wholesalers promote it to...