Engagement Rings

Looking at the cut of a vintage diamond engagement ring is the most important thing, although you won’t see all that a diamond specialist will.  Let’s talk about using the terms to describe your stone and terms relating to the cut of a diamond. It’s important to become familiar with a few general terms used when describing a faceted diamond.  Proportion of a stone affects its brilliance, beauty and desirability. Terms...

White or Colorless Sapphire vs. Diamond It’s easy to find Colorless or White Sapphires. More often you will find colored sapphires of every shade in the rainbow.  White or colorless sapphires may have hints of gray, yellow, brown and traces of blue.  The closer a sapphire comes to colorless, the more value it has. In the 1990’s, white or colorless sapphires became the substitute for diamonds.  They actually doubled in...

Arts and Crafts Movement was an interesting time in which jewelry making, mainly in silver with uncut and cabochon cut stones, was performed from start to finish by one craftsman. Brightly colored enameling was often used. Brooches were popular in that movement. The jewelers during that time were traditionalist.  They did not follow the industrial revolution that occurred in the Victorian Period where jewelry was first stamped out and then...

Platinum is one of the rarest metals on earth.   This precious metal comes out of the ground pure white. Some of the most delicately made vintage engagement rings and jewelry is made in platinum. Eighty percent of platinum production comes from Africa. During times of economic stability, platinum is twice as expensive as gold.  Economic uncertainty brings the price of platinum down sometimes lower than gold. The biggest benefit of...