Estate Jewelry

Rubies are considered the most valuable colored stone which make highly prized ruby rings, necklaces and earrings. They bring the highest per carat price of all colored stones followed by emeralds and sapphires of the same carat size. People are drawn to the color of red rubies because of its trademark of love and passion, thus red roses and ruby jewelry are given as expressions of love. Rubies are very...

S. Kirk & Son, a well-known manufacturer, first started as Silversmiths in 1815 with John Smith. As time passed, the Kirk Company began to manufacture fine jewelry between 1928-1938. Many of the records of this company have been lost from a tremendous fire so the dates are not certain.

Cultured pearls are grown in saltwater oysters and freshwater mussels and are organic in nature. Freshwater pearl necklaces have been found as far back as 200 B.C. in archaeological burial mounds in the state of Ohio.  Unbelievable, but true. Pearls contain layers of nacre which is secreted from mollusks around an irritant.  Natural pearls are very uncommon and considered most valuable as compared to farm grown pearls which are most...

The beautiful effects of opal rings are its rainbow like opalescence.  White precious opals have a beautiful play of color and are most well-known. Their color can go from pale cloudy yellow to transparent at its top quality. Precious black opals are black, dark gray-black, dark blue, dark green and gray black which are rarer than white opals.  Boulder opals occur as pebble rock which means the rock is the...