Estate Jewelry

The History of birthstones is believed to have gone back to the book of Exodus with the Breastplate of Aaron. It was a garment with twelve gemstones sewn into it that represented the twelve tribes of Israel. The gemstones were set in three rows of three gemstones. At that time the gemstones were “sardius, topaz and carbuncle; emerald, sapphire and diamond; ligure, agate and amethyst; beryl, onyx and jasper. The...

The chemical structure, natural radiation or intense pressure during millions of years of a diamond’s formation creates its color. Simply stated, nitrogen creates a yellow or orange diamond. Boron creates a light or deep blue diamond. Natural radiation creates a green colored diamond. Intense pressure creates a pink, red or brown diamond and hydrogen produces a purple diamond. The Mossaieff Red diamond was created by intense pressure. It was discovered...

The demantoid garnet belongs to the large garnet family that is known for its dark red color. Not only is the demantoid garnet the most expensive in the garnet group, it is also one of the most precious of all gemstones and it is green. Demantoid garnets come in varying shades of green from slightly yellowish green to brownish green to a blue green. The most precious garnet is a...

Cecil Rhodes was the founder of DeBeers and he started simply by renting water pumps during the rush of 1871. Then an 83.5 carat diamond was discovered in the Kimberly Mine in South Africa. He used the proceeds to buy small mining operations and started his own. To fund his new mining operations, he was able to get capital from the Rothschild family. DeBeers was founded in 1888 and, at...