Deep Ocean Blue Sapphire Ring (Heated)

There is romantic appeal in such a deep mysterious shade of ocean blue sapphire. And surprisingly, this sapphire ring is not unheated. Yes, Heritage Gems does have access to heated sapphires as well.

Though heated, this particular shade of blue is not what one would typically see at a highstreet/mainstream jeweller. It is unique deep mysterious blue. Our client said “I feel calm when I see this colour”.

Heated blue sapphires normally offered at your mainstream jeweller are usually an intense, almost bright blue shade. Some would describe these shades as somewhat artificial looking.

Again, one of the main reasons why we do what we do. We are passionate about colours. Coloured sparklers are intimately fascinating. As an engagement ring, the lady of the hour decided she wanted a simple and evergreen style that could last her for years to come and a style she could wear for even the most simple of occasions.

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Nature-inspired Aquamarine & Phosphophyllite Floral Earrings

Part II of of our nature-inspired cocktail jewellery is a pair of Floral Aquamarine Cocktail Earrings.

Aquamarines come in a a few shades of blue. From near colourless to strong medium blue and also light green-blue. The term Aquamarine stems from its Latin counterpart Aqua-marina which means marine colour or colour of the sea.

This design features a pair of diamond flowers flanked by a pair of trillant cut green-blue Aquamarines and long drop Phosphophyllite. Never heard of a Phosphophyllite? That’s because it is an extremely rare gem, almost unheard of in most common jewellery shops. Phosphophyllite can be found in Germany and Bolivia, while it’s finer specimen comes from Bolivia.

During the designing of this pair of earrings, we wanted to feature Aquamarines alongside the diamond flowers. The colour objective of this pair of earrings was to search for a gem that had colour which complements that of diamonds, not compete with it. However, it cannot be too pale as it would result in the earrings looking too bland. We then decided that we could find the right colour with Aquamarines. Other gemstones that were considered but did not qualify were: Morganites, Yellow Beryls and Kunzites. Quite clearly, we were in search of pastel-like gemstones but one that had the right hue and shade of colour.

The next step came when we had to find a gem to complement the Aquamarines as the design was intended to be a pair of long, drop earrings. The colour we were looking for had to match and complement our trilliant-cut Aquamarines. Some colour choices were: Blue Zircons, Apatites and Paraiba Tourmaline. However, these gemstones are typically very saturated in colour and would draw too much attention away from the diamond flowers and Aquamarines. The key-words for this particular design was Complementary Colours.

We then decided on a very rare mineral called the Phosphophyllite. If one ever chances upon it, it would normally be seen in blue-green  colours (sounds similar to Aquamarines, no?) This design was shelved for quite a long time (close to a year) as we were unable to find the correct gem. Till recently, we chanced upon a pair of long drop Phosphophyllite. Right away, our craftsmen began work on this piece.

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Lo and behold, the above pair of earrings, fully completed.

“There is a story behind every piece created by Heritage Gems Fine Jewellery” – Germaine Woo

 

 

Nature-inspired Rubellite Butterfly Cocktail Ring

We draw inspiration from nature for this particular ring which features butterflies. Butterflies typically flutter and hover above the flowers and the leaves.

Part I of our nature-inspired cocktail jewellery is a Rubellite gemstone Butterfly cocktail ring.

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The design stage had gone through several revisions until we came to what was to be the final drawings that had gone from drawing board to our crafting bench.

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Not only is this particular design different from what is commonly seen in high street jewellers, the overall style is unique in that:

  • the oval gemstone is actually aligned horizontally. Most oval shape rings are aligned vertically.
  • when the ring is viewed from top-down, its owner sees only the gemstone. The details of the design comes alive when the ring is viewed from its side profile. Which makes quite abit of sense, doesn’t it? As we wear our rings and look down at our hands, be it engagement ring or cocktail rings, do we not normally see the 45 degree side view first as opposed to the top down view?

Excluding designing hours, this piece required a total of 36 consecutive man hours to craft. This cocktail ring is relatively chunky in size.

Unless it is a design intention or requirement, Heritage Gems Fine Jewellery does not scrimp on its gold work. In the process of crafting jewellery (though not all jewellers do this), it is common practice that jewellery pieces are crafted with very thin gold work with the main objective of lowering costs, at the expense of functionality or appearance. 

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The gemstone chosen for this ring is a Rubellite Tourmaline for several reasons. The inspiration of this ring was drawn from nature. We were in search of a richly coloured gemstone that is not only beautiful but one that comes in a colour no other gemstone offers.

What makes the Rubellite Tourmaline special? Tourmalines come in a variety of shades and colours. Generally the colour of Tourmaline is described by placing the colour in front of the word Tourmaline. Meaning, a tourmaline with pink hues would be called: Pink Tourmaline. A tourmaline with blue colour and hues would be called: Blue Tourmaline. A tourmaline with green colour would be called: Green Tourmaline and so forth.

However, a tourmaline with both pink and red hues is called a Rubellite Tourmaline. With red mixed in with pink, the result is a mesmerising raspberry colour distinct and special only to the Rubellite Tourmaline.

It took us several months to search for a Rubellite that was of the right size. It could not be too big nor too small as this ring is designed to fit an Asian lady. At Heritage Gems, we have several in-house criteria that needs to be met before a gemstone can be used in our jewellery.

Rubellites are typically not eye-clean. Alongside with Emeralds, even the “cleanest” of Rubellites generally have at least an inclusion or two.

This Rubellite Tourmaline featured in this butterfly ring is extremely eye-clean. Almost flawless. Rubellites are also typically 100% natural, void of an heating or treatment of any sort. On these 2 points, this Rubellite has already met with 2 out of 5 of the in-house criteria.

The final result is an eye-catching, rich pinkish-red nature-inspired butterfly cocktail ring. & definitely unique both in design and gemstone.