Beautiful white opal set in 18K yellow gold, with yellow sapphire and tsavorite garnet. Broadly speaking, opals come in a few different base colours. Mainly, in white, blue, black, fire (ie: red, orange, yellow tones), pink and crystal opals.
What sets the opal apart from other gemstones is that we can immediately notice the rainbow of colours displayed on the surface of the gem as we rock the opal back and forth.
Traditional designs see opals often set with diamonds. As with most of our clients, they wanted something that they know our designers do best. Which is to create a unique, yet aesthetically pleasing and it is to be easy to wear. Often times, in an attempt to create unique, unusual pieces of jewellery, what results is an awkward, mish-mash of colours that look odd and clumsy.
The beautiful white of the opal lends a nice base of which to incorporate other coloured gemstones. This opal also has a nice, soft, almost cashmere-like glow that accentuates the colours of the other gemstones. Elegant, refined, yet unique.
While this opal does not have a distinct colour play, the rainbow of colours can be seen spread evenly across the entire gem, which adds to a premium to the piece.
Also, did you know that Australia is not the only country to product opals? Opal sources include Brazil, Mexico and Ethiopia. All of which produce their fair share of beautiful opals in varying colours and hues.
White opal, yellow sapphire and tsavorite set in 18K Yellow Gold pendant
Just exactly how rare is an unheated ruby? Regardless of its origin?
Much has been said and written about the differences in value between an unheated and heated ruby. In addition, there is also a category reserved for “glass-filled” or “lead-filled” or “lead glass-filled” rubies. These 3 terms pretty much mean the same thing, which essentially means, rubies that have been filled with high-lead-content glass, which made the rubies appear more transparent after the treatment process. Filling ruby material with lead glass enabled what would have been nothing more than material specimen mainly used for gemological studies; definitely nothing of decent commercial value. In addition, filling gemstones with lead glass actually adds carat weight to the material. What does this mean for end consumers? Essentially, consumers will pay more for glass instead of gemstones. More can be read about lead-filled rubies here: https://www.gia.edu/doc/SP06A2.pdf
Heated rubies in our present, modern-day gemstone and jewellery market have become more commonplace because it remains a fact that unheated, 100% natural rubies oftentimes, have a lacklustre and dull appearance. Ruby material is heated to improve the colour and clarity of the rough and ultimately, the polished gemstone. It is important to recognise this because it impacts the price differences between heated and unheated rubies and the market premium accorded to unheated rubies. Without the heating process, commercial quality rubies would have a lot more eye-visible inclusions, opacity and dullness, which would result in these rubies being unable to be sold at fair prices or worse, not sold at all.
Unheated rubies as mentioned above, are typically heavily included with a dull appearance. To understand it in a nutshell, as this article aptly describes: “Very few of the recovered rubies are of high enough quality to be sold on the market. In fact, only about 1% of all corundum found is gem quality. Of those rubies, only a fraction remains untreated.” https://thenaturalrubycompany.com/education/ruby-characteristics/ruby-rarity-value/
Let’s all take a moment to consider this statement: of the 1% of all corundum mined from earth being gem quality, only a fraction of this 1% remains untreated and unheated.
“Gem quality” usually means a gem has the aesthetic appeal to the human eye. Eye-clean, with even colour tones throughout the gemstone, with good brilliance and lustre.
Seen below is a rare unheated 1+ ct ruby, set in diamond halo with 18K Natural Gold. It is becoming increasingly difficult to source for eye-clean unheated rubies that are facetted and polished with a nice finish and cutting symmetry. In addition, unheated rubies are almost always presenting themselves in a somewhat dull and lacklustre appearance, oftentimes looking somewhat cloudy.
To find a ruby that checks the following will involve more than just luck: 1. Unheated 2. Eye-clean 3. Lively appearance with fair – good brilliance. Not dull and not cloudy looking 4. In a properly facetted, well-proportioned symmetry
Did you know that fun cocktail earrings and jewellery is not just limited to engagement and wedding jewellery? It was truly a unique and bespoke piece of jewellery for a client whose style and personality is reminiscent of a time past yet ever so modern. A fairly abstract mix of jewellery is what our client loves to match-and-wear.
The gemstones were handed down to our client from her grandmother. Up until the time she met us, she was unable to decide what to do with her coloured stones! That’s when she enlisted our help So we started with the design discussion and consultation stage. Ideas flowed and what resulted was a whimsical, bespoke and bold piece of jewellery that she could wear with all her other jewellery handed down from her grandmother, in one great eclectic mix.
Fun cocktail jewellery hold special meaning to its owner. Who ever said fine jewellery is strictly limited to engagement and wedding occasions only? 🙂
As with every piece of handcrafted jewellery that goes through the hands of our artisans here at Heritage Gems, right from drawing board to the final piece that ends up in our clients hands, great care is taken every step of the way.
Work in Progress Photos
From the jeweller’s bench, artisans delicately handcrafts the pieces that come together to make the complete jewellery.
Before you know it, we’ve handcrafted a stunning, whimsical pair of earrings in a beautiful colourway of gold, black and red.
Voila! A pair of bold, whimsical earrings that our client is very happy with! Customised bespoke jewellery doesn’t have to be overpriced nor overly grandiose in design. It just has to be fitting and paired just right for its owner.
This is the beauty of customised pieces and what sets customised jewellery apart from ready-to-wear pieces. Customise your jewellery with the correct artisans and you will have a stunning piece of jewellery that fits like a glove and accentuates your best features.
Our client review below:
If you are considering to customise a bespoke piece of your own, a piece specially crafted for yourself, contact us at 97716923. It’s an obligation-free consultation.
inspiration on other projects that are also fun cocktail pieces? Click below:
Nothing spells luxury quite like rich green – a rare tsavorite and diamond engagement ring. In a vivid, alluring shade of green. It captures the attention of anyone who sets eyes on it.
What is a tsavorite?
As with the Spinel, and Mandarin Spessatite, true gem connoisseurs know the rarity and value of the Tsavorite. It belongs to the garnet family. It ranks 7.5 on the MOHs scale and offers good scratch-resistance.
Forget about ancient history where royalties, maharajahs and maharanis have adorned the emerald in their numerous jewels and crowns in part, because mining technology in the early 1800s just simply wasn’t able to discover the Tsavorite Garnet yet. In today’s world, 99% of all emeralds have some form of oiling or resin enhancement (yes, including those accompanied by certificates from reputable gem labs stating “Minor Oiling”). Often, they are filled with fissures and fractures that it is difficult for one to really appreciate the visual beauty of the emerald (if not for the abundant marketing telling consumers that emeralds are so beautiful).
How rare is the tsavorite?
The “downside” of the Tsavorite is that it is twice as rare as the emerald and found often, in much smaller rough sizes as compared to the emerald. With low mining and production of faceted Tsavorites, it is difficult to swarm the commercial mainstream jewellery market with Tsavorites simply because there just isn’t enough to go around. But it does not take one long to realise just how exquisite a gemstone the Tsavorite is. Relative to the emerald, the Tsavorite can withstand small knocks better mostly due to the fact that the emerald has so many fissures, internal cracks and inclusions. Due to these internal crack lines existing in 99% of emeralds, any small external impact (accidental or not) will likely result in the emerald being chipped or broken on the surface.
Tsavorites come in a beautiful range of light green, medium green to vivid and deep intense green and also in the mint shade of green.
Set in our custom-blend 18K Beige Gold, below features a vivid intense green Tsavorite and diamond engagement ring that looks so breathtaking and regal at the same time. We are in love with this piece that is not only timeless in both colour and also design. Truly elegant.
The key to finding a beautiful intense green Tsavorite is to look for one that is as eye-clean as possible. Intense vivid green Tsavorites have a tendency to look slightly lacklustre, especially if the gemstone is not well-faceted resulting in areas of dark/overcast sections. However, good quality Tsavorites usually have a ‘lively’ appearance to them, with good brilliance and scintillates even in natural daylight.
