A beautiful bride and a loving mother. Necklace and Bracelet in 18k white gold and diamonds.
Category: diamonds
A fully customised beautiful pair of yellow sapphire earrings
We had a client come to us late last year, with a specific request for a pair of yellow sapphires to be made into earrings. She was after pear-shaped sapphires, in a nice bright yellow hue that would complement her nice tan, in an ideal size that would complement her frame and build. The key factors in looking for matching pair of gemstones to be set into earrings are:
1. identical shape & size
2. both gemstones should ideally be of matching hue and saturation (for certain types of gemtones, this criteria borders on near-impossible. Eg: Emeralds. This criteria is even more difficult to fulfill if the client would like for the gems to be unheated/non-treated). Reason: 100% natural gemstones may not be exactly identical in hue and saturation due to the fact that these gems are obtained from different locations within the same mine. Being 100% natural, no two gemstones will be exactly alike – Similarly, no two fingerprints will be exactly identical.
3. almost similar levels of clarity
So, our client’s request certainly was difficult, but for Heritage Gems – it was not impossible. In the early weeks, we chanced upon this pair of oval-shaped yellow sapphires, that were not in the shape as per client’s request.
However, this was not a problem for us as we have the facilities to re-cut, re-facet and re-polish the gems to her requirement. So our design discussions with our client began. She wanted the yellow sapphires to be the feature colour of her earrings. Preferring that pave diamonds (if any) would not distract the attention away from the beautiful colour of her sapphires. She’d envisioned the finished look to be simple, classy, yet stunning. Final look of the earrings are below.
Timeline for customised fine jewellery, depending on client’s requirements and level of complexity can range anywhere from 3 months – 9 months.
A close-up shot of one side of the earrings
The Valerian Collection – our June feature collection
Inspired by a gorgeous purplish blue flower, called the Jacob’s Ladder or the Greek Valerian, usually found in the northern parts of Europe. This special flower is a summer flower that starts blossoming at the beginning of summer in June, lasting through July. Hence, for the month of June’s feature collection, Heritage Gems brings to you an assortment of cocktail rings inspired by the Greek Valerian, that will add glitz to any of your outfits.
Jacob’s Ladder or Greek Valerian. Source: http://www.flowersgallery.net/summer/jacobs-ladder-specs-pictures-informations/
Above from left to right: Pink Spinel, Yellow Chrysoberyl, Magenta Rhodolite, Blue Zircon.
At Heritage Gems, our range of top-quality gemstones and fine craftsmanship of jewellery reflect the discerning tastes of our clientele.
In this Valerian collection, only the finest gemstones are used. We feature top quality in terms of brilliance, lustre, intensity of hues and saturation of colour. All gemstones used in this collection are loupe-clean.
Price range from SGD10,000 – SGD24,500 depending on the gemstone. Weight of the centre gemstone ranges from 7 – 9 carats, depending on gemstone.
**Different types of gemstones have different carat weights even though they measure exactly the same size.
Bridal Jewellery
A discerning client had chosen to have her bridal jewellery done by Heritage Gems. A stunning, fairy-like diamond necklace and bracelet, adorned the bride on her special day, complementing her bridal gown. Needless to say, this was a stunning bride. A complete set of necklace and bracelet in 18K white gold, totalling 7.07 carats worth of diamonds.
Our bride was quite particular about her jewellery. It had to be a matching set with her own pair of earrings that she had already intended to wear on her big day. It required one month from conceptualisation of design, going through a few revisions and finally the bride was happy with what was on the drawing board. The entire set was handcrafted in 3 months. Our pave diamonds are individually hand-picked to ensure a consistency in colour, clarity and exactness in size.
This being a custom-made order, our measurements of the jewellery were done with utmost precision. Notice how the necklace sits perfectly on the bride’s collar-bone, and the drop of the necklace sits beautifully just above the cleavage, complementing her bridal gown perfectly.
Photo courtesy of the bride’s friend. Diamond Necklace in 18k white gold, 4.5carats of hand-picked diamonds.
Diamond Bracelet in 18k white gold, 2.57carats of hand-picked diamonds.
Your must-have versatile pair of earrings
We are featuring a pair of Yellow Sapphire Drop Earrings this week. Stylish and versatile enough for day-wear or that glamorous night out. Perfect for the splash of colour to your outfit. SGD6,500.
DAY WEAR
NIGHT GLAM
Behind the scenes
A glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes; one of our craftsmen, hand-mounting individual diamonds.
The finished product: a beautiful pair of diamond earrings. 3.25cts
Enter the world of Rubelites
Rubelites, not to be mistaken as Rubies belong to the Tourmaline family. Fine quality rubelites are very hard to come by. Most rubelites available in the market these days are usually red, tinged with brown tones. Purplish to pinkish overtones remain the most desirable colours for Rubelites – the main body colour being red. Rubelites are traditionally classified by GIA as class III gemstone: meaning, this gem almost always has inclusion and is almost never eye clean.
Above: Rare, collector Rubelite. 16carats. Beautiful vibrancy, lustre and colour!
Rubelite Ring with a tinge of pink. Sweetness!
Debunking Jewellery Myth #1 – Chipped Diamonds
Some people have come to me with their diamond rings and showed me that their solitaire diamond has chipped at the sides, or the girdle (in gemmology terms). They’re baffled and can’t understand why, as diamonds are “supposed” to be extremely hard.
Well, it is true that diamonds are hard, but they are not as tough. On the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, diamonds rank 10 which is the hardest possible, followed by Corundums (commonly known as Sapphires) which rank 9, followed by Quartz being a 7 and finally Talc rank 1, which is the softest possible. Hence, diamonds are hard: defined by being resistant to scratching, which means that a diamond can only be scratched by another diamond.
However, a diamond is not as tough as it is hard. Toughness is defined in gemmology as the resistance to breaking, chipping or cracking. Truth be told, because of diamonds’ crystalline structure, which has certain cleavages along certain planes; when hit at the correct angle, can actually cause the diamond to fracture or chip.
Bottom line: all forms of jewellery is an art form meant to be cherished, appreciated and well taken of. At all times, try not to wear your diamond or engagement ring when doing “heavy-duty” work. Take care when lifting or shifting any heavy-duty objects. If you suspect something does not look right with your jewellery, bring it to a jeweller you can trust (may or may not be the same jeweller who sold you the jewellery). Try to have your more precious jewellery cleaned, inspected and repolished every 1.5-2.5years. Yes, that includes platinum jewellery. Although, as far as we know, most jewellers will charge a nominal fee for repolishing. (Think of it as regular car-servicing sessions. You may not know there may be something wrong with your engine oil, or brake pads etc. But your technician will be able to tell. )
Our Ring of Romance
In designing this ring, I drew inspiration from the rich history depicted on the stained glass windows of the magnificent yet romantic churches in Italy. During the medieval times, apart from churches and public developments such as town halls, only the very wealthy could afford stained glass windows as part of their architecture in their homes. As well, the most appropriate gemstone to be paired with the romance of this ring was to go in search of a wine-coloured gemstone – and no other type of gemstone exudes this exact shade of berry wine colour, except the Rhodolite Garnets.
For a piece of Italy on your finger, retailing at SGD2,980.
18k white gold featuring a 6.6carat Rhodolite Garnet surrounded by diamonds.
when your favourite colour is orange
We had a client who had over the many years, unknowingly amassed several gemstones and jewellery in a very nice, rich orange hue.
She came to us one day with a ring and 2 loose gemstones and wanted us to help create a whole matching set of jewellery.
This was our client’s ring from her mother that she wanted to redesign.
Our client brought her own loose gemstones that she wanted to complement the new design we were going to re-set for her. We were delighted to help her re-design an entirely new set of jewellery she could finally wear.
So we proceeded to start work on dimensions, design process, design customization and final design confirmation. Notice that the above 2 gemstones were not entirely the same shape. But that is definitely not a problem for us – after recutting and re-shaping the gemstones slightly, this was the final outcome:
A beautiful 3-piece jewellery set with a classic vintage appeal, set in 18k white gold with diamonds. Notice her original ring was in yellow gold – we also changed that to white gold during the re-working process.