When you need to propose with a gem possibly rarer than diamonds…

Why propose with a boring colourless diamond when you can mark that special occasion with a gem that is possibly more rare than a diamond?

Frankly, is one diamond that is D colour, IF clarity that much different from another D colour, IF clarity? At most jewellers, you would have at least 2 of the same “D, IF” quality to choose from. Main difference is possibly only in size/shape.

True to Heritage Gems quality, this piece features a 5.04ct unheated blue sapphire. Our client wanted to propose with no less than an unheated blue sapphire. He found his answer with us. After some deliberation on the choice of sapphire and design, our client decided that the sapphire he had chosen was stunning on its own. Hence, he picked a timeless and elegant design, as seen below.

Image

In a nice deep royal blue with such stunning lustre, set in 18K white gold, flanked by icy-white diamonds that is eye-catching even from a distance.

Fine Quality Unheated Blue Sapphire Engagement Ring

Blue Sapphire Engagement Rings are fast gaining popularity, especially since Kate Middleton was proposed to with one.

Requesting for a blue sapphire sounds relatively simple enough. And how hard can it be to customise that special, ideal engagement ring? But there are actually several considerations to be thought through before settling on that ideal piece.

  • Shade of blue: Light blue? Medium Blue? Deep? Inky Blue? Royal Blue?
  • Fine quality should be evenly-toned and well-saturated colour.
  • When viewing the loose gem, pay attention that as the gem is tilted/rocked from side-to-side, that there is colour throughout the entire gem. Commercial quality sapphires tend to have colour-banding/colour-zones whereby certain parts of the gem are colourless.
  • Why are sapphires with colour-bands/colour-zones considered commercial quality? It is common for sapphires to exhibit these streaks of blue, due to the way the rock is formed. While this does not affect the integrity of the gem, it certainly does not enhance the aesthetic beauty of the gem. Hence, a market premium is paid for well-saturated and evenly coloured gems.
  • Unheat or Heat?: Again, this is entirely a matter of personal preference. However, heated sapphires are easily found and beautiful heated sapphires are plenty abound. So, if one is able to chance upon a aesthetically beautiful gem that is 100% untreated and unheated, it would add to the value of the gem. 
  • What is your choice of metal?
  • What style of ring? What sort of design? This will affect budget too.

Featured below is a custom-made, eye-catching medium-blue unheated sapphire ring set in 950 pure platinum, with E-F diamonds. Notice how the sapphire seems to glow from within! Very good lustre and brilliancy, evenly-toned with a strong medium blue hue. This eye-catching piece is a stunner even without the aid of direct light source.

Image

*Photo above taken indoors with incandescent light.

Image

Image

All photos and videos have been taken under natural daylight (unless otherwise specified). No filters or artificial photoshop or enhancement done to the photos and videos.

RARE Rubellite Tourmaline Ring

The Rubellite Tourmaline is a special kind of Tourmaline that has that characteristic raspberry hue. It is uncommon for a Rubellite Tourmaline to be eye-clean. Similar to Emeralds, Rubellite Tourmaline is classified by GIA as a Type III gemstone – meaning that it is generally accepted that these gemstones have many natural inclusions. Hence, if a Type III gemstone is eye-clean, it is a fine quality material which would naturally be accompanied by a larger price tag.

 

IMG_8017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo taken in natural daylight

This featured Rubellite cocktail ring is a stunning 8.31ct, 100% eye-clean Rubellite, which is absolutely RARE. Surrounded by 2 cts natural untreated accent diamonds, set in solid 18K white gold, it makes for a stunning piece to wear for that special occasion. This is a statement piece that will definitely get you compliments.

Price: SGD9,800 only

Pick up that special X’mas gift now

SJGF2013invite

When colourless is boring

***Pls note that the jewellery featured in this particular post is not by Heritage Gems. 

Coloured gemstone engagement rings have long been used among royalty and Old Money as a profession of their love for each other.

Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor with a stunning 19.77ct emerald engagement ring. Truly a gem piece:

Image Image

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon with her Ruby engagement ring surrounded by diamonds

Image

In more current times, royalty engagement such as Princess Diana’s 18ct stunning blue sapphire ring to which Kate Middleton was subsequently proposed to by Prince William are definitely redefining engagement ring traditions.

diana

the_most_expensive_celebrity_engagement_rings_640_21

Stunning blue sapphire engagement ring – If it’s good enough for Prince William and Kate Middleton, I’m sure it would be good enough for any of us.

2b09087ec3731b1627b29a24d77c37a2

Princess Mathilde of Belgium’s beautiful oval ruby engagement ring

mariechantalfrombrideuniverse

Marie-Chantal of Greece’s Cabochon Sapphire engagement ring

sarahruby

Fergie’s Oval Ruby engagement ring

jackieo-1024x724

Jacqueline Onassis’s emerald engagement ring

And in even more recent times, amongst Hollywood celebs, coloured gemstones engagement rings have become popular

halleberry-1024x676

Halle Berry’s 4ct emerald engagement ring. Beautiful and unique – estimated to be worth USD200,000.

lizhurley-1024x714

Elizabeth Hurley elegant and classic emerald shape blue sapphire stunner. As mentioned in a previous post, fancy cut side diamonds (regardless of shape) always command a premium than round brilliant side diamonds/setting size diamonds.

jessicasimpson-1024x657

Jessica’s ruby engagement ring, again, with fancy cut side diamonds.

nicolerichie-1024x768

Nicole Richie’s Pink Sapphire engagement ring – a colour for the little girls inside every one of us.

Contrary to mainstream opinion, coloured gem engagement rings is only for the privileged few. Fine quality precious gemstones are rare and not easily available. If one has a specific colour/shade/hue in mind, the waitlist to lay your hands on an ideal gem could be several months, sometimes close to a year. If your jeweller is actively searching the market for you, it may take a slightly shorter timeframe.

Nonetheless, buying that ideal precious gem is not something that you can pick off a chart with the corresponding colour grading, clarity grading as you would a diamond.

Dainty Ruby Ring

The daintiest ring just newly crafted with a pretty little ruby sitting atop. This ring is most fitting of its owner, a young lady with a good eye for colour. She knows a good gem when she sees one. Not wanting something too ostentatious, suitable for daily and semi-formal occasions yet a fine quality gemstone, the final outcome of this is a pretty piece of art.

An eye-clean ruby, unheated with such lustre and brilliance is a rare sight – even more rare than sourcing for an unheat fine quality sapphire. More often than not, unheated rubies coming out of current mines either lack clarity (not eye-clean) or lacks lustre or both. Further, less than 5% of rubies available in the market are unheated rubies.

Image

1.8ct Ruby ring in a hot pink-red colour

Image

Image

In The Press – Indonesia Tatler August 2013

Grab your copy of the August 2013 issue of Indonesia Tatler now. Look out for Heritage Gems in the Jewellery Section.

Image

1017715_640175242661775_1379526275_n

The Vibrant Beauty – Pink Spinel

For the true gem connoisseur, beholding a Spinel brings them many a great delight. For centuries, the Red Spinel has been commonly mistaken by many as the Ruby. Similarly, the Pink Spinel is commonly mistaken for the Pink Sapphire. This is mainly due to its lustre and brilliancy that rivals that of the Rubies and Sapphires. True gem-quality Spinels are rare and extremely hard to locate.

Tip of the day: The Spinel has a Refractivity Index that ranks dangerously close to that of Sapphires, resulting in brilliancy that rivals that of the Sapphire.

Several royal artefacts such as the Crown Jewels of Iran and the Imperial State Crown of the United Kingdom feature Spinels amongst Sapphires and Emeralds.

Below is a newly completed commissioned-work featuring 4.78ct Pink Spinel accented by 1.3cts diamonds in 18K white gold. A timeless piece of jewellery with an understated elegance.

IMG_3322(A)

A mother’s love

A beautiful bride and a loving mother. Necklace and Bracelet in 18k white gold and diamonds.

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.

Image

Image

Image

Photo courtesy of the bride’s friend. Diamond Necklace in 18k white gold, 4.5carats of hand-picked diamonds.

Image

Diamond Bracelet in 18k white gold, 2.57carats of hand-picked diamonds.