These earrings have a long history from my own family. My paternal great-grandfather was in the jewelry business, and these coins came from his store. The coins had been tucked away in a safe until my uncle brought them to me earlier this year.
Together, we designed these beautiful earrings as a surprise for my aunt, and she LOVES them! Incredibly sentimental for me and my family, and I feel honored to complete a story that began decades ago. Especially one that began in a jewelry store, just like the House of Diamonds. We love to be included in your family’s history as well, so bring any item that can be turned into jewelry and we will dedicate ourselves to protecting your history, while creating a beautiful custom piece for you.
One of the most rewarding things we do is creating items that celebrate the wearer’s individuality.
We recently had the opportunity to create complimentary wedding bands for a couple to celebrate their Irish heritage. They wanted to incorporate the trinity knot, a well known symbol within the Celtic heritage, with open designs. After exploring various patterns, thicknesses, and shape, we created these two beautiful rings that are similar in pattern, but individualized to each of their preferences. Although these rings do not have stones in the design, the impact is just the same. The intricacy of both of the bands showcases the culture and the overall needs of what our lovely clients needed.
These platinum works of art will be worn with pride for years to come!
Pantone has been naming a shade of color for every year since 2000. The Pantone Institute is very instrumental in PMS, color branding, and trend forecasting products.
In fact, some companies own their PMS color… for example, UPS brown, Home Depot orange, and the yellow-green scheme that belongs to John Deer.
Did you know that Pantone for the first time ever named a shade after a character? You may be wondering just who the color belongs to… the Minions! Pantone, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Partnerships & Licensing collaborated to bring you a new hue of Minion Yellow. (We know this will thrill Alexis and Reagan as they are huge fans of the Minion movies.)
Finding a way to bring the great outdoors inside is the theme for the 2017 shade of green named Greenery. Many sources agree that Greenery is bound to grow wild like vines and cover itself in the creative world this year. Green feels refreshing as we spent the last year in an abyss of red and blue. Pantone’s newest shade Greenery will work its way to the runway, into makeup, it will be used in interior design and possibly even find its way to Karen our in-house designer.
How could you incorporate this new color into your life? Perhaps it’s time to start incorporating those peridot earrings, jades necklaces, and emerald rings in your #OOTD (Outfit of the Day). On the other hand, maybe the thought of new beginnings has you digging around in your jewelry box wondering how you can give new life to the items that are collecting dust.
Come by the store and visit with our staff about creating a green treasure of your very own!
Today there is a standardized list of Birthstones; those gemstones were selected in 1912. Birthstones can be a great gift with special significance for loved ones or they can be used to represent the birth of a new baby. However, one thing we are consistently hearing clients say is “my birthstone just isn’t my color” or “I wish my children had more complementary Birthstones.” If you feel that way about your birthstone, you’re not alone!
Luckily, there’s more than one way to bake a cake.
Birthstones have been given as gifts for thousands of years, long before our 12-month traditional calendar was in use. Birthstones were once based on your zodiac sign. This is excellent news if you’re not happy with your birth month color.
In the coming months, we will be doing a story about each of the gemstones according to zodiac sign!
Below is a helpful chart to discover what designated sign you are if you didn’t already know or so that you are able to gift for someone else!
Aquarius: January 21st – February 19th
Gemstone: Sapphire
Pisces: February 20th – March 20th
Gemstone: Amethyst
Aries: March 21st – April 20th
Gemstone: Ruby
Taurus: April 21st – May 20th
Gemstone: Golden Topaz
Gemini: May 21st – June 21st
Gemstone: Citrine
Cancer: June 22nd – July 22nd
Gemstone: Moonstone
Leo: July 23rd – August 23rd
Gemstone: Garnet
Virgo: August 24th – September 23rd
Gemstone: Emerald
Libra: September 24th – October 23rd
Gemstone: Peridot
Scorpio: October 24th – November 22nd
Gemstone: Aquamarine
Sagittarius: November 23rd – December 21st
Gemstone: Spessartite Garnet
Capricorn: December 22nd – January 20th
Gemstone: Green Tourmaline
So often I hear about other jewelers creating “custom jewelry”, which is usually just a pre-manufactured mounting that they’ve set their stones (or a client’s stones) into. There are computer programs that pull from an existing manufacturer’s library, which is essentially plug and play to create a semi-unique combination, but again not shaped and proportioned to get ideal results. There are even manufacturers that will stamp their pre-made product with a jewelers name and logo so the jeweler can claim it is uniquely theirs, when it’s not!
This is a glimpse into our truly one-of-a-kind custom process.
I spent a couple years playing around with some sketched concepts of a design I wanted to create with a unique two-colored tourmaline that I loved! The stone is an extremely long emerald cut that showcases the natural color transition, as well as some interesting natural inclusion characteristics of the tourmaline. I love the juxtaposition of curving fluid designs around the linear step-cut of the emerald cut tourmaline.
I worked on the CAD design of the pendant in-between projects for our clients for a couple months until it was exactly what I envisioned. Working with our jewelers, I made sure all the design nuance and detail was perfectly executed to create one of my favorite pendants!
We had hardly had the tourmaline pendant on display for a week when a client saw it and told her husband and friends about it. Her husband, being sneaky about taking notice, called me the next day to inquire about the design, and coordinate acquiring it for his wife for an upcoming holiday. As expected – it was a hit!
It’s very gratifying to create beautiful items that I love, and so many others get to enjoy as well! I am looking forward to designing and making even more one-of-a-kind creations this year. Stay tuned and I will post more images as they finish!
I love items that have history!
