Carnelian – An alternative birthstone for July

July is well served by birthstones. As well as the ruby, the most well-known birthstone for July, there is Carnelian. This is a semi-precious gemstone that comes in an array of dazzling orange reds, sometimes striped with white. Very pretty!

Carnelian is not a stone that can be sharply faceted, like a diamond or a ruby, as its crystalline structure is very fine – it is in fact a micro-crystalline form of quartz, with the white translucent stone given colour by iron impurities within it. This often results in bands of colour across a pale stone, but fully red stones do occur and make fabulous pieces when polished or carved.

Vintage style carnelian

This is a very hard gemstone, meaning that it can be quite finely carved – making it a popular choice for signet rings with crests and similar adornments right back to Roman times. The carved design, if a crest, would often be done as a mirror image, to allow the ring to be used as an impression on a wax seal, on legal documents and letters, to prove the sender’s identity. These were particularly popular in the late 18th and early 19th century, a reflection of the resurgence of the neo-classical design style in architecture, interiors and jewellery; you can find examples of these elegant rings today, at specialist antique jewellers around the world. It was well known and loved in Ancient Egypt too, with its warm red tones often set against blue lapis and black onyx in collars and necklaces for royalty and the aristocracy.

Carnelian “The Singer’s Stone”

In the Middle Ages carnelian was believed to have healing properties and even today it is known as the Singer’s Stone, due to its associations with confidence and the power of true expression, so enhancing creativity and passion. In fact, the multi-award winning singer Adele, who has cited her belief in the power of crystals, wears a rather beautiful carnelian bracelet, made by couture fine jewellers Van Cleef & Arpels.

This warm and pretty stone clearly translates into quite stunning jewellery, carved or polished to a warm glow and sets beautifully into yellow or white gold and silver. Used by fine jewellers and fashion jewellers alike, the only limit is the designer’s imagination, which we know will never be an issue for Christopher Evans – fine, fine jeweller!

To date we have never actually been asked to create something using carnelian, which is a shame, but perhaps by drawing your attention to this pretty, perfectly priced to deliver serious pow for your pound, glowing red gemstone.

Bespoke carnelian jewellery

Just think…drop earrings in amber-orange polished carnelian in a surround of diamonds; delicately striped carnelian set in a rose gold tennis bracelet; a tangerine square of glowing carnelian in a yellow gold brushed over setting, with orange sapphires to each side…oh, you could get quite carried away you lucky, lucky July-born babies!

Jacinth Zircon | A very unusual engagement ring

Jacinth zircon is a stunning golden orange toned gemstone rarely seen, but with an ancient provenance and makes a fabulous, unique and very unusual engagement ring stone.

Kate turned 50 last October, and her husband Mike wanted to mark the occasion with something rather special, something – if possible – unique. He’d been considering ‘upgrading’ her engagement ring for some while, as he felt that after 20 years she deserved more sparkles, so he came to see us in our Poynton store.

Chatting with Chris and Nicky, he mentioned that Kate admired coloured gemstones and did Chris have any ideas. Well, it just so happened that he did! Genius idea number one…

We’ve said before that Chris is a big fan of unusual and beautiful gemstones and loves to work with these in the creation of wholly unique pieces. He had recently acquired a rather fabulous Zacinth Zircon, which had been mined in the northern jungles of Myanmar.

Mike loved it immediately, but then – oh the dilemma! How should he have it set?

Present the stone alone

Chris suggested that Mike take a different approach – simply present Kate with the gemstone, unset, and let her decide how she wanted it mounted later.

Genius idea number two!

On her birthday, Kate was thrilled to be given this beautiful stone – and, she later said, relieved that she could choose her own, simple setting, designed to showcase the ring, but also in keeping with her own personal style.

Kate visited Chris and Nicky and sat with them to discuss the design options. Her personal preference was to avoid too bold a mount (and Mike had set a budget that ensured she couldn’t get carried away anyway!) Chris’ idea of creating a delicate, looped band set with tiny diamonds met with her own need for simplicity and the stone’s need for a light, bright showcase. The result is flawlessly beautiful.

Zacinth Zircon

Jacinth is an ancient word for orange and tones of orange, which is today rarely used. It’s applied to Zircon gemstones that fall into the orange, red-orange or golden brown range of colours. The earliest reference to a gemstone described as a Jacinth is in the Old Testament, and is part of a text describing the breastplate of Aaron, set with 123 gemstones, each representing one of the tribes of Judea:

“And you shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, blue and purple and scarlet stuff, and fine twined linen shall you make it. It shall be square and double, a span its length and a span its breadth. And you shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree. There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel; they shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.”

(Exodus 28:15-21)

Admittedly, nobody actually knows precisely which orange gemstone is being referred to here, as it could be any of a multitude of options, but Zircon was well known in antiquity, and orange, orange-red and brown-red colours for gems are not massively common in the gemstone world, so it absolutely could be!

Zircon actually is closer to resembling diamond than any other natural gemstone. It comes in ‘colourless’ and in shades of blue too, which are romantically labelled as ‘Starlite’ Zircons by some jewellers. They’re also found in tones of green, pale yellow, pink, purple and grey. The Zircon’s fabulous lustre and sparkle gives it a dazzling fire that is often compared to that of the diamond.

NOTE: You must NEVER confuse Zircon with Cubic Zirconia! Cubic Zirconia is a synthetic, inexpensive diamond simulant, not a naturally occurring gemstone made by the powers of Mother Earth. So there.

bespoke coloured gemstones jacinth zircon

Why choose a non-traditional engagement ring?

What is a non-traditional engagement ring?

First off, can we just say that we have a teeny tiny issue with the term ‘non-traditional’ when applied to engagement rings. In this context, a non-traditional engagement ring is any ring that isn’t the standard white diamond solitaire, or cluster. As we’ve been designing and making engagement rings with coloured gemstones set in them for many years, we can assure you that there’s nothing non-traditional about them!

Indeed, solitaire diamonds only became the most ‘traditional’ form of engagement ring after WW2, when DeBeers Diamonds needed to shift some of their massive stockpile of diamonds, so created the advertising campaign, A Diamond is Forever!

A growing trend

There has been a growing trend over the last few years for engagement rings that take advantage of all the glorious coloured gemstones available to us, from ‘traditional’ blue sapphires, green emeralds and red rubies to the less well-known peachy-pink Padparadsha sapphire, golden-brown Jacinth Zircon and the lavender and gold ametrine (see below) , but prior to De Beers’ ‘A diamond is forever’ marketing campaign (launched in 1947 in response to fears that their growing stockpile of diamonds would take a nose-dive in value if they didn’t come up with some way to sell them faster) engagement rings came in all colours, shapes and sizes – whatever the bride loved best (and the groom could afford!)

We find it odd that over the last couple of decades, only the bold and the beautiful – royalty and Hollywood heroines – have opted for coloured gemstones, but we’re thrilled that now women everywhere are recognising the coloured gemstones.

Listen to your heart

So, what advice do we offer to our customers considering a coloured gemstone for an engagement ring?

First: don’t be worried that a coloured stone will cost more than a diamond of similar size. Just as diamonds vary in cost according to their Cut, Colour and Carat weight, so do coloured gemstones. Emeralds and rubies are generally more expensive than diamonds of the same size, but there are so many fabulous gemstones to consider, that you really needn’t limit yourself in such a way.

Second: don’t think a coloured stone needs to be boldly coloured – a bright blue sapphire isn’t for everyone. Consider a pale lilac shade, perhaps, or a pink one. Sapphires come in pretty much every shade there is, except red. Check out this stunning orange sapphire, above. This is a serious wow gemstone if ever we saw one. Diamonds too come in all sorts of colours, from pale pink to canary yellow. You can even find them in blue or red, but these are a rarity and priced accordingly!

Traditional, with a twist

Finally, if you believe deep down that only diamonds will do, but you’re keen to create a ring that’s as ‘un-traditional’ as you are, then there are plenty ways to design an eye-catching ring without straying from bright, white diamonds. Consider the brushed over setting, as seen here in this wave ring, or a square cut, or emerald cut, or oval, or pear… Look at halo settings, and built up shoulders…really, as we say, when you go bespoke you dream it and we do it.

Remember that it’s your marriage, your ring, and your hand that it will be adorning, so don’t hesitate to do whatever you love that makes you happy, now and forever. Just make sure your ring is the one you’ll want to wear every day, forever. (Having said that, we do have customer who come for ring ‘upgrades’ as their finances change!)

coloured gemstones non-traditional engagement ring unusual engagement ring

Garnet: birthstone for Capricorns

My sister was born in January and the birthstone for Capricorns is the garnet. The first time I heard of the gemstone garnet was when I asked my grandmother if her engagement ring had a ruby in it.

“No, love,” she replied. “It’s just a garnet.”

From then on, I thought of garnets as being not much more than a poor man’s ruby – but oh how wrong I was!

The name ‘garnet’ is not one single gemstone, but actually describes a collection of several closely related minerals. They come in a variety of colours, of which of course the best known is red. When you hear a gemstone described as a garnet, this is usually referring to the red variety. Other coloured garnets gemstones are given their own names, to help differentiate between them.

Red garnets come from the Almandine and Pyrope forms of garnet. Even though Almandine is the most common garnet, it is usually opaque and really not fit for use in jewellery. It is the, less common, transparent dark red forms of Almandine that are used as gemstones. A rose-red to violet variety of Pyrope is known as Rhodolite, and is a choice often made by jewellers seeking stones with rich colour and reflectivity to create pretty pieces.

Spessartite is an orange to orange-red form of Garnet, which has recently seen an increase in popularity, as people recognise the beauty and worth of coloured gemstones. Grossular, the form of Garnet that has the greatest range of colours, has the important gem variety of glorious green Tsavorite.

Millennia ago, red garnets were used in the jewellery of Egypt’s Pharaohs and many have been found among the effects of those ancient Egyptian’s wealthy and important enough to be mummified and so pass into the afterlife with all their worldly goods intact.

Centuries later, red garnets were among the most widely traded gems. In the Middle Ages red garnet was favoured by both the clergy and the nobility. In around 1500 a massive deposit of red garnet was discovered in Bohemia, a Kingdom which was later absorbed into the Czech Republic.

This discovery led to an explosion of goldsmiths and jewellers in the area specialising in a form of jewellery known as Bohemian garnet, where stones are packed closely together to create a dazzle of texture and pattern – a style which has as much charm today as it ever has, when designed by the right person.

The garnet is, of course, the birthstone for January and the gemstone associated with the second wedding anniversary. For those who believe in the power of crystals, garnet is the one you need if you want to achieve a balance in your life, harness your inner strength and feel safe and protected.

bespoke design coloured gemstones garnet green red

Choosing a gemstone

When choosing a gemstone, whether this is for an engagement ring, when you’re designing a special and unique piece, or even to replace a lost stone, it can be a daunting task.

How to buy a gemstone isn’t something you can simply Google and expect to become an instant expert, but there are some things you can be aware of before you make your decision. Of course, the first thing you need to be aware of is how trustworthy your chosen supplier is. You will need to rely on your jeweller to make sure you find the best gemstone for your budget and your desire.

There are several key factors that add together to set the value of every stone you consider.

The most obvious one is size, or weight, which is measured in carats. However, bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better. A stone is also valued by its clarity, colour and cut.

Clarity

In some gemstones clarity is less vital than in others, but unless a stone is totally opaque, such as an opal, how light passes through the stone affects its beauty and therefore its worth.

Within gemstones you will find a quantity of spots or lines, called inclusions. In short, for most gems, the fewer the inclusions, the more valuable the gemstone, as these can interfere with the movement of light through the stone, reducing the sparkle and value of the stone. Clarity is absolutely key with diamond valuation, for example. A two carat diamond with a high inclusion count can be less valuable than a one carat stone with high clarity.

Some gems have naturally very few inclusions to interrupt the light flow, such as Tanzanite, meaning that other factors take precedence when valuing this stone. Others have characteristic inclusions, some emeralds for example have a “jardine” (garden) of inclusions, which makes each gem truly unique.

Colour

When we say ‘colour’ we don’t just mean blue sapphire, red ruby or green emerald, for example. Every gemstone has a range of colours, with some more rare and so more valued than others. You will be aware of canary (yellow) diamonds and pink sapphires, for example. Even so called ‘white’ diamonds vary in how white they actually are and are measured against an internationally recognised scale, from D (colourless) to Z (light coloured). The value is greater the closer to D your stone is.

Coloured gemstones – sapphires, emeralds, citrine, topaz, etc – are also measured on a scale, which is designed around three key points: Hue, the dominant colour; Tone, how light or dark the colour; and Saturation, the intensity of the hue.

This can of course get complicated, so we say buy what you love. Ask to see several examples of the colour of stone you want and don’t restrict yourself to one gemstone type – you can find pink diamonds and sapphires, red rubies or tourmaline, green emerald or peridot, etc, and each will bring different characteristics with it.

Cut

The way a gemstone is cut will enhance its sparkle and shine. The most talented gem cutters get the very best from the gemstones they work on, with a dazzling end result.

Consumers must reconcile their budget with their tastes. A smaller gem of finer quality will cost as much or more than a larger gem of lesser quality. Nature produces far fewer of the top quality gems, so there is good reason for the greater price. The following is a summary of factors for some of the most popular gems in the trade.

Treatment

Coloured gemstones with the type of colour we love the most don’t occur as frequently as you might think. In many, the colour you see has been achieved due to some form of treatment. Many rubies are heat treated for example to achieve the hue we require. Gems may be treated with heat or with safe irradiation to achieve the colour we desire. ‘Natural’ gems – gemstones in which sought-after colour is naturally occurring – are generally more valuable because of their relative rarity.

Durability

Yes, some precious stones are more hard wearing than others, meaning you need to consider how you want to have your stone set and how you will wear it before you make a final decision on which type of stone you want to buy.

Diamonds, sapphire, ruby and garnet are highly durable and so are well-suited to an active daily life and work well in rings, bracelets or cufflinks. Others, such as emeralds, pearls and opals are slightly more fragile and so need mounting and wearing accordingly.

Here at Christopher Evans we’re expert in sourcing and selecting fabulous gemstones of all colours and kinds. In fact, we have a passion for coloured gemstones and can present you with a dazzling array of more unusual and interesting gems, as well as diamonds in all sizes and colours.

Call in or call to make an appointment; your journey to the perfect gemstone for you starts here.

bespoke coloured gemstones

Your bespoke jewellery

Having bespoke jewellery designed and made just for you seems like something only the super-rich can do, yes? Well, you mustn’t think like that, as a wholly unique piece of bespoke jewellery, made just for you to your design is also made just for you to your budget.

Gemstones come in every shape, size and shade and there are many, many fabulous alternatives to the most well-known and highly priced gems everybody is aware of. Want pink? Well, as well as pink diamonds you can choose a sapphire or a tourmaline. The tourmaline is in fact one of the most versatile semi-precious gemstones we work with, as it comes in every shade of the rainbow.

Want red? Rubies, per carat weight, can cost more than similarly sized diamonds – but spinel is a fabulous gemstone that comes in the richest shades of red (as well as green, violet, blue and more…!) How about blue? Sapphire or aquamarine? Lapis lazuli or Tanzanite? Always dreamed of emeralds? Maybe choose a peridot or tsavorite instead.

The fabulous, endless dazzling variety of gemstones to choose from is just one thing that makes us love what we do here at Christopher Evans. There’s always something new to discover, always something we’ve never seen before.

As with diamonds, every gemstone is valued on it’s colour, clarity and carat weight – with each stone having it’s own relative value. This is pretty convenient, as it means you can size up or down, vary the shade or select the cut according to your budget.

And that’s just half the fun – then we get to play with the design! Working with you every step of the way, our designers and goldsmiths take (almost) as much pleasure from creating the perfect bespoke piece for you as you take from receiving it…we never tire of that moment when a customer opens the box and smiles with pure joy.

If you think life’s too short for OTC jewellery – call in and see what fun can be had creating something unique, just for you.

bespoke coloured gemstones gemstone goldsmith

Bought it myself: the right hand ring

What does ‘right hand ring’ really mean?

There are a few myths and misunderstandings about the right hand ring, the greatest one being that these are rings bought for a woman by a man who does’t want to commit to the finality of marriage, but wants to put his symbol of ownership on you. What utter rubbish! It’s been our experience that the right hand ring is chosen and paid for as often by the woman herself as by a man.

We all know that left-hand ring fingers are traditionally given over only to an engagement ring or wedding band, but that doesn’t mean that right ring fingers need to remain unadorned. In fact, many women enjoy their right-hand rings even more than traditional engagement rings because they can be a true reflection of their taste and style. No need to stick with a solitaire diamond on this hand, rev up the right hand ring bling factor and make a statement about your own personal style!

Our personal favourite was the lovely lady who came in an announced, loud and proud, that she worked long hard hours in a demanding job with a bad tempered boss, kept house and cared for a husband and family and if anybody thought she was going to spend her bonus on anybody but herself, they could think again. You go girl!

Finding a right-hand ring that works for you

The beauty of the right-hand ring is that there are no rules for its design. You can opt for a simple and inexpensive one, or you can blow your entire life savings on a ruby to die for. Here are some thoughts to get you started:

Birthstones: Consider a ring that features your birthstone. Birthstones convey meanings that run deeper than the often very pretty colour and are a definite talking point.
Cocktail rings: Using less well-known and less pricey coloured gemstones you can create a piece that will speak volumes for who you are. The ring shown above has a blue tourmaline as a centre stone. This is a glorious gemstone that comes in all shades of the rainbow and delivers some serious bang for your buck.
Shout about it! Done something amazing? Celebrate your achievement with a special gift to yourself. Run a marathon for Cancer Research? What about a pink sapphire? New job and a pay rise? Choose a citrine (shown here) which is often called the success stone (also known as the money stone, so perhaps a citrine first, the promotion after?!)
Celebrating singleness. Don’t wait for a man to put a ring on it! Independent women know what they want and are perfectly capable of choosing their own ring, thank you very much!

Whatever your reasons for choosing a right hand ring, choose something you love. You might know exactly what you want, but if you’re seeking inspiration, then ask to see one of our jewellery designers who will open up a whole world of precious and semi-precious gemstones for you in a range of colours and cuts you hadn’t even dreamed existed.

birthstone coloured gemstones diamond

Coloured diamonds

Diamonds come in a whole range of colours, from flamingo pink to canary yellow, pewter grey to sky blue, chocolate brown and marmalade orange to new leaf green and stormy violet…and all shades in between.

While white diamonds are the stuff of most bride’s dreams, these stones are in fact rather common (as in not rare, not as in Benefits Street!) and it’s naturally coloured, or fancy coloured, diamonds that are the headline stealers, attention grabbers and jaw-droppers of the gemstone lovers’ world today.

You’ll have seen the headlines yourself – Ben Affleck gave a cherry-blossom pink 6.1ct diamond to Jennifer Lopez on their engagement (and I bet she didn’t give it back), Paris Hilton went for canary yellow and Mariah Carey also plumped for pink.

Naturally coloured diamonds are in fact nature’s errors – the colour in them is caused by a flaw in the creation of them, deep underground. A chemically pure and structurally perfect diamond is perfectly transparent, with no hue whatsoever. These are pretty rare. Colouration is caused by a chemical impurity – nitrogen atoms cause yellow, green and brown shades, boron delivers hues of blue while carbon impurities give us black diamonds – or structural defects – pink, red and brown shades come from deformation during the crystal growth while exposure to natural radiation can create green diamonds.

Of course, the colours that result from these defects can either enhance or detract from a diamond’s appeal and value. Muddy brown and sludge green aren’t the usual bride’s choice for an engagement ring, even for those looking for a really unusual engagement ring!

The rarest of coloured diamonds are highly sought after by gemstone collectors, and rarely therefore make the jewellery market. The most paid for a coloured diamond (so far) was $46m, for a 24.78ct intense pink diamond, while the most paid per carat was $2.4m, when a 14.28ct vivid orange pear shaped diamond sold for over $35m at Christies in Geneva in 2013.

You don’t have to be endlessly wealthy (or totally nuts) to get your hands on a beautiful, rare and unforgettable coloured diamond however. At Christopher Evans we use coloured diamonds in many bespoke jewellery designs, from brooches to pendants and, of course, to rings.

Brides looking for a really unusual engagement ring, but who still crave the traditional romance of a diamond, have their pick of shades and the only limit (apart, of course, from your budget) is your imagination.

birthstones coloured gemstones custom made engagement ring diamonds unusual engagement ring