One of the five cardinal gems, Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl. Beryl is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium silicate with the chemical formula Be3Al2Si6O18.  Well-known varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine.   The word “emerald” comes from smaragdos, ancient Greek for a green gem. Roman author Pliny the Elder, […]

There are few diamonds with a story quite as colourful as The Golden Canary, formerly known as The Incomparable, formerly known as The Golden Giant. It was discarded early in the 1980s by diamond miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire, in a pile of rubble that was considered too bulky to

I first became aware of fancy-coloured diamonds in the 1980s. A friend who worked as a stone dealer showed me various shades; I was so taken with them that I bought them all. Back then, they weren’t well known by the public, but I thought they were beautiful; I had various shades of pink and

Depending on what day you ask, it would be either a fancy colour diamond or Ruby as my favourite gemstone. I love combining them with yellow gold to further enhance their rich opulent colour. Second only to diamond in hardness, it’s a good choice for jewellery that is worn daily. Rubies are the most valuable

One of the most recognized, often copied advertisements of jewellery is a stack of David Ashton rings. The original contemporary stacking rings   My first foray into the world of advertising was a half page in the independent newspaper in 1994. I had been asked to do a fair amount of editorial, and was getting

Spending my time sitting at a bench making jewellery is what I love. Almost everything I produce starts as a piece of 6mm square wire, in Platinum or 18ct gold. The advantages of truly handmade jewellery Most jewellery produced today isn’t made this way, most jewellery is cast.  Casting is a process whereby a mould

Since writing this blog post, the world has changed due to Covid. In uncertain times investors often flock to safe havens, gold being one of them. In 2020 after considering the difference in purity and density the price of 18ct white gold or platinum jewellery is almost the same, platinum being slightly more, due to

Pearl Pearls all you need to know, a buyers guide to pearls Technically an organic substance, produced by shelled molluscs, concentric layers of calcium carbonate. I’ll discount imitation pearls at this point, generally made from plastic or glass, easily distinguished, due to the lack of gritty texture. As with all gemstones beware of anything described

Sapphire, a buyers guide. Birthstone of September, also known as corundum, or aluminum oxide. Ancient Persians thought the world sat on a giant sapphire that reflected light off its surface to make the sky blue. Sapphires have been sacred to many religions. Some say that Moses was presented with the ten commandments on slabs of

The third and final instalment on Diamonds, covering carat & cut. Diamonds all you need to know part 3 cut & carat Diamond Carat: Easy to explain, a carat or ct is a unit of weight. 1ct = 0.02g, or a fifth of a gram. d Carat is not a size, purely weight. I’ll explain more