Jewel of my Heart

Feelings can be so raw and hearts so tender that words are clumsily inadequate for expressing them. Our hearts break, simultaneously expanding, ushering us through a terra incognita where emotions and meaning can be more powerfully expressed by symbols. Feelings can...

Pools of Light Close to Your Heart

Have you heard of the “Red Thread of Destiny?” It is the belief that people destined to meet are connected with an invisible Red Thread. This thread can get tangled and pulled but it will never break. Those connected by this Red Thread will play a major part in each...

Dreaming in Color

For this extraordinary project, we knew that the main ingredient was extra special so we made our own recipe for creating a jewel starting with finding an elusive amethyst crystal from a fabled locality, faceting the gem, creating a design, and “painting with gems” to...

Colorful Expressions

Colorful expressions are utilizing jewelry adorned with colored gemstones to convey self-expression and personal significance. Initiation and growth are Spring’s hallmarks.  It’s 37 degrees the day I’m writing.  Since the garden is mostly dormant, let’s look at the...

Gem Hunting while Pregnant and other Stories

In my 30’s used to tell the joke, “Do you know why men like younger women?  Their stories are shorter.”  My romance with colored gems and jewels is long, with so many stories.I’ve had 34 years with my business now and through gems and jewels I have...

How the Law of Odds Creates Visual Power

Going from a good design to a great one isn’t a matter of luck. I met with a customer, Frances, who had two pairs of gorgeous, rare and vivid gems – yellow danburite and teal “cuprian” tourmaline.  These are rare gems and great examples of their type.  Both pairs...

Gem Cents: What Determines the Value of Colored Gems

As many of you know, I’ve spent over 30 years in the jewelry industry as a colored gemstone dealer and designer. Working as a dealer who supplied high-end jewelers and collectors for decades led me to understand the nuances of the international gemstone market,...

Gem Services Concierge

I was born with an eye.   What makes it useful is 34 years of evaluating gem materials and assigning their characteristics to a mental grid I file away. One place my eye and savvy come into play every year is Tucson, which hosts the largest gathering of international...

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