May 1, 2013 | Boutique Treasures, Designing Eye, The Inner Jewel
A torii is a traditional Japanese gateway, found originally at Shinto shrines. The gateway symbolizes a passage from the world of everyday concerns to the sacred world of universal community. The ancient Japanese also believed that they were erecting torii to provide...
Nov 13, 2012 | Boutique Treasures, Designing Eye
Mosaic is the art of creating images and patterns using tesserae, small pieces of glass, stone or other colorful materials. An ancient decorative skill, mosaics have been assembled since the second half of the third millennium BC, in Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and...
May 28, 2011 | Designing Eye, Once Upon A Jewel
Proud of his bounty, a gem collector came to me with a wonderful assortment of rare Demantoid garnets he had been gathering. Demantoid garnets, primarily mined in Russia and Namibia, behave in light similarly to diamonds and appear fiery. They are rare, beautiful and...