Laurie’s Blog
Sapphire is the birthstone for the month of September and the traditional gift for a 45th wedding anniversary. It is a variety of the mineral corundum. It is typically blue, but natural fancy sapphires occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green. It is even found in brown, black, and white. The only color which sapphire cannot be is red – as red corundum is ruby.
Saturday, August 11, 10-8 and Sunday, August 12, 11-5.
Come in to our new gallery and see unique pearl pieces recently created in our workshop. Also on display will be strands of pearls of many colors, shapes, and sizes. Our jewelry features Black Tahitian, Peach Coin, White Baroque, White Fresh Water Drops and more. Be sure to come in and talk with our pearl expert on Saturday.
Visit our Gallery in Lenox, MA in the Berkshires, just a short distance from Tanglewood. Featuring fine contemporary hand made jewelry, vintage jewelry, and the largest collection of loose colored gemstones in the Berkshires. We work in precious metals such as silver, gold, and platinum. Custom designed jewelry is our specialty.
Rubies are given as a symbol of success, devotion, and integrity. According to Ancient Lore, a ruby is capable of reconciling lovers’ quarrels. Rubies were thought to ward off misfortune and ill-health.
Ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are sapphires, which come in every color of the rainbow. The word ruby comes from ruber, Latin for red.
Ruby is 9 on the Mohs hardness scale making it a superior gemstone for jewelry. In fact, ruby’s rich red color is deserving of it’s nickname, the “King of Gems”.
The quality of a ruby is determined by its color, cut, and clarity, which, along with carat weight, affect its value. The brightest and most valuable shade of red called pigeon blood, commands a large premium over other rubies of similar quality.
Visit our Gallery in Lenox, MA in the Berkshires, just a short distance from Tanglewood. Featuring fine contemporary hand made jewelry, vintage jewelry, and the largest collection of loose colored gemstones in the Berkshires. We work in precious metals such as silver, gold, and platinum. Custom designed jewelry is our specialty.
Made by hand in our workshop in the Berkshires! Earrings, Large Peach Freshwater Baroque pearls drop from matched peach zircons with diamonds set in 14K white gold. The pearl drops are removable making these “Day/Night” Earrings.
A pearl is a hard glistening object produced within the soft tissue (the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur.
Natural Pearls occur spontaneously in the wild and are extremely rare. Cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold.
Whether natural or cultured, gem quality perals are almost always nacreous and iridescent, like the interior of the shell that produces them.
Visit our Gallery in Lenox, MA in the Berkshires.
In May the welcomed green of new grass makes us think of emeralds, the gem of spring and May’s birthstone. And, if you are celebrating your 20th or 35th wedding anniversary, it’s your gemstone as well. Come to our gallery to see the finest collection of contemporary hand made jewelry and the largest collection of loose colored gemstones in the Berkshires.
Visit our Lenox Gallery in the Berkshires to view our collection of loose Columbian emeralds for either collecting or for a custom designed piece. We also have exclusive emerald jewelry on display for your immediate purchase.
It takes a highly trained goldsmith to set emeralds carefully and securly in order to protect them from possible damage. We at Laurie Donovan Designs have the skills to set emeralds properly in our on-premise workshop.
Come see us for emerald jewelry and many other fine pieces of jewelry including necklaces, rings, earrings, and pendants in gold and silver.