If You Like It, Buy It.

18k yellow and white gold wedding bands

I had one of my non local blog readers call me recently about getting an emerald for a ring for his wife.  Needless to say I immediately asked him if he had read my articles on emeralds in rings.  He had but his wife had a strong hankering so he was going ahead with it anyway.  He called primarily to find out if there was a place on online he could post a picture of an emerald and find out whether it was a decent stone or not.  Unfortunately there isn't and it wouldn't really work even if there was.  First of all everyone's cameras and computers read colors slightly differently and even very subtle differences in color can make a huge difference in price. Also there is no way to truly see the types and quantities of inclusions in a stone from a picture.

However what came up was that he had found a stone he liked, but he was uncertain that he would be getting a good stone.  But here is the thing you should remember about all colored gems, regardless of what else is said (either by me on my blog or elsewhere):  If you like the stone then buy it.  It doesn't really matter if it isn't considered a "fine" color or "perfect" or anything else.  If you like it and it makes you happy then just buy the darn thing. You may be overpaying or you may not.  But technically if you like what it is and you think it's a fair price for it then you're not overpaying for it because YOU like it.
 
A good example of this is some of the lighter toned blue sapphires I buy.  Generally speaking the darker colors (not too dark or they look black) are considered more valuable.  But the fact of the matter is that I have found the lighter colors to often be more sparkly.  I like sparkle in my stones!  So while I always have beautiful, intensely colored and darker blue sapphires, I also have some lighter colored ones because they just happen to strike my fancy.

Sometimes you just have to go with your gut instinct on these things.  Of course that always assumes that you are dealing with a reputable source, so please make sure you have checked out the company you are buying from.

The wedding bands in the picture above are kind of special to me.  I just made them up for my younger son's wedding this coming weekend.  His has a pink diamond in it that I bought for him (it's his birthstone) when he was born.  I can, of course, always make you something similar!

Sale Time

Custom 18k ring in process

I confess to being absent from my blog for quite awhile.  However I have a good reason.  I have been so inundated with work that despite working 7 day weeks I am still running 4-6 weeks on most custom jobs.  So even though I haven't been on lately, please be assured that I am still here and working my tail off. 

In current news:

 The state of Massachusetts decided not to help out the little guys and is not having a tax free weekend this year, however we ARE having our annual sale which is going on all of this week.  You must be an existing customer to take advantage of this opportunity.  Please come on by and see what's out these days!

I have gotten very active on Instagram and would suggest that you follow me on there if you want to see my most current work. The pictures aren't always great as many of them are phone snaps but it's a way to see what is coming off the benches as soon as it does as well as work in progress (like the picture above). 

I am currently working on a new body of work and I am releasing it a bit differently than I have in the past.  Usually as soon as I finish a new piece it goes out in the cases.  However I am now only doing that with designs that I have made up before (or made something very similar to before).  I have a group of pieces (that is getting larger weekly) that are finished except for polishing that are going to be released all at once.  They will be shown on this blog awhile before they are actually released and anyone reading the blog can come in and see (and purchase) them before they are actually put out in the cases.  As it stands now they won't go out until sometime in November but pictures of them should be up on the blog in October.  This will be an opportunity for my regular readers to get first choice on some new jewels.  

I'm going to try to get back to the story of how I got where I am today in the next article.  This presumes, of course, that 1) I get time to write something in the near future, 2) something more interesting doesn't come up to write about and 3) that I actually feel like it!

Please keep checking back.  I will be trying to write more soon.