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Lab Created Diamonds

Knox Jewelers will now be offering Lab Created Diamond center stone options!

Lab created diamonds are natural diamond alternatives that are grown in highly controlled laboratory settings. These environments simulate earth’s natural gemstone growing conditions and produce real mineral diamonds. These lab created gemstones are physically, optically and chemically identical to their earth-mined counterparts.

These grown options are real diamonds. They hold the same chemical composition, pure carbon, and crystal growth pattern as their naturally formed mates. These gemstones will have the same face-up appearance and optical properties as a real diamond, because essential they are real diamonds. The only different between the two will be their origin of creations. The same skilled cutters who fashion earth mined diamond are also responsible for faceting their lab created twins.

Lab created diamonds are grown using one of two very different techniques. When complete, each growing process will produce pure carbon mineral diamond crystals. Which process is used to create diamonds will depend on the application of the completed stone. The High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) growing technique is the main process used to grow gemstone quality crystals, while Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is most commonly used for the creation of industrial grade diamonds.

2336_1_image Unique Engagement Rings
Knox Jewelers' custom engagement ring design Jill Dianne featuring a lab created diamond center stone.

Benefits of Lab Created Diamonds

  • Aesthetic – Lab diamonds are chemically, physically and optically identical to earth-mined diamonds. Up until now beauty such as this has never been attainable in a lab created stone.
  • Value – Lab created diamonds offer excellent value, and are slightly more affordable than natural diamond of equivalent carat size and quality.
  • Environmentally Conscience – Lab created diamonds are ethically grown with minimal environmental impact.
  • Sustainable – The supply of grown diamonds will flow at a constant pace compared to earth mined diamonds that ebb-and-flow with availability, depending on the minable sources. Global demand for diamonds is on the rise, though a new sizable diamond mine has not been discovered in this decade.

Lab created diamonds will reflection a savings of 30 to 40 percent compared to their natural earth mined counterparts.

We now have a variety of lab created diamond center stone options available to be featured in one of our custom created engagement rings. Nearly every cut shape, carat weight, clarity grade and color grade is represented in our selection. Several fancy colored unique diamond options have also made their way into the pool of available center stones. If a lab created diamond option is in your interest, please contact us today to inquire on the available selection of gemstones. We can search our current collection for the perfect grown diamond option to become the finishing touch to your beautiful handcrafted piece.

Author Katie MonsonPosted on June 12, 2016Categories Unique Engagement RingsTags center stone, Center Stone Option, Custom Engagement Rings, knox custom creation, Knox Jewelers, KNox Lab Created Diamond, Lab Created Diamond, Lab DiamondLeave a comment on Lab Created Diamonds

Where is Alexandrite Found?

Alexandrite-Map-1024x705 Unique Engagement Rings

Alexandrite is one of several gemstones traditionally coupled to the month of June as it’s birthstone. Alexandrite is a strongly pleochroic gem, which means it can show different colors when viewed from different directions. This gemstone is a very rare variety of the mineral chrysoberyl. Its chameleon-like quality arises from the way this particular mineral absorbs and reflects light. Alexandrite has been cherished throughout history for its extraordinary and mysterious attributes.

Alexandrite’s most desirable color is a green to bluish-green hue in daylight with a strong color change to a red to purplish-red hue in incandescent indoor light. A fine quality gemstone with these saturated color and strong color change is relatively rare.  Most natural alexandrite found today will be yellowish-green in daylight and change to a brownish-red in incandescent light. The gemstone owes its intense color change ability to the mineral’s unusual light-absorbing properties, and the presence of chromium in its crystal structure. Alexandrite’s dramatic green to red color change is sometimes described as “emerald by day, ruby by night.”

Listed below are the locations where alexandrite naturally occurs and is mined to be transformed into beautifully faceted gemstones.

  • Brazil – A relatively new mining location for the rare gemstone, Brazil became an important new alexandrite source in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
  • Tanzania – Gem miners in Tanzania find alexandrites, sapphires, and occasionally diamonds on the banks of the Muhuwesi River, near Tunduru.
  • Madagascar – Alexandrite rough mined in Madagascar often displays intense color and color change.
  • Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka is home to a  wide variety of colored stones, but alexandrite is one of the most desirable gems to be mined in this location.
  • Russia – Large alexandrite deposits were first discovered in Russia’s Ural Mountains in 1830. Russia is considered the most traditional source of the gemstone. The first alexandrites found in those deposits were of fine quality with intense hues and extreme color change. The gem was named for the young Alexander II, heir to the throne when the discovery was made. These mines did not last forever, and we must now rely on other sources for alexandrite. Though some claim that there will never be as fine of quality as the first gems found in Russia.

If you are lucky enough to hold the very rare and extremely attractive alexandrite as your birthstone, let us at Knox Jewelers help you custom create a one-of-a-kind piece to showcase this beautiful vibrant color-changing gemstone. Fine alexandrite is available, but extremely rare. To remedy this, several labs in present day can produce lab-grown stones with the same chemical and physical properties as natural alexandrite. If a you have any questions regarding lab created alexandrite, we would be more than happy to assist. Any custom piece of jewelry could be tailored to incorporate this remarkable birthstone. The possibility are endless with such a curious and colorful mineral. A Knox Jewelers custom created piece, featuring a beautiful alexandrite is the perfect way to celebrate any occasion falling within the month. Contact us today and let’s get started. We can always search our cutters’ inventory for your perfect gemstone, or we have a selection of alexandrites already available just waiting to be transformed!

Author Katie MonsonPosted on June 5, 2016June 6, 2016Categories Unique Engagement RingsTags alexandrite, color change, custom birthstone jewelry, Custom engagement ring, custom jewelry, custom ring, june birthstone, know jewelers, knox, sourcesLeave a comment on Where is Alexandrite Found?

Lab Created Gemstones

A ring created at Knox Jewelers is truly a piece of art, tailored to your exact specifications and built from the ground up. Any Knox custom engagement ring can be created around the exact measurements of the gemstone you hand select to feature as its center piece. This ensures that the gemstone you select will fit perfectly into your custom setting, as if they are one. There is no manipulating a ready-made setting, with the risk of an ill fit and potential loosening of your gemstone in the future.

We work diligently to bring together a great variety of diamond and gemstone options in hopes that we can provide the center stone of your dreams. We update our online gemstone list weekly with newly discovered treasures. One center stone choice that is not listed on our available gemstone list, but is still a great option for a beautiful centerpiece, is an alternative lab created gemstone. We have a source providing lab created emerald, ruby, sapphire and alexandrite selections.

BlueSapphire Unique Engagement Rings
Knox Jewelers' Verona solitaire setting shown with both a round cut natural blue sapphire and a lab created Chatham blue sapphire.

Gemstones created in a lab are chemically, physically and optically identical to those mined from the ground. The only thing different from this gem and a genuine gem is that it was created in a lab and not found in the Earth.  They have the same chemical composition, appearance, and durability.  They may even have a richer color and a higher clarity because they were created with their given gemstone’s optimal characteristics in mind.

Colorful, vibrant gemstones featured in personal jewelry have always created a romantic and one-of-a-kind look. Every color and luster of stone holds its own meaning to the wearer. Unique and saturated colors are to some a badge of wealth or accomplishment. The royal and the famous have always had an appetite for vivid jewels. On a smaller, personal note, a colored stone could represent a birthstone, hold a symbolism or simply be a favorite hue.

Yet some of these gemstones are rarer, harder to get, and quite expensive. That’s why lab-created gemstones are available as alternatives.

The more expensive and hard-to-find natural gems in jewelry, such as sapphire, emerald, and ruby are favorite lab-created stones. They are not gem imitations; lab-created gemstones are the real deal. They are grown in a laboratory, following naturals recipe, and are identical chemically, physically and optically to natural gems.

Emerald Unique Engagement Rings
Knox Jewelers' Verona solitaire setting shown with both a round cut natural emerald and a lab created Chatham emerald.

The mineral composition of lab-created stones is created through a process similar to what nature does beneath the earth over millions of years, but in a lab at a fraction of the time, and for a fraction of the cost of mining. The average person, one not familiar with natural gemstone traits, would find it very difficult to tell the difference between a natural and lab created gemstones. Even for one trained in the gemstone field it usually would take high magnification or other instruments to be completely convince of a natural identification.

The largest difference between the two options is that a natural gem typically has inclusions from the crystallization process during its creations. Gases and other minerals can become trapped during the molten stage of gemstone creation, and become an inclusion in the stone. Because lab-created stones rely on a steady, controlled process of applying minerals, heat and pressure, they usually have fewer to no inclusions.

Ruby Unique Engagement Rings
Knox Jewelers' Verona solitaire setting shown with both a round cut natural ruby and a lab created Chatham ruby.

If you choose to feature a lab created gemstone in your custom created ring, you will receive a high quality stone with fewer inclusions and a optimal rich color with a significantly lower price tag compared to their natural gemstone counterparts. In some cases, like alexandrite, natural options have become extremely rare. Lab created options may be the only way some admirers will ever be able to own a unique color-changing alexandrite. Lab created options allow us the opportunity to set a beautiful center stone into your ring without waiting for mother nature to create the perfect crystal.

Contact Knox Jewelers today to learn more about featuring a lab created alternative as the center stone in your one-of-a-kind custom engagement ring. We will be able to provide you with the current availability of sapphire, ruby, alexandrite and emerald options. A lab created gemstone is a great way to feature a vibrant and clear center in your ring for a fraction of the cost. We would be happy to assist you in building your heirloom quality piece around the center stone of your choosing.

Author Katie MonsonPosted on May 29, 2016May 29, 2016Categories Unique Engagement RingsTags alexandrite, Antique Engagement Rings, craftsmanship, custom, Custom engagement ring, custom jewelry, Emerald, engagement ring, Knox Jewelers, lab created, lab created alexandrite, lab created emerald, lab created gemstones, lab created ruby, lab created sapphire, lab gems, Ruby, sapphire, Sapphire Engagement RingsLeave a comment on Lab Created Gemstones

Knox Antique Inspired Ring Designs

Knox Jewelers has become known for its one-of-a-kind custom engagement ring creations. To maintain this reputation, we are always striving to update our cases with rings that showcase our unique design ability and hand finishing techniques. The latest additions to our inventory are true to this belief, illustrating Knox’s signature creation process with an antique design appeal. Where better to take inspiration then from the timeless beauty and romance of generations past.

The fascination and enthusiasm for vintage inspired ring settings does not go unnoticed here at Knox Jewelers. The appeal lies in their complicated beauty. Each one is unique with its tapestry of intricate filigree curls, detailed relief engraving and curvaceous silhouettes. Our jewelers hand craft each piece especially to your specifications to ensure your custom engagement ring will be of heirloom quality.

There lies a distinctiveness within an antique inspired ring; they have character. Some may see the uniqueness of their own relationship reflected in singularity of a handcrafted vintage inspired ring from Knox. There is something romantic about a ring design created in the past but still desired today. It has endured the test of time. Featured below are our latest additions to our vintage inspired engagement ring settings. Every detail is created by hand and every ring is made from the ground up, especially for you.

Adele1 Unique Engagement Rings
Adele

True to antique form our Adele setting boast an exaggerated profile height , allowing room for pierced cast-in-place filigree work and a surprise bead-set diamond on either side. Its center diamond is placed within a hexagon shaped setting and held in place by six prongs. Milgrain edges add the final touch to this Edwardian era inspired ring design.

Coral Unique Engagement Rings
Coral

Our Coral ring design negates the notion that a band has to be wide to include intricate detailing. Good things can come in small, tapering packages. This ring features swirl patterned relief engraving with a central gemstone set into diamond encrusted seat.

Sylvia Unique Engagement Rings
Sylvia

Giving us a bold shoulder, the Sylvia ring design includes large pear shaped side stones that direct attention towards its bezel set center diamond. This seamless design incorporates custom filigree pockets within a bead-set arching diamond band. Owing its intricate detailing to not one but several eras of influence, this ring setting is truly something special.

Alexandria Unique Engagement Rings
Alexandria

The hefty Art Nouveau influence shine through in our Alexandria design. Four delicate petal prongs hold an oval cut diamond in its uniquely crafted center setting. Curving elements and flowing lines emulate the favored artistic details of the era. Bead set diamonds highlight the intricate band and a surprise marquise shaped diamond on either side brings a focus to the ring’s profile view.

Fitzgerald Unique Engagement Rings
Fitzgerald

Befitting its namesake, our Fitzgerald ring design holds design elements inspired by the roaring twenties and its Art Deco movement.  A bezel setting allows for milgraing edging to encircle the entire center diamond. Exaggerated scroll shapes lead into an arching band, that from the top view adds a flattering pinched shape. Bead set diamonds and an amble amount of milgrain add a lavish appeal in line with its era of influence.

Noveau Unique Engagement Rings
Noveau

Finally, the best of both worlds is achieved in our Noveau ring design featuring a modern half bezel center stone setting surrounded by elaborate vintage inspired scroll relief engraving.

Any of the settings listed above can be crafted as-is or custom tailored to your preferences. If you would like to incorporate any of the elements from our most recent antique inspired design into your custom engagement ring, contact Knox Jewelers today and we can help you start the creation process. We are experts at taking your vision and making into an heirloom. Learn more about designing your own custom antique engagement ring here. We will work together with you from start to finish to create an antique inspired engagement ring that contains both the visual and emotional elements important to you. There exists perhaps no experience more fulfilling or significant than being able to design a piece of jewelry which symbolizes the love you share with that special someone and no better place to draw inspiration from than the elaborate ring silhouettes of decades past.

Author Katie MonsonPosted on May 22, 2016May 26, 2016Categories Unique Engagement RingsTags Antique Engagement Rings, craftsmanship, custom, custom created, Custom engagement ring, Custom Engagement Rings, custom ring, Diamond Engagement Ring, hand engraved engagement rings, Knox Jewelers, Unique Engagement Rings, Vintage Engagement RingsLeave a comment on Knox Antique Inspired Ring Designs

May’s Custom Engagement Ring Spotlight

Spotlight-May-1024x768 Unique Engagement Rings
Knox Jewelers Custom Design 3249

One of our new favorite custom created engagement ring centers around a 1.20 carat round brilliant diamond trimmed on either side by tapering princess cut emeralds. This combination makes for a truly opulent pairing. The rich green tone of the emeralds adds a freshness to an otherwise classic silhouette. Vintage inspired elements on this custom setting include three faces of hand engraving and four pockets of  hand wrought filigree curls. The edges of this tapering band are refined with milgrain edging for a refined and polished finish. This vibrant and daring design can be recreated to accommodate any type, shape, or size center stones. Contact Knox Jewelers today to custom tailor this design to your preferred precious metal and central gemstone selection to create your own one-of-a-kind engagement ring!

Author Katie MonsonPosted on May 15, 2016Categories Unique Engagement RingsTags custom design, Custom engagement ring, custom engagement ring spotlight, custom ring, Emerald, filigree, hand engraving, knox custom creation, Knox engagement rings, Knox Jewelers, milgrain, round brilliant diamond, taperingLeave a comment on May’s Custom Engagement Ring Spotlight

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