Gemstone spotlight Archives

Gemstone Spotlight

Peridot-Ring Unique Engagement Rings — Knox Jewelers Custom Aimee Design

Peridot is the vibrant yellow-green gemstone variety of the mineral olivine. It is usually found in volcanic rock deposits that are rich in iron and magnesium. The iron in peridot’s chemical composition causes its unique yellow-green coloring. This gemstone’s color range is very limited and includes brown-green hues to more yellowish-green and saturated solid green. The yellowish variety of this gemstone is the one most often used in fine jewelry, but any shade of this vibrant gemstone would make an amazing custom creation!

Peridot is deposited worldwide and does occur in the United States, it can be found in Arkansas, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico. Throughout history this gemstone has been confused often for other green gems, several notable times for emeralds. It is even speculated and Cleopatra’s famous emerald collect was actually green peridot.

Peridot is believed to be a gemstone talisman for protection. Superstition aside, this sentiment tied to peridot would make it a meaning center stone in any one of custom creations!

Peridot holds an average gemstone hardness of 7 on the Mohs Scale. It is not as durable as diamond or sapphire, so if you choose to set a peridot into one of our custom ring settings, it would need to be worn with care and might not be suitable for everyday jewelry. However, this glowing yellowish-green radiant cut gemstone shown here could make a stunning right hand ring. The featured magnificent green peridot option is currently available on our online gemstone list, and is just waiting to be made into a custom created work of art!

Let us at Knox Jewelers help you design a custom created piece of jewelry holding the lovely green radiant cut peridot featured here or any other available option on our gemstone list. Contact us today to get started!

Gemstone Spotlight

Ruby-Ring Unique Engagement Rings — Knox Jewelers Custom Design 3245

Throughout the centuries ruby has always been highly regarded and as colored gemstones go, ruby is one of the most historically significant. In ancient Sanskrit ruby was named ratnaraj, or “king of precious stones”. The gemstone received its modern name from the Latin word ruber, which means red, and ruby will forever be the standard that all other red gemstones are compared against. Ruby has acquired its fair share of legends through the years, most involving beauty, wisdom, love or protection. The gem retained its regard as the western world grew, and it soon became one of the most sought after precious stones of European upper class and royalty. In modern times, the desire for ruby has only grown as it has become a symbol of love and passion. With these notions in mind, ruby would make a stunning and meaningful center stone in any of our custom created engagement rings.

Ruby is the vibrant red variety of the mineral corundum. This mineral family also includes the gemstone sapphire, in all of its colors. In its purest form, corundum is colorless, but trace elements present in the crystal structure causes its wide variety of hues. Chromium is the trace element responsible of ruby’s red coloring. Ruby, and all other corundum, holds an average gemstone hardness of 9 on the Mohs Scale. It is not as durable as diamond, but ruby would fair very well in most custom engagement ring settings or any other custom creation you desire. The unique octagonal cut ruby shown here would make a stunning colored gemstone engagement ring or right hand ring. This deep red ruby option is currently featured on our online gemstone list, and is just waiting to be made into a custom created work of art!

Let us at Knox Jewelers help you design a custom created piece of jewelry holding the scarlet octagonal ruby featured here or any other available option on our gemstone list. Contact us today to get started!

Gemstone Spotlight

Alex-Ring Unique Engagement Rings — Knox Jewelers’ Custom Design 2185

A distinct gemstone compared to other specimens, alexandrite is famous for its dramatic color change. Large deposits of this gemstone were first discover in the Ural Mountains of Russia in the 1830s. It was named for the then current heir the throne, the young Alexander II. These first alexandrites were of outstanding quality and displayed an impressive color shift in vivid hues. The remarkable Ural Mountain deposits did not last forever, but these first examples are this the premium that all other alexandrites are compared to. Today this gemstone can be found in Sri Lanka, Africa and Brazil.

Alexandrite is a rare variety of the mineral chrysoberyl. The gemstone is a charming green hue in daylight and shifts to a purplish red in incandescent light. This chameleon like ability result from the way alexandrite crystals absorb light. This gemstone has famously been labeled as an “emerald by day, ruby by night”. Other gemstone are know to shift hues like alexandrite, but few are as extreme.

Alexandrite holds an average gemstone hardness of 8.5 on the Mohs Scale. It is not as durable as sapphire or diamonds, but alexandrite would fair well in most custom engagement ring settings or any other custom creation you desire. The dazzling alexandrite shown here would make a stunning one-of-a-kind right hand ring or colored gemstone engagement ring. This alexandrite options is currently featured on our online gemstone list, and is just waiting to be made into a custom created work of art!

Today, alexandrite is a rare gemstone, nearly never found in large carat sizes. Its scarcity does mean that natural gems will come with a cost higher than that of more common gemstones. Though natural examples are breathtaking, we also offer lab created options that display a similar color change effect. Any natural or lab created gemstone can be set into any one of Knox Jewelers’ custom creations.

Let us at Knox Jewelers help you design a custom created piece of jewelry holding the rare natural alexandrite featured here or any other available option on our gemstone list. Contact us today to get started!

Alex-1 Unique Engagement Rings

Gemstone Spotlight

Emerald-Ring Unique Engagement Rings — Knox Jewelers Custom Design 3436

Emerald is the vibrant green gemstone variety of the mineral beryl. This incandescent gemstone has been a favorite throughout history. It is highly regarded for its incredible color and unique internal characteristics. The beryl mineral family holds several other notable gemstones including the seawater blue aquamarine and delicate blush hued morganite. However, emerald is usually the most well known member of the beryl family. It was been prized and collected by royalty and celebrity alike for thousands of years. There are of course are other green hued gemstones, like peridot or tourmaline, but emerald is always the standard which all other greens are compared to.

Emerald receives its intense color from traces of chromium and some times vanadium in its mineral structure.

This gemstone can be found worldwide, but the largest producer of emeralds today is Columbia. In antiquity, emeralds were mined in Egypt, India and Austria since the 14th century.

Its intense green color emulates new growth and spring time. Meaning it is the perfect companion birthstone to the month of May, when flowers begin to bud.

Emerald, and all other beryl gemstones, are not as durable as sapphire or diamond, so if you choose to set an emerald into one of our custom ring settings, it would need to be worn with care and might not be suitable for everyday jewelry. However, this glowing-green gemstone shown here could make a stunning right hand ring. This round cut green emerald is currently featured on our online gemstone list, and it is just waiting to be made into a custom created masterpiece!

Let us at Knox Jewelers help you design a custom created piece of jewelry holding this rare and beautiful emerald featured here or any other available option on our gemstone list!

Emerald Unique Engagement Rings — Round Cut Emerald

Gemstone Spotlight

Diamond-Ring Unique Engagement Rings — Knox Jewelers Design 3367

According to GIA, only one in every 10,000 diamonds mined will have a fancy color. At Knox Jewelers, we have created several beautiful custom rings displaying extraordinary colored diamonds, and everyone was a singular work of art. There is something almost magical about diamonds displaying an usual body color.

While fancy color diamonds have traditionally been a less desirable than their colorless counterparts, their popularity and availability has grown dramatically in the past several years. A large number of Knox patrons have recently selected colored stones and colored diamond to feature in their custom creations in place of colorless diamond.

This fancy deep brown pear cut diamond is currently featured on our online fancy colored diamond list, and is waiting to be made into a custom created masterpiece!

Fancy colored diamonds are rare and can be found in nearly every hue, with some colors being more common than others. Brown and yellow hues occur more often than the scarcely seen blues, greens, pinks, oranges, purples and reds. These diamonds will have a body color extending beyond the normal D-to-Z diamond color grading scale. They are graded on special scale, with their value increasing with the intensity and saturation of their color.

Let us at Knox Jewelers help you design a custom created piece of jewelry holding the extraordinary pear cut brown diamond featured here or any other available option on our fancy colored diamond list!

Diamond Unique Engagement Rings — Pear Cut Fancy Deep Brown Diamond