Mardon Jewelers at the Mission Inn

Fine Emeralds from Colombia and Zambia

The Emerald is truly coming into it’s own as this year’s spring season bursts forth. On the rise for several seasons, emerald green is fashion’s Color of the Year for 2013. Pantone traces the color’s current popularity back to Angelina Jolie, who wore striking emerald earrings and a gorgeous emerald ring to the 2009 Oscars. Besides Angelina, today’s emerald-loving stars and trendsetters include Sharon Stone, Charlize Theron, Salma Hayek and Beyonce’.

Lively. Radiant. Lush… A gem of elegance and beauty that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony, the green stone has become one of the most sought after possessions of 2013.

Gem of love, fertility, and rebirth, emeralds have captivated the world for thousands of years. They were documented in ancient Egyptian records as early as 3500 B.C. In fact, Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, fell in love with the jewel and popularized it during her reign. Her emerald mine on the Red Sea is one of the earliest known gem sources in the history of humans.

The name is derived from the early Greek term smaragdos meaning green gem. The Romans dedicated the gem to Venus and considered the emerald to soothe the spirit, bring well being and bestow good luck.

The discovery of the New World in 1492 opened the way to the most famous source of emeralds, the fabled Muzo region of Colombia. Spanish conquistadores, quick to realize their value, imported many large emeralds to Europe where they quickly became sought after favorites of royalty. The top 20% were reserved for the Spanish court. Strict sumptuary laws forbade everyone but nobility from wearing the green beauty.

Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, Catherine the Great of Russia, and Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, were famous aficionados of this verdant green gem. A modern Who’s Who of emerald includes Marlene Dietrich, Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, and Queen Elizabeth II.

The good news is that you don’t have to rich or famous to own a beautiful emerald. While large fine stones can be very expensive, you can own a gem of good quality for an affordable price. Emeralds are being mined in Colombia, Zambia, Russia, Pakistan and other sources, so good natural stones are available.

Green Rocks! See the Rare Gem Specialists at Mardon Jewelers to learn about and see fine examples of the ultimate green gem, the Emerald.

Padparadscha in Custom Rose & White Gold Engagement Ring

We’ve always loved the ultra rare variety of fancy sapphire known as the Padparadscha. Early in my career, working in the gem indentification labs of GIA, I had the opportunity to see a few good examples of the natural Padparadscha Sapphire and to learn the subtle distinctions that make this gem so desirable. Our informational blogs about this exotic beauty have become so well received that clients seek us out as experts to help them find the perfect “Pad”– and we love doing it!

Last week, we completed a three month Pad Quest that started with the Tucson Gem Show. Our client’s fiancé had decided on Padparadscha sapphire for her engagement ring. Her research had led to our blogs, so she asked him to contact us to find her stone. They didn’t make it easy. The stone had to be natural, unheated with documentation, about 2 -3 cts. Not only that, she particularly wanted a cushion shape- most Pads are oval!

To give you an idea of how rare the Padparadscha really is, in the process of our search at Tucson for a 2 -3 ct unheated Pad of quality, we passed by literally thousands of blue sapphires and hundreds of fine rubies to find one gem that would fit our call- we are particular!

So we had the one stone from Tucson and two others from our network of gem traders, all worthy choices within our client’s price range. The excited fiancé flew in from Dallas, Texas. We were gratified that they chose the best of the three- center stone below. In our photo, you can get an idea of the spectrum of color for Padparadscha which ranges from orangish pink to pinkish orange.  In our opinion, this particular stone exhibits the perfect color for Padparadscha, a blend of pink and orange, and is among the best we have seen.

Most of the Pads we see don’t have this intensity and balance of color. Much like what we see in some Pigeon’s Blood Red Rubies from Burma, the stone has a component of chrome which adds a vivid touch of fluorescent orange red to the color. Just yesterday, a gem trader offered us two unheated Pads, one of which didn’t hold it’s pinkish component in daylight, the other with a slightly brownish overtone that killed the color saturation. Because we see so few good unheated Padparadschas, we hated to decline the stones. Good but not great, they were just not quite right to our eye, so we said no thanks.

Our non-traditional bride-to-be wanted a simple solitaire, but we decided to do something out of the ordinary to enhance this gemmy stone. She was torn between white and yellow gold- we thought a two-tone approach might be best to show off her magnificent stone. When we showed her this image of her stone with rose and peach gold, she chose the rose gold- our choice as well.

Working from images of styles she emailed us, our CAD wizard Jenny developed this beautiful design which we call “The Lotus”– in perfect keeping with the name of Padaparadscha, which is derived from the Sanskrit phrase meaning “color of the lotus”

We were justifiably proud of this wonderful custom ring and our client was delighted– you can read his feedback at the top of our testimonials page– and most importantly, she loved it!

If you are interested in acquiring a rare gem, give us the opportunity to find your dream gemstone. Whether you’re a couple looking for an unique engagement ring or a serious collector looking for that uber special piece to highlight your collection, we’ll find the best gem for your requirements- as you can see, we go the extra mile and we network with some of the best gem traders in the business.

Just a quick reminder– If you’d like to participate in this year’s Press-Enterprise Reader’s Choice survey, voting ends today.

The easiest way to vote is to visit the “voting booth” at the PE.com– just click this link! You’ll see this header

http://www.pe.com/readerschoice/

We hope you’ll vote for us as Riverside’s Favorite and Best Jeweler– Thanks again for your continued support and patronage.

We just delivered this beautiful 14K gold ring to a delighted customer. A new client, she had seen one of our custom ring samples over the Christmas holidays and had an idea– she loved cameos and had a particular affinity for the Three Graces of Greek and Roman mythology, the goddesses of beauty, creativity, and nature. Rather than something set with the typical cameo carved from shell or stone, she wanted an all metal ring of sterling silver. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s that time of year again– our silver restoration and repair expert will be in our shop this coming Friday and Saturday, April 12 & 13. If you have a sterling serving piece with a broken handle or spout, if your silver platter is tarnished or worn thru, you can get a free estimate while you wait. If you decide to have the work done, you’ll get free shipping and handling to the factory and you’ll save 20% off the regular price. Read the rest of this entry »

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We’re just back from the Los Angelese Antiques Jewelry Show where we acquired these wonderful vintage and antique items. Antiques are at least 100 years old, while vintage refers to pieces less old, but usually of period style, such as Art Deco or Retro. Read the rest of this entry »

Surprise!- this year’s Reader’s Choice featured in the Press-Enterprise starts April Fool’s Day- no foolin’! The executives at the Press have decided to move it up from mid summer, don’t know exactly why, but we stick by our local newspaper.

We at Mardon really appreciate your continued patronage and your vote- We’ve been the Reader’s Choice Best/Favorite Jeweler in Riverside for the last 4 years. We’d like to ask you once again to take a minute out of your busy day to vote for all your favorite businesses. While our local economy is no longer in free fall, it’s still a very tough  business climate. When you vote for your personal favorites, you are helping them keep going! Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve recently added several interesting vintage pieces to our Estate Department. This cameo was a real sleeper– it was literally so crusted over with years of accumulated crud (gemological term!) that we barely recognized it. Read the rest of this entry »

As usual, our annual pilgrimage to the Tucson Gem Shows in early February was a fun mix of business and pleasure. Read the rest of this entry »

We just delivered this lovely pendant, set with the diamonds from several treasured family pieces, to a very happy client. Her son had us make the pendant to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary, so it was a very nice occasion to deliver the new piece– both son and mother loved the new piece and she left our shop with tears of happiness in her eyes. Read the rest of this entry »