Archive for November, 2008

Put A Ring On It: The One-of-a-Kind Custom Engagement Ring, Chapter One

Friday, November 28th, 2008

Recently, we had the pleasure of creating a one-of-a-kind engagement ring for a young man who is a student at our local Cal Baptist University, and is also in the Marine Corps.  As you might expect, our Cal Baptist clients take marriage seriously – one of the standing jokes around campus is “It’s spring, do […]

The Bloom is on the Gold

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

We recently followed a thread on the Orchid forum about “bloomed” gold. We have a beautiful example of bloomed gold in our estate department, a great Art Nouveau ring set with a very nice precious coral cameo and diamonds.

What is a “picture” stone?

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Sometimes a gemstone can surprise us in very unexpected ways, painting a picture in the mind of the beholder.  A couple of years ago, I opened a shipment of opals from Lightning Ridge, Australia and was absolutely “rocked” by this magnificent boulder opal.

Jeweler’s Tears, Chapter One

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

While photographing gems for our website, I was working with a really beautiful Australian opal, a “picture” stone with lots of bright red rolling flash. We shoot with a 100 mm f/2.8 macro lens mated to a Canon Rebel XT in our ImageDome, and can really get great close-ups.  Looking through the camera, I noticed […]

I’m Too Poor to Buy Cheap, Chapter One

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Recently, I asked the staff at Mardon for ideas and suggestions for this Blog.  My beautiful wife Kaye told me about a dream she had about her grandfather, who was a businessman during the Great Depression of the 1930’s.  She remembers him always saying, “I’m too poor to buy cheap”.  Lately, I’ve been pondering the […]

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