Gems

Guest Blog by Inken Krause, Enhoerning Jewelry Entire book chapters and countless longish essays have been written about the ideal color of Padparadscha sapphire and the cultural history of this special color descriptor so full of romantic idealization and metaphoric meaning. Now Yvonne has asked me to edit a short guest blog (emphasis on short), so I will try to work on a more practical question. What does a sapphire look like that will, in all likelihood, be ennobled as Padparadscha by the most important American/European* gem labs? Several labs, AGL among them, agreed that this 2 ct unheated Ceylon...

I assume you've heard of the Herkimer diamond?  It's actually quartz and but nicknamed "diamond" because of its shape: double terminated (meaning with two points) and with 18 natural facets.  It was discovered in Herkimer County, NY.  The currently open mines are "Ace of Spades" https://www.herkimerdiamond.com/ and "Crystal Grove" https://www.crystalgrove.com/ I'd been wanting to go for some time and so this year when my travel buddy Jochen Hintze from Jentsch Minerals came to exhibit at the Edison Gem show, we decided to tack a short trip onto his stay and headed for St. Johnsville, NY on Monday April 8 for a...

Panjshir Emeralds: these lighter minty green emeralds are mined in the Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan, and improved political relations have made these available in slightly larger quantities. My personal favorite, these gems are extremely vibrant and often cleaner than their counterparts. This website here has some fascinating videos of the mining process in Panjshir. We have some completely untreated material available in very limited quantity, and we can source more material if oil is ok.

Every since Britain’s Princess Eugenie has been sporting a Padparadscha sapphire engagement ring valued at over $130,000, these lotus flower colored beauties have been all the rage.  Industry prices have actually risen as a result.  In terms of color, purists claim that a Padparadscha should combine peach-pink and orange tones, ideally mixed evenly (no color zones), and have light to medium saturation. But exactly how that looks is a point of contention.  The ideal comparison is the Lotus flower which it is named after.  Given the huge variation in both color and saturation of actual lotus flowers, it might be...

Emeralds Revisited. New Arrivals, New Origins and A Word about Emerald Treatment