Sapphires: Selecting the Right Hue for You
I love sapphires for their versatility in design as well as their durability to wear, and we are lucky to be creating jewelry in a time when buyers are increasingly open-minded about colors and shapes to use in their designs. Ten years ago, we sourced maybe a handful of green sapphires a year; now, clients are almost always more interested in seeing alternatives to the beautiful yet classic navy blue that most people associate with the sapphire gem...
Using Color in Engagement Rings
While I will always keep a special place in my heart for the incomparable beauty of an all-white diamond engagement ring (so chic!), when a client broaches the subject of potentially using color in their engagement ring, it’s always exciting to plan. Color can be used to differentiate your ring when you have a more traditional design, it can be used to draw the eye directionally, or it can be a subtle, secret touch of personality for your piece. I’ll walk you through some of the ways our clients have integrated color into their engagement rings and the elements to consider when planning your own unique design…
Custom Design 102: Sourcing Your Gemstone
If you are lucky enough to have an heirloom gemstone that you are happy to use in your custom design, you can skip this step. Most people, though, will start their custom engagement design process empty handed and in need of an anchor gemstone to tie their design together. At Alx&Co., we provide full gemstone sourcing services for our clients and are happy to walk you through purchasing the perfect center stone for your design. That being said, we do our gemstone sourcing a little differently than most jewelers, so here is a helpful primer on how we do it…
Sourcing Gemstones with Alx&Co.
For many clients, a design can barely begin without first figuring out the feature stone. Unless you are working with an heirloom redesign, most clients don’t have loose gemstones available to use and most designs are completely contingent upon that feature stone for everything from budget considerations to design proportion allowances…
Buying a Sapphire with Alx&Co.
I love sapphires and in so many ways I even prefer them to diamonds. From a gemologist’s perspective, walking through different sapphires with clients is a much more interesting process than with a typical round brilliant cut diamond search because there are so many more variables to go over between the stones…