Celebrating spring with tourmaline, a gem influenced by the colors of the rainbow, and discovering jewelry treasures in our own jewelry boxes is like following the rainbow to a pot of gold!
In this week’s Episode of Jewelry Navigator Podcast, I talked about the beautiful varieties of green tourmaline is formed.
Below and throughout the post, you’ll find the feature photos of the gems and jewelry mentioned in the podcast.
Tourmaline Forms Big Crystals
If you’re looking for big, colorful and durable gemstones, tourmaline’s spot on.
As I explained in the podcast, this week, tourmaline’s geologic formation allowed for slow cooling from mineral rich waters.
When crystallization is slow, the minerals have the luxury of more time and space to form.
California Girl Jewelry offers value in jewelry set with rare and unusual gemstones.
An all women company, California Girl Jewelry (CGJ) is led by a mother-daughter duo, Mariel Baker and Denise Forbes.
Located on 833 Market Street, in San Francisco, CGJ creates one of a kind jewelry pieces that endure time and trends with quality designs and high grade gemstones and precious metals.
As described from California Girl Jewelry’s website, “This stunning natural paraiba tourmaline ring is crafted from solid 18K yellow gold ring. Finished with an intricate diamond accents all around a thick gold band and the basket holding this spectacular gemstone.
Paraiba tourmalines are the most sought-after gemstones in the world. Paraiba tourmalines are very rare. For every 10K diamonds mined you get 1 paraiba tourmaline. This is a copper-bearing gemstone and comes with a certificate of it’s authenticity. Paraiba Tourmalines were first discovered in the 1980s in Brazil. Today, most of the Paraiba Tourmaline is mined in Mozambique. Paraibas are copper-bearing and because of this, they become neon in any kind of lighting. Besides copper, the German Foundation for Gemstone Research has also found high gold content within Paraiba Tourmaline, equaling to about 8.6 parts per every million.” – California Girl Jewelry
Other tourmaline jewelry to catch my eye over the past week have been:
If you’d like to know more about tourmaline, where and how it’s formed, visit geology.com, a site founded by Hobart M. King, a Registered Professional Geologist and gemologist in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and click here for a list of active tourmaline mines open to the public.
Remember in the podcast, I mentioned rubellite? The ring in the video below is a rubellite tourmaline by California Girl Jewelry!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gji18m2YHl4[/embedyt]
Spring Cleaning Treasures
Spring cleaning often uncovers treasures forgotten in jewelry boxes and drawers.
I’m surprised how many people are unaware that their broken jewelry can be repaired for relatively low cost.
A broken sterling silver or 14kt gold chain can be repaired for under $20 in most jewelry repair shops.
With a little knowledge of repair possibilities, old jewelry can be restored and enjoyed again.
Look at the photos below for ideas on how to resurrect hidden treasures in your jewelry box.
*Photos by Raybar Fine Jewelry, Virginia Beach, VA click here
**Photo by Plante Jewelers, Swansea, MA click here
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope this post encourages you to visit your jewelry box, and don’t forget to visit California Girl Jewelry. Mariel and Denise’s jewelry designs and stone selections are inspiring.
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