The old mine cut diamond is the earliest form of the modern brilliant cut. Also called the "cushion cut", it has a cushioned shaped girdle. This cut of diamond is characterized by a high crown, small table, deep pavilion and large culet.  The way the gem is cut provides lovely color and brilliance to the viewer.

The old European cut diamond has a very small table, a heavy crown, and great overall depth. This diamond cut was the fore-runner of the modern brilliant cut. Like the modern round brilliant, the old European diamond has a circular girdle. This old style enabled the diamond's 58 facets to show broader reflective bands of brilliance returning through the top portion of the diamond.  And because these diamonds were cut in a less than perfect fashion, they have a beauty and magic of their own.

Rose cut diamonds were introduced as early as the 1500's and were popular until the early 1900's. The shape of a rose cut diamond resembles the petals of a rose bud. The bottom is flat, the crown is domed shaped, and the facets meet in a point in the center. The number of facets varies from 3,6,12,18,to 24 facets.

The Victorian era or period refers to the time when Queen Victoria ruled Great Britain.  She became Queen of England in 1837 and died in 1901.  This time span is often subdivided into early (1837-1860), mid (approx. 1860-1880) and late (1880-1901) Victorian periods.  The Victorian period was preceded by the Georgian period, and succeeded by the Edwardian period. Defining features of Victorian jewelry are conservative in style, many nature themes (deer, frogs, birds, etc), color used in a limited capacity and usually only as a light accent, and some colonial influence. Another feature was mourning jewelry, that became popular after the death of Prince Albert.

At the end of the 19th century a new style rises in Paris, the Art Nouveau. It's name is derived from a gallery opened in Paris in 1896, called the 'Maison de l'art Nouveau'. In Germany this style is called 'Jugendstill' and in Dutch 'The Salad oil style'. One of the most leading jewelry related figures in the Art Nouveau is René Lalique.  Art Nouveau jewelry is recognized by its nature related designs and unseen frivolity, such as floral patterns. Butterflies and dragonflies are typical examples of the Art Nouveau jewelry Style.

The Art Deco style is a very famous and popular art movement that had a lot influence in the world of jewelry. Art Deco was introduced in the 1920s as protest against the Art Nouveau. Art Deco ended in the 1930s. The style emphasized a very abstract design with geometric patterns and as most favorite colors black (onyx or black emerald), blue (sapphire) and white (diamond). The baguette and emerald-cuts, which had been developed in the nineteenth century, where very popular in the 1920s because they blended so much with the geometrical lines of the Art Deco style.

Nothing spurs ingenuity so much as a good war.  Faced with destruction, privation and hardship, people adapt to survive.  Paradoxically, adverse situations even cause them to thrive.  The Retro movement in jewelry was just such a case of adaptability leading to triumph.  In the same way that Art Deco was Art's reproach to the obscenity of World War I, Retro was its retort to the waste of World War II.  As with WWI, WWII pulled rank and co-opted the world's platinum supplies, leaving designers to their own devices.  Designers rose to the occasion, as expected.  Suddenly there appeared assertive, sculptured pieces using rose, white and green gold in conjunction with yellow gold.  The new, three-dimensional look took life in scrolls and raised domes.  Rubies and sapphires were accented with the muted colors of citrine, tourmaline, amethyst and aquamarine, which were around in abundance.  The motifs of the movement included ballerinas, bows, large link chains, and rings with fantastically scrolled shanks. 

Platinum is the heaviest of the precious metals, weighing almost twice as much as karat gold. Its strength ideally secures diamonds and other precious gems. Even after many years, platinum will not wear away or wear down. For example, after many years of wear, a gold wedding band's shank will wear down and become thinner. This is not the case with platinum. As with all precious metals (gold, silver, etc.), platinum can be scratched. However, with platinum, there is actually no material lost from the scratch as there is with gold. If your platinum jewelry becomes scratched, simply take it to your jeweler for a quick polish. Platinum will never tarnish or lose its rich white luster.

A sapphire is a precious stone that is a variety of transparent corundum of any color other than red (which is a ruby). The usual and preferable color ('Kashmir blue') ranges from pale cornflower-blue to deep velvety blue; but less valuable varieties of corundum of other colors are included as sapphires, e.g. white, yellow, green, pink, purple, brown, and black. Any sapphire that is not blue is sometimes called a 'fancy sapphire'.

The ruby is also considered one of the four precious stones, together with the sapphire, the emerald, and the diamond.  Rubies vary from a light pink to a blood red.  For thousands of years, the ruby has been considered one of the most valuable gemstones on Earth. It has everything a precious stone should have: magnificent color, excellent hardness and outstanding brilliance. In addition to that, it is an extremely rare gemstone, especially in its finer qualities.

Emeralds are fascinating gemstones. They have the most beautiful, most intense and most radiant green that can possibly be imagined: emerald green. Really good quality is fairly rare, with inclusions often marring the evenness of the color. Fine inclusions, however, do not by any means diminish the high regard in which it is held. On the contrary: even with inclusions, an emerald in a deep, lively green still has a much higher value than an almost flawless emerald whose color is paler.

All the colors of the rainbow are reflected in opals.  There are quite a number of wonderful gemstones included in the group of fine opals.  Depending on the kind, place of occurrence, and color of the main body, we differentiate Dark or Black Opal, White or Light Opal, Milk or Crystal Opal, Boulder Opal, Opal Matrix, Yowah Nuts from Queensland – the so-called “picture stones“, and also Mexican and Fire Opal. Opal variations are practically unlimited. They all show in their own special way that unique play of colors – except for Fire Opal, which due to its transparency, however, is nevertheless also considered a Fine Opal specimen. If Opals are lacking the typical play of colors, they are simply named “Common Opal”. It is also important to know that opals are not very hard: they only achieve 5.5 to 6 on the Mohs’ scale.

Filigree refers to the process and type of design that uses twisted wire to create delicate, lacy, openwork jewelry. Usually made from finer metals like gold, silver, and platinum, filigree has been used for centuries to craft jewelry such as pins, rings, and pendants.

Elton Bennett (1910-1974) grew up on the Washington coast, where mill work, fishing and dredging are common occupations. He spent many years working along the shore. Until his marriage in 1946, Bennett was discouraged from pursuing his love of art. He had very little formal training—a year at Washington State when he was 17 and two years after World War II on the G.I. bill at the Portland Art Museum School. (more)

Mark King, a champion of Impressionism and the École de Paris, was born in Bombay in 1931 of British parents. He is the product of an exotic and privileged upbringing in India, where he lived until the age of sixteen during the tumultuous last days of the British Raj. In 1948, following graduation from La Martiniere College in Calcutta, where his focus had been botany as well as art, King sailed to England to attend Bournemouth College of Art, having determined to pursue painting, sculpture, architecture and theatre design. He subsequently spent seven years as Resident scenic designer at the Oxford Playhouse Theatre, but in 1961 decided to concentrate solely on painting and moved to Paris to study at the École des Beaux Arts and the Louvre.
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