Buying And Collecting Antique Sapphire Jewelry

Antique sapphire jewelry comes in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Despite popular belief, sapphires come in many colors besides blue. Antique sapphire jewelry was often ornate and complicated in design, not at all like today's sleek, simplistic designs. Often an antique sapphire jewelry collection begins with a piece of jewelry given as a gift or handed down as a family heirloom.



Sapphires come in many colors besides blue, which is a little known fact to many people. Besides varying colors of blue, they also come in green, pink, orange, yellow, brown, black, mauve, and other colors. How is this possible? Sapphires are created in multiple colors when metallic alloys interact with the parent material, creating brilliant colors besides the signature blue color that many of us tend to associate with the term 'sapphire.' Only recently have jewelry buyers began to realise that sapphires truly represent every color of the rainbow and can offer many advantages over traditional gemstones of similar color. Sapphires are some of the hardest stones known to man, just slightly softer than diamonds. And sometimes, they are much more reasonably priced.



Antique sapphire jewelry offers up some unusual designs to modern counterparts. While most modern designs strive for large stones and sleek, clean design, antique sapphire jewelry is none of this. Antique sapphire jewelry sometimes encompassed a large stone alone or with several stones. Other times antique sapphire jewelry was comprised of many smaller stones together, made to create an ornate image or shape. Gold composition in decades past was also quite different than what it is in the modern era, with solid gold being more common than today. It is quite common to find antique sapphire jewelry with 18k to solid gold settings where today a 24k gold setting or an 18k setting may be near impossible to come by.



What does one need to know about collecting antique sapphire jewelry? An investment in a few good jewelry books never hurts anything. Knowing that color may vary due to composition, that sapphires come in different colors, and that certain jewelry trends were parts of different decades can be valuable information to a collector. Essential information such as care, clarity, cut, and coloration are also a must. A good book or two should be able to help a novice with all of these kinds of topics, and point them in the right direction for learning more.



As for collecting, where does one begin to look for antique sapphire jewelry? Looking at antique shops as well as attending estate auctions, yard sales, thrift store sales, and rummaging through so-called junk shops can sometimes yield the greatest of treasure for a collector. Sometimes the internet can help a collector expand their collection but of course caution is advised.



Also, some jewelers specialise in selling antique jewelry so it never hurts to inquire of jewelers if they sell antique sapphire jewelry in addition to contemporary pieces. Antique sapphire jewelry, collected for enjoyment and spurred on by perhaps the inheritance of an heirloom or a gift given in good taste, never goes out of style and is something that can be treasured not only by generations of the past but by generations to come.

Sapphire Jewelry History

Sapphire jewelry is worn by many people as in ancient times it was believed that the gem of sapphire protects from evil and negative spirits and thoughts; they also use to wear it during traveling believing it will defend against illness of any kind. Sapphire jewelry, especially rings has now become the most famous gem to be given as a wedding ring after Prince Charles gave Princess Diana a sapphire wedding ring. The gem of sapphire is now being considered to be given as a wedding ring due to its variety of colors and other positive beliefs like faithfulness and sincerity this gem is considered to symbolize.



Sapphire jewelry is a great option that can be worn on different occasions and events due to the various colors sapphire is found in. The most valuable and expensive sapphires are the color of royal blue whose deposits can be found at Yogo Gulch. Other different colors of sapphires can be found in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Australia, Cambodia, Ceylon, Brazil, India, Africa, United States, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, China and Madagascar. Some deposits of sapphire have also been found in Burma and Kashmir.



If you are thinking about purchasing a bracelet, necklace, earrings, pendants or rings than sapphire is the way to go. The reasons for that are multiple comprising the beautiful cuts, fancy colors and the unique star sapphires. A star sapphire is the rarest kind, containing an unusual tiny needle like insertions which is cut in a cabochon shape to display a dancing six-rayed white star that stretch across the sapphire's surface. These are considered to be the most beautiful kind of sapphire yet to be found rarely in various countries. Star sapphires make up gorgeous sapphire jewelry on account of their color combination. Sapphires can also be made in laboratory which can be harder to identify than the natural gemstones.

Source by JewelryAdviser.net

The Best of the Best Five Years Ago

September 19, 2000, Forbes set out to find the best Web sites in its Best of the Web issue, which hit newsstands at the beginning of September. Forbes reviewed hundreds of sites, including 15 in the retail jewelry category, and the results provide helpful information to retail jewelers already on the Web or planning to be there.

According to Forbes, the best jewelry retail sites offer detailed images, educational content and airtight return policies. Others go the extra mile and offer chat and forums. Here are the sites ranked as best in jewelry along with a little bit of insight into what Forbes likes and dislikes:

* Adornis.com – Forbes loves its multiple close-up views of the products, the A-Z encyclopedia of jewelry terminology and the articles like "Jewelry and Royalty." The site's only downfall, according to Forbes, is its gift suggestions aren't specific enough.
* AntiqueAndEstate.com – Sharp pictures that show detail of each product and the update page that features the newest products caught Forbes' attention. However, the small product selection left Forbes wanting more.
* Denmans.com – Despite the short item descriptions, Denman's selection and fun features like a slide-rule that tells you what gems are available in each price range put it in the best of the Web.
* Ebay.com – Forbes had to mention the great selection and simple and efficient search features of this site, especially in the huge jewelry section. Beware of the accuracy or inaccuracy of the product images and the lack of guarantees on merchandise.
* Miadora.com – Miadora topped the picks because of its generous suggestions area, detailed search function, online chat with sales representatives and the option to find companion pieces for most products. Its only downfall is the lack of multiple product views.
* Mondera.com – The learning center filled with information to help any shopper stands out at Mondera, but Forbes finds some of the site content, like "20 ways to pop the question," a little corny.
* Tiffany.com – Although the product images weren't large and engagement rings were nowhere to be found on the site, Tiffany made it on the list with the best because of its good use of Flash design, helpful jewelry-buying tips and simple navigation.
* BlueNile.com – This Internet-only jeweler was picked as Forbes' favorite in the jewelry category. Forbes' editors liked Blue Nile's "Design Your Own Ring" feature, but they would have liked to see recommendations for gifts to buy for men.

Source by professionaljeweler.com