Royal Diadem Jewelers

Have you ever wondered about a ring you saw, but thought it may be too big for you to wear? Since we all have individual tastes, in every area, who’s to say? Some people are concerned by other’s opinions, and then there are many who really are not concerned by what others may think. I do not know where you may fit in those categories, but, let’s take a moment to consider this and look at some beautiful Big Diamond Rings!

There are many people who love jewelry. They may love all kinds, colors, styles, and sizes! Jewelry is such an individual opinion, like everything else!  While some only like little or occasional jewelry, there are those, like me, who love to wear lots, all the time. Depending on your finger and hand size, those factors may help you decide on the size and quantity of rings you may wear.

With the changing of styles, it does seem more acceptable to wear multiple rings on more than just one finger per hand. And if you do this, you definitely have lots of choices to enjoy!

We often mention the custom work we do to make unique and special jewelry for our customer’s taste and style. Every ring in this article has been produced by Royal Diadem Jewelers for our customers over the years. Many contain family diamonds used in making a new ring to be enjoyed in a new style, but keeping the sweet memories from the past.

Using family diamonds, this ring was made as an engagement ring, and the special detail using the bride-to-be initials created a truly one of a kind family piece.

So, as you can see, since we all enjoy different styles and shapes, we can make whatever you would like that is good for your taste. And even if you do not WEAR a big ring, I hope you enjoy seeing them on others. 

Tantalum is a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion-resistant.

It has many uses, such as in the electronics industry for capacitors and high power resistors. It is also used to make alloys to increase strength, ductility and corrosion resistance. The metal is used in dental and surgical instruments and implants, as it causes no immune response.

A fun fact about this metal – it was previously known as tantalium, and it is named after Tantalus, a villain from Greek mythology.

It’s mainly found in in Australia, Brazil, Mozambique, Thailand, Portugal, Nigeria, Zaire and Canada.

When mentioning that a certain metal causes no immune response, using it for jewelry is a great benefit to those who have concerns. Because it does not react to most chemicals, Tantalum is hypoallergenic. When a piece of jewelry is considered hypoallergenic this means that you can expect to wear and enjoy your jewelry with little to no reactions, even for many who experience reactions to most jewelry. Tantalum, like gold, is highly malleable and can be resized as needed. It can even be cut in an emergency.

The weight of Tantalum is similar to platinum and the color will not fade or change over time. Even though the metal will show wear over time, it can take daily wear without cracking and breaking.

Looking for a metal with a gray tone? Try designing your band in Tantalum with an inside sleeve of Damascus steel, from Lashbrook designs.

The great variety of options with Tantalum is one of the advantages of working with Diadem Jewelers. As we work with Lashbrook, we are able to design your own look with your own choices of metal and colors, so your Tantalum ring is truly unique.

All Tantalum rings in this blog were designed from the Lashbrook website, and we can do this for you while here in the store. You can also enjoy your designing at home, if you would like to try that, and then let us know what help we can be for you.

“there is a “Slow Train Coming “

Is the American Marketplace finally going to resist the cheap labor of China in favor of dependable hard working innovative american labor? I believe that this Corona Virus 19 quarantine will drive many American Businesses to shun Cheap Chinese Communist Labor ( CCCL ) in favor of Bring Home American Work.

I noticed an email broadcast today from one of my long time favorite AGS Ideal Cut diamond vendors headquartered in Arizona. The proprietor (left anonymous due to security concerns,.. after all he or she (H/S) travels to buy diamonds :-O ) hand picks the finest cut diamonds available two to three times each year in the international diamond markets, here at home and abroad. H/S has solid long time friendships in the world diamond market and offers small businesses like Royal Diadem Jewelers, LLC superb quality and fair prices for natural diamonds. They re-posted some very good facts about the Natural Diamond marketplace,… “We support arsenal miners and diggers and the good that diamonds do in their countries. We only offer Natural stones and don’t recommend or sell LGDs.“

On the other hand (ironic during toilet paper hoarding 😉 the current state of the diamond market is falling in love with CHEAP CVD & HPHT synthetic Diamonds,.. with gobs of it coming from,…. drumroll please…. CHINA.

Personally,.. the “MADE IN AMERICA” slogan rings TRUE in light of the current day small business challenges exacerbated by Big Business doing business with China. So,. go ahead blame me for directing your attention to the natural diamond marketplace and the people who are working to feed their families from work producing “Natural Diamonds”:

This is not a sob story. These are hard working people who love to work and have an opportunity to do so when most of their peers CANNOT WORK! Their countries have their own problems, yes, but not significant when considering the relationship we have with China. I’m not asking for a boycott, sullying the name of synthetics or that type of nonsense… but I am asking that customers consider the origin and the business model of the Genesis (yes biblical references made here often) of the materials used to make a lovely piece of jewelry locally.

Our store is a dinosaur when it comes to “old fashioned Christian ethics”, but our business practices are accomplished in real world, real time market places with real consumers. We participate in world class education and world class technology in the design and manufacturing of our jewelry to meet the customers needs.

So what is the issue? Glad you are still reading… Its all about American consumption and American production. Lets think a little more as a business person who supports American businesses, American Production of Materials and finished goods and the American consumer who we serve.

Yes! SERVE. After all,… “you’re gonna have to serve somebody,.. it might be the devil, it might be the Lord, but you gonna have to serve somebody”. And I bet Bob Dylan would agree:

” You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing on the stage
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage
You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody ”
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/gotta-serve-somebody/

Bring the labor back home.

Sterling VanDerwerker CGA (American Gem Society) GG (GIA)

One of the oldest gemstones known is the BIG BLUE Lapis. It has a broad and long history in jewelry and remains a staple, rich, inviting gemstone. Reasonably priced and fashioned, carved and set in any metal. Lapis is a wonderful choice for a fashion staple in any person’s jewelry box.

“The fascination of deep blue matrix speckled with golden colored pyrite flecks of lapis lazuli goes back several millennia, almost to the beginning of all civilizations. So much so, that the majority of Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian jewelry contained lapis lazuli and it was sourced all the way from Middle Asia, today’s Afghanistan. The trade is well known between these geographies, yet why and how will always remain as unanswered questions because it all started before any written reference could be created. Pigments and dyes were important commodities as everything was derived from natural sources until the industrial revolution. Most dyes were plantbased while pigments were mostly from minerals such as hematite, malachite and, of course, lapis lazuli. Until the production of synthetic dyes, deep blue pigment, aka, ultramarine, from lapis was worth as gold. Today, lapis lazuli is mostly regarded as a gem material and utilized at almost all level of jewelry market from high end to inexpensive beads. Large boulders are popular display pieces and its tough but not so hard structure makes it an attractive carving material. Lapis lazuli is mostly known to be from Afghanistan but also found in Russia, Chile, Myanmar, Tajikistan and Colorado, USA. As mentioned above, Afghan material is the oldest known. Russian lapis has been used in Faberge eggs historically and still in production. Chilean lapis is also known to be used in indigenous artefacts of the region and was part of the ancient trade.” (From Gemworld International this month )

Lapis lazuli is a rock, which means it’s an aggregate of several minerals. This ancient gem contains three minerals in varying amounts: lazurite, calcite, and pyrite. Sometimes, it also contains one or more of the following: diopside, amphibole, feldspar, and mica.
https://www.gia.edu/lapis-lazuli-description-v1

“Afghanistan is the world’s major source of lapis lazuli as well as the major source of the gem’s best color.” – Dr. Edward J. Gubelin
https://www.gemguide.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/2020GemFocus-M

As Spring approaches, and then Summer, get ready for more time in the sun. That bright yellow ball in the sky might make you think of other shiny, yellow items like yellow gemstones. See below for an article published by GIA.

Yellow Gemstones: Can You Identify Them?

Sunshine, lemons and a variety of flowers share the color yellow and often evoke feelings of happiness, warmth and optimism. A variety of gemstones also come in shades of yellow, from diamonds to citrine to garnets.

Yellow diamonds are enduring in quality and value and popular set in jewelry. Yet a treasure trove of other yellow gemstones exists at reasonable price points. They can be found in light-toned shades to rich, warm hues.

The most plentiful yellow gemstones in the marketplace are citrine, sapphire, topaz, tourmaline, and transparent opal. Other varieties include yellow andradite garnet, spessartine and Mali garnets, beryl, sphene, zircon, spodumene and transparent varieties of labradorite and orthoclase feldspar. Less abundant or collectible yellow gems include chrysoberyl, sphalerite, apatite and prehnite.

YELLOW GEMSTONE CHALLENGE

Many yellow gemstones can resemble one another in color. Can you see the subtle differences in the yellow gemstone pairs? They appear similar, but are different species.

YELLOW DIAMONDS

Yellow is the most abundant color of natural fancy diamonds, yet they still represent a very small percentage of all diamonds. The first major source of yellow diamonds was found in the late 1860s in Cape Province, South Africa, so in the jewelry trade, these yellow diamonds came to be known as “cape” yellow diamonds.

“Cape” diamonds, according to the “GIA Diamond Dictionary,” are a Type Ia diamond with a distinct yellow body color that exhibits absorption that falls in a specific and defined pattern. (There is often a strong band at about 415.5 mm and a fairly strong one at 478.0 nm, with four weaker lines between the two.) Such diamonds may also fluoresce blue, yellow, or orange.

What is the cause of the yellow color in diamonds?

“In general, the presence of nitrogen atoms gives rise to two kinds of absorption in the blue region of the visible spectrum; the remainder of the spectrum is transmitted, leading to an observed yellow color,” according to GIA’s diamond color expert John King.

Canary is a historic term for a Type IIb fancy color intense yellow diamonds that is used to distinguish them from diamonds with a “cape” spectrum. Diamonds referred to in the trade as “canary yellow” are highly valued for their saturated yellow color.

FAMOUS YELLOW DIAMONDS

There’s an inexplicable allure about diamonds that fascinates the gem lover. As early as 1676, accounts by the French traveler and gem dealer, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, mentioned seeing a 137.27 ct yellow diamond that he referred to variously as the Florentine, the Austrian Yellow and the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Since then, many notable color diamonds have been given the elite distinction of famous diamonds, particularly as the appeal of color became widespread.

The Tiffany Yellow Diamond was acquired by Tiffany & Co. in 1878 and has been on display for more than 70 years in its flagship store in New York. Under the direction of Dr. George Frederick Kunz, it was cut from a 297.42 ct rough stone to its present cushion cut of 128.54 ct, one of the largest known fancy yellow diamonds in the world. GIA graded it in 1984.

The Allnatt, a yellow diamond thought to have originated from the De Beers mine in South Africa, is named for its former owner, Major Alfred Ernest Allnatt, a British soldier and noted philanthropist who purchased the diamond in the early 1950s.

The diamond next appeared at Christie’s Geneva auction in May 1996 weighing 102.07 ct with a color grade of Fancy Intense yellow. It was purchased and then recut to 101.29 ct to improve color and clarity, going from Fancy Intense to Fancy Vivid with an improved clarity grade to VS2.

The Allnatt is a classic example of early 20th century cutting styles used to retain maximum weight and enhance the color of a well-formed octahedral rough crystal.

George Stepp, a logger from Carthage, Arkansas, found a yellow diamond crystal in the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas in 1972 and sold it to Kahn Jewelers in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where it was left uncut to showcase its natural triangular pillow shape known as a macle crystal. “The Kahn Canary Diamond” weighs 4.25 carats and is internally flawless.

More than 33,000 diamonds have been found in the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas since it became a state park and opened to the public in 1977. The park has a “finders, keepers” policy that allows the public to dig for diamonds for a fee.