Buying a new piece of jewelry is pampering us. This is something we don´t do on regular basis, so choosing a new jewelry piece is exciting. We think of how a certain piece will enhance our beauty, our style, or reflect our personality. But if, added to that, we knew that we could also improve our health, wouldn´t it be absolutely fantastic and rewarding? It can be!
How many times have you watched and admired celebrities walking the red carpet? Haven´t you screened them from their heads down to their feet? Their awesome dresses, their hairstyles, their shoes, and their jewelry? Perhaps you do it thoroughly analyzing their looks on popular magazines. Because they know about fashion and style, and you wish to learn from them. Read more
There are some jewellery pieces that will always be stylish; they are simply timeless. Pearls necklaces and earrings, diamond rings, and chain bracelets, to mention just a few classics, are examples of timeless jewels.
However, this year brought some interesting novelties. Earrings are a must-have for women. You may not wear a bracelet or a necklace, but earrings are the most representative jewelry piece of femininity. And here is where some changes are clear. This year, earrings play a major role in jewellery fashion, with outstanding designs, sculptural shapes, asymmetric earrings, statement earrings, irregular hoops. Summarizing, earrings that break the classical models, conventional designs and symmetry are a top trend in 2018.
Necklaces are introducing some changes too. From the 2017 trendy chokers, jewellery fashion is now suggesting layered necklaces. Basically, layered necklaces consist of three layers – o more- of chains of different length each. Edellie, Switzerland jewellery shop features some amazing representative samples of them at its store.
When it comes to rings, fashion and chic designers introduced innovation as a key. Although typical rings will always be timeless fashion items, designers have taken them to the next level. Think for instance of open rings, chain rings, knuckle rings, and rings that embellish two fingers with one single piece. Wide rings covering almost the entire phalanx are on top of the list too. If you haven´t seen them, visit Edellie online jewels shop, the models featured there will take your breath away while illustrating you on the latest ring models.
Bracelets and cuffs are stepping strong this year too. Bracelets of combined materials such as threaded leather, silver hooks, and charms, are becoming a fashion icon for men. Meanwhile, women can keep enjoying chain bracelets with charms or give their looks some color combining beaded bracelets. However, dramatic cuffs will also be a hot wearable both at day and night.
Want to take a wider look at the top trends and top jewelry brands that will leave an imprint in this year´s fashion? Visit Edellie, and enjoy the beauty of this renowned Geneva jewellery shop.
Erroneously, most people think that sapphires are blue. And although sapphires can be blue, which is the most chosen colour, sapphire comes in several hues of blue, but also in many different colours. It certainly is the most valuable blue gemstone, and highly sought due its beauty, hardness, and luster.
Sapphires are amazingly beautiful gemstones mined all around the globe. Their main sources are in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and Madagascar.
Sapphire is a hard gemstone, found in the mineral corundum. The term sapphire includes all gems colour varieties of corundum, excluding the red variety named ruby. Being hard gemstones (second hardest after diamonds), sapphires are suitable not only for special occasions but for daily usage as well, as in engagement rings.
Certainly, sapphires are available in blue, the most known version of them, ranging from pale blue to deep dark almost black blue. However, sapphires come in a wide array of amazing colours and hues. Green, purple, yellow, orange, brown, pink, purple and white is some of the varieties. Usually, when the term sapphire is used alone, it refers to blue sapphire, while sapphires with a colour other than blue are named with their color as a prefix, for instance, yellow sapphire, pink sapphire, orange sapphire, and others.
As a matter of fact, there are also bi-colour sapphires too which instead of featuring one saturated colour; they feature more two. It is important to know that such sapphires are popularly considered poor quality, however, that rarity makes them a unique and different choice.
Unlike diamonds, sapphires don’t have a grading system to classify them according to their quality. Nevertheless, a sapphire to be considered high quality should have little or inexistent inclusions or imperfections, a nice saturated colour, and finally should be a well-cut stone.
It is usual practice to heat treat sapphires to intensify the blue color and to increase clarity by the removal of inclusions. Untreated sapphires with an intense natural colour are much more valuable than treated ones.
Sapphires are among the most popular gemstones used in jewelry. They can be found in all types of jewelry, including bracelets, rings, earrings, necklaces, and as we mentioned, in engagement rings. They are utilized as centerpieces as well as secondary stones to complement diamonds.
The possibilities of sapphires are immense. Edellie.com is an online jewellery Switzerland based shop that counts on a representative collection of jewels where sapphires are present in different pieces. When buying jewels online, it is important to seek professional and reliable advice, to know what you are really buying. View Edellie’s collection, and contact them if you need further information.
Since the beginnings of humankind, man worked to produce tools to make life easier and, similarly to create ornamental objects as jewelry pieces. During prehistoric times, jewelry was made of materials such as shells, stones, teeth, and bones. The purpose of jewelry included making of it a form of adornment, use it as a protection against dark forces, or as a visible sign of status.
The discovery of metals and how to work them completely changed the art of jewelry making. Weapons and tools started to be made of metal, and stones were left mainly for the use in jewelry. Such new step made a huge impact on the evolution of jewelry, which became more sophisticated, with more intricate designs. The first goldsmithing techniques were developed, including embossing, granulation, and metals filigree. Precious stones were usually combined with gold or silver, in bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, and other items.
3,000 years before Christ, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Sumerian cultures were highly developed civilizations which took jewelry making to a higher level. Amazing treasures of gold, silver, precious and semi-precious stones jewellery were discovered. For example, the 170,000 pieces of the named Nimrod Treasure, found at South-East of Mosul, Iraq, which belonged to Assyrian queens.
Egyptians were really passionate about ornamentation, and they contributed to a deep renewal in the art of jewelry. They used to bury their pharaohs and priests with their trousseaus and jewellery. So we could learn about their jewelry-making technology, as well as the kind of precious stones used as ornaments or amulets. They identified the metals with deities and healing powers. Copper and malachite were identified with the god Hathor, gold with the god Sun, while Lapislazuli and turquoise expressed joy and pleasure.
The most used jewelry were diadems, beaded necklaces, and articulated braces. Gold and silver bracelets were very common; it was normal to wear one on each arm.
Gemstones pendants were widely used too, both by women and men. Pharaoh Akhenaton was the one who introduced the piercing of the earlobe.
In 1871, with the discovery of the ancient city of Troy II (not the same Troy of Homer) in Turkey. It was a mesmerizing treasure with thousand pieces of gold and gemstones was found. Ancient Greeks hardly used stones in their pieces. They hanged small perforated circles of gold from their clothing and diadems. The first Greek jewels were of simple design and craftsmanship, which later increased in technique and complexity. They started using gold and gems around 1400 before Christ, and by 300 before Christ, they already mastered and advanced technology using stones such as amethysts, pearls, and emeralds. Ivory was widely used, and Greeks introduced a new style of jewellery, the cameo.
Gold wreaths were used as crowns, embellished with leaves, flowers, and acorns.
Jewels in Rome, as well as hairstyle, were a sign of social status: the more complex or intricate, the higher social level. Personal ornaments included combs, hair pins, pendants, rings, and necklaces. They used gold, silver, glassy paste, and necklaces usually had garnet beads, emeralds, variscite, amethysts or pearls, while rings featured big gems such as agate, chrysolite, and other gems.
It is precisely in Rome where we can trace back what we now know as “engagement rings.”
Of course, this rich history still influences modern design. To learn about fashion jewellery online and discover the influence of antique jewelry in modern design, visit Edellie.com.
The ancient Egyptians started the origin of wearing wedding rings as far back as 6000 years ago. In those days the rings were constructed from hemp or reeds and exchanged between the spouses. The rings were considered as a symbol of eternity and everlasting love. These wedding rings brought about the culture of wearing the ring on the fourth finger of the left hand. This was because the ancient Egyptians believed that there was a special connection between this finger and the heart.
The modern tradition of wearing a wedding ring dates back to these times for wives. It was only during the twentieth century that the custom included wearing a wedding ring for husbands.
It is also interesting that wedding rings are among the few items that prisoners are allowed to wear.
Popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries for husbands to give their wives were gimmel rings. Gimmel rings are rather like puzzle rings, only the gimmel consists of two interlocking bands, whereas puzzles are usually at last three banded. The way it worked was that the couple each wore one of the bands upon engagement and reunited the two bands at the wedding ceremony. The wife then wore the ring combination.
A ring style popular during the Renaissance era was the poesy ring. This was a band of sterling silver that had inscribed a poem or” poesy.”
At that time in the Middle East, the custom was for the wife to wear a complicated and difficult to take off puzzle ring. Meaning, that the husband would be aware if the ring was taken off the finger! Another historical custom was the wearing of a fede ring. This was a band featuring two hands clasped in betrothal.
At the wedding nuptials, similar plain rings are exchanged by both spouses. In the Nordic countries as well as in several others, plain engagement rings are exchanged, and a more precious jewelled ring, particularly of diamonds, is also given to the bride.
From the 19th century, it has become the custom for both the bride and groom to wear a wedding ring in Germany. As well, in the Netherlands, couples exchanging rings during the wedding ceremony has found to be dated back to 1815.
There is something about the redness of most rubies that really attracts attention. But, not all rubies are a rich red some of them are rather pink in colour. Flawless rubies which are the most desirable are rare and most sort after. The best rubies actually cost more than do diamonds of the same size and are exceeded in value only by emeralds.
Genuine rubies have tiny irregular inclusions. Synthetic rubies come with perfectly rounded bubbles in them and can be further identified by having striae in them rather than curved lines. Some so-called rubies are in fact red Spinel! Sometimes these not-rubies are known as “Balas Ruby or Ruby Spinel.”
Sapphires are available in a variety of colouring but never in red. They can be yellow, green, white, pink, purple, brown and black. The most popular however range from pale cornflower blue to a deep velvety-looking blue. Sapphires that are not blue are often referred to by jewellers as “fancy sapphires.” Some sapphires tend to change their colour in artificial lighting from that seen in daylight.
Other names given to sapphires can be “Oriental Topaz” for the yellow variety and “Oriental Amethyst” for purple stones. Sometimes, the sapphire colouring is altered by a heat treatment that dulls the colour or by irradiation that tends to fade with time. Synthetic sapphires were developed for cheaper jewellery back in 1910. The term Brazilian sapphire is actually a misnomer for a blue variety of Tourmaline that is found in Brazil.
An emerald is a variety of Beryl and considered as one of the most valuable of the precious stones. The green colour ranges from pale to dark with the most costly being the very dark warm velvety green colour. Flawless stones are very rare and most emeralds contain inclusions. Unlike sapphires, emeralds maintain their colour and are not affected by a change of light.
Amethysts are a variety of quartz and are transparent and crystalline. The usual colouring range from a deep purple, reddish mauve, to a pale blue-violet. Sometimes, the hues come mingled in a stone and some can even show a tinge of yellow. Amethysts are often set pear-shaped in pendants and as pierced beads for necklaces and earrings. Amethysts that are banded with inclusions of agate or milky quartz are known as amethyst quartz.
