We have just received a new brand of jewellery called Scott Kay. This jewellery is incredible and it spans many different areas. We have men’s jewellery, engagement rings, wedding bands, and a new type of wedding band that is called SK Cobalt. Cobalt is a new metal on the market that is pure white and hypoallergenic.
I am a little bit obsessed with the men’s jewellery myself and have picked out the next three or four pieces that I will eventually own (pendant, cuff links, bracelet, more cuff links). I currently wear one of Scott Kay’s rings and have gotten numerous comments on it. The men’s jewellery is all sterling silver, very heavy, and all finished by hand.
Looking for a wedding gift for your husband to be? You gotta check out Scott Kay’s men’s jewellery.
Spring is in the air! Summer is on its way! And the weather has never been better!
Next week, Independent Jewellers is proud to host designer Rachel Tucker from Platinum Unlimited. Rachel will be here for three days next week and we have a few appointments left open. She will be at our Notre Dame location on Thursday and Saturday (April 29/May 1) and at our Polo Park location on Friday (April 30).
Maybe you have a bunch of gold lying around that you want to make something out of; maybe you have some rings that you just are not wearing anymore; or maybe you just want a beautifully made, one-of-a-kind piece of jewellery. If so, give us a call and set-up an appointment to see Rachel (Notre Dame 774.5544/Polo Park 783.3113).
Have a fantastic weekend!
Recently I was looking at one of our mounted diamonds and came across something really interesting. On the girdle, I noticed what appeared to be a scratch. It looked like something that could have been done in the polishing process, perhaps to remove an inclusion for the purpose of improving the clarity grade. As I was somewhat uncertain of what it was I asked our expert Jodi and she informed me it was part of the original skin of the diamond or what is commonly referred to as a natural. What this means is the cutter was skilled enough to be able to cut the diamond in such a way as to maximize the weight to the point where even part of the original outer coating from the rough crystal was left intact. The skin in this case does not affect the overall appearance, colour or clarity grade, but gives the diamond a very unique mark to identify it and to give it some attachment to both the cutter and the original crystal form it came from.
Clarity grading is interesting. The clarity grade is set based on what is seen at 10x zoom, through a microscope or corrected loupe. It can be helpful to increase the zoom to clarify what something is, i.e. feather, cloud, cluster of needles or pinpoints, but the final judgment comes based on what is seen at 10x.
There are 11 different clarity grades: FL, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, I1, I2, I3. There are two kinds of clarity characteristics that set these grades: blemishes and inclusions. A blemish is something that is only on the surface of the diamond where as an inclusion may begin at the surface of the diamond and extend inward or it might be completely enclosed. There are about 14 kinds of naturally occurring inclusions and several others that are created by treatments to diamonds. There are 11 kinds of blemishes, some occurring as a result of the cutting process and some as a result of wear and tear. While blemishes rarely affect clarity grades below IF, inclusions and their position, size, colour, nature, and number will be what set the clarity grades.
If you are interested in seeing the blemish I described earlier, give me a call or come and see me at the 493 Notre Dame store.
My name is Jeremy and I will be contributing to this blog periodically as I progress through my Graduate Gemology degree and beyond.
This is Ernest Oppenheimer. He was born in Frankfurt Germany in 1880 and moved to South Africa in 1902 to oversee diamond buying for his company A. Dunkelsbuhler. By 1929, he had become the chairman of De Beers and the AAC (Anglo American Corporation) a major gold mining company. He remained in control of both until his death in 1957 and was largely responsible for the consolidation of the production and sale of diamonds worldwide.
Today the diamond industry has changed significantly from where things were at the beginning of the1900’s. The channels through which diamonds are bought and sold have become more complex and varied. Where De Beers used to control nearly all diamond distribution worldwide, in 2005 their share was closer to 40%.
One significant change that has come about as a result of this shift in influence is the emergence of India and Asia as a major cutting centre. When the Argyle mine in Australia and De Beers began to feud in the 90’s as a result of commitments related to rough diamonds, there was a need to do something with the massive quantities of small ‘brownish’ rough. As a result they turned to India where wages where more affordable and there were a significant number of cutters. These cutters began to cut the very small diamonds (under .05ct) that are common in much of today’s jewellery. Today there are over 100,000 cutters in India and they account for the cutting of over 90% of the worlds rough by weight.
Jewellery | Jonathan July 20, 2010 | 
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