August is one of only three birth months that are represented by three gemstones. We’ve written about one of the three August birthstone’s, Peridot, the gem of the sun (you can find more information here). Today we’ll explore sardonyx, which was the original August birthstone until peridot was added. The third August gemstone is spinel, […]
You may have recently seen a post on our Facebook page about the redesign of beautiful 4.11 ct diamond earrings into two gorgeous rings. One of our favorite things to do at Bridgewaters is to help you redesign your jewelry pieces into something that you will wear. If you have some items that you would […]
In our fourth installment of our five-part series on caring for gemstones, we will explore the care and cleaning of rubies, the July birthstone. Check out our birthstone of the month post from July 5 for more information on the stone itself. Rubies are the hardest stone aside from diamonds, but are prone to fractures […]
Famous jewels and jewelry often seem to have an illustrious past and the Napoleon Diamond Necklace is no different! The necklace, set with 234 diamonds with an overall weight of approximately 263 carats, was a gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife, Marie-Louise of the Austrian House of Hapsburg, Empress of France, upon the […]
The July birthstone, ruby, gets its name from the Latin word “ruber” meaning red. The finest color is a deep red with a hint of purple called “pigeon’s blood” in the jewelry trade. Rubies are also the second hardest stone with only diamonds surpassing them. Rubies are symbolic of passion, protection and prosperity. Early cultures […]
You’ve probably seen or heard a cuckoo clock. They are a pendulum-type clock that strikes the hours with a common cuckoo bird sound and has a cuckoo bird who emerges from the clock to move with each note. Some cuckoo birds just lean forward with each note while others move their wings and close their […]
Marking the beginning of summer, the Summer Solstice or Midsummer is the day with the longest period of sunlight. Its name derives from Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still) because the sun’s position at noon doesn’t appear to change much on this day and surrounding days. Cultures around the world have celebrated […]
In many of our previous blogs, we have spoken of Egypt and its use of gold and gems. Egyptians were the first to have organized production of jewelry and their work in advancement of metallurgy and collection of gems impacted jewelry development in every civilization that came after. One piece of jewelry, the funerary mask […]
Last year, we celebrated our June birthdays by exploring one of the three birthstones associated, the pearl (see our June 1, 2021 blog post for more). June babies are also blessed to have the moonstone and alexandrite as their other stones. Moonstone, which is found all over the world, is valued for its blue to […]
Here at Bridgewaters, we live and breathe jewelry. It provides our livlihood and gives us joy when we help a customer to find their perfect piece or have an old favorite repaired. We love to hear the stories of where and from whom our customers found or received their jewelry. It got us thinking about […]
