Tag Archives: gems

Introducing Dabakarov

I just picked up a designer line that has actually been around for about thirty years. Over the course of its history, Dabakarov has evolved to keep up with the trending styles of jewelry. While I personally believe that trends are as fickle as the sea, and a truly fine piece of jewelry is timeless…

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Sugar-Coating Drusy

When many people think of gemstones, they think of a transparent faceted jewel sparkling in a ring; often a diamond or some other gem of their favorite color, perhaps a ruby or an emerald. Some people may think of pearls, or gems that are typically cut en cabochon like jade or opals. But there is…

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60th Annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

I’m in Tucson! I come here every year to look for cool gems to add to my collection to design with. And every year, I go with a stack of wish lists from my clients. Some want a specific color, and some want a certain gem. Others want me to find them one of the…

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Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. In fact, it’s not even two weeks away. February 14th sneaks up on people every year, and I always have someone rushing in the door five minutes before close on the 13th. I know I can’t prevent the last-minute stop. I’ve tried to get guys to be proactive…

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Protecting Your Jewelry in Cold Weather

The cold snap we had the first week of the year got me to thinking. One of my employees had burst pipes in his apartment complex from the extensive and extreme cold. Did you know a similar effect can happen to certain kinds of colored gemstones? Opening your sink cabinets and letting your faucets drip…

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December Birthstones: Turquoise, Zircon and Tanzanite

December sort of has the corner on birthstones nowadays. With the induction of another selection by the American Gem Trade Association in 2002, there are now three official birthstones for December: turquoise, zircon, and the newest, tanzanite. So which way do you go? Well, that depends on what’s important to you in a look, and…

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Opals, opals, opals and more opals!

JOIN US FOR THE ANNUAL OPAL SHOW AT ARONSTOM The opal show is 10/3 10am-8pm, 10/4 10am-6pm, 10/5 10am-2pm. Guess what’s happening at Aronstam Fine Jewelers in October. You guessed, our annual opal show direct from Australia! I can guarantee that we can show you the unbelievable beauty of opals that you have never seen…

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Marc Aronstam on color-change gem stones

Gem stones are amazing things. The science and nature-loving geek in me loves to study each gem before I ever consider how it might look housed in a ring or a necklace. Particularly fascinating to me are the gems that change from one color to another depending on the type of light, from red to…

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Marc Aronstam on: Judging gemstone brilliance

There really is nothing quite like staring at a brilliant diamond as it reflects fire and light and scatters a rainbow of colors across a room. But what are you really talking about, when it comes to discussing a gemstone’s “brilliance?” Scientifically speaking, when light enters a gemstone, it can either be reflected back out…

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Meet Tracy, Aronstam’s on-premises graduate gemologist – She’s a gem!

Tracy is all about the inner – and outer beauty of our gemstones. As a graduate gemologist from GIA, she’s trained to use some of our more technical instruments. The most valuable and useful instrument to any gemologist is the microscope. Your average jeweler’s loupe has a 10x magnification.  Our microscope allows her to see…

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