Archive for the 'Art Deco Jewellery' Category

Art Deco Jewellery For Every Personality

Published on April 24, 2011 in Art Deco Jewellery, Diamonds, Gemstones, Jewellery, Pearls, Platinum and White Diamonds. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Art Deco Jewellery Today

The world has recently seen a stunning return to boldly styled, richly jewelled, statement-making jewellery of the glamorous Art Deco era, in all its shimmering splendour.

Many of the pieces we create here at Eskae Jewellers take inspiration from the decadent Art Deco era, designed with a new, updated interpretation of the “bold and statement-making” Art Deco pieces. It’s extremely fascinating so take a few minutes to read more more about the origins of Art Deco Jewellery by clicking the hyperlink!

Art Deco Jewellery and You

A fashion favourite that’s a must-have for most people, Art Deco jewellery takes a twist on classic styles of jewellery by creating a brand new genre for jewellery lovers alike. Including a combination of materials and geometric designs and shapes, art deco jewellery can be formed by using different techniques to form these timeless, one-of-a-kind masterpieces.

Art Deco jewellery techniques that are commonly used include:

  • Glass Art Jewellery
  • Machined Art Jewellery
  • Jewelled Art Jewellery
  • Hammered Metal Jewellery

Whether or not you’re aware, chances are that you’ve purchased a piece of Art Deco jewellery, knowingly or unknowingly. If this purchase was intentional, then you’re familiar with what types of Art Deco jewellery that suit your personality.

If you bought this type of jewellery unintentionally, then here are a few suggestions to fit right into the two most commonly seen personality types!

The Socialite/Partier:

Tending to hit all of the smartest parties or social events, your style is colourful and a bit flamboyant to make a bold impression. Look for larger pieces of Art Deco jewellery with uniquely crafted metal and brightly coloured gems or diamonds.

Rings: Your ring will have to tell a story about you! Since you love fun, your ring needs to reinstate that message.

While almost all women love chunky rings, this style will look especially spectacular with a medium to large colourful stone with a geometrically complimenting frame that’s been customised especially for your personality. Platinum and titanium are amongst the most popular of this look since they compliment all styles with these types of stones.

Earrings: While traditional tear drop earrings would look good on anyone, an Art Deco chandelier style designed in an abstract form with a bold and colourful design pattern would look even better. Earrings are a lot fun without any specific regulations so let your imagination go ahead and get the better of you!

Necklaces and Pendants: Even before other people’s eyes wander off to decorated fingers or ears, they focus on the neck first. This is what draws in people’s attention and lets them decide if they should look further to other pieces of jewellery – the ‘attention grabber’, if you will.

This makes the necklace vitally important to your overall appearance which means that heavy choker necklaces or an extra long, asymmetrical chain with pendants, charms or different coloured precious gems, glass or stones will stop others in their track.

Remember, just because you’re wearing bold statement jewellery, it doesn’t mean lose control and go overboard! If your earrings scream your personality, tone it down with the rings and necklaces – the same goes for necklaces, bracelets and rings.

Conservative and Classy:

You like the finer things in life; you are a person of great taste and take pride in what you do, where you go and who you associate yourself with. It helps to have Art Deco jewellery that portrays your conservative side without overdoing it and yet, still adds that extra ‘oomph’ of class!

Here are a few ideas for different types of jewellery that would look great on you:

Rings: While there are many different types of rings that will fit right into this category, to narrow it down a bit, think about the one place where you find yourself the most. This could be your office, your kid’s school with the other moms or dinner parties.

Some are under the impression that Art Deco jewellery is too casual or fun for this personality but guess what? They’re wrong! While you definitely need to take a more toned down path, you can still add a bit of funkiness to your single studded rings by keeping your ring white and black, i.e. a hammered platinum metal band with an irregularly cut onyx stone in the middle.

Earrings: Perhaps you’re more comfortable with a simple pair of studded diamond earrings but now it’s time to step out of your comfort zone by adding a little pizzazz with an elegant pair of drop earrings.

Pearls are very conservative but instead of wearing single pearl studs, have a funky setting customised specifically for you so that you now have to gorgeous drops of pearls hanging from your ears!

Necklaces and Pendants: Again, not being the type of person who likes to draw tons of attention your way, keep this look simple, yet classy by wearing a thicker chain than you’re used to with a colourful, multifaceted rare stone without a visible setting and voila!

It will give all of your friends something great to talk about while at the same time, keeping it simple!

Remember that Art Deco jewellery doesn’t necessarily have to be funky to be in the Art Deco class. It just means that your typical jewellery will include a slight twist but it’s up to you to decide how far to take it.

So there you have it – Art Deco jewellery can be made to suit all personality types while at the same time, bringing the recognition it AND you deserve!

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What Exactly Is Handcrafted Jewellery?

Published on December 19, 2010 in Art Deco Jewellery, Designer Jewellery, Engagement Rings, Eskae Private Jeweller, Gold, Hand-made Jewellery, Jewellery and Platinum. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Handcrafted Jewellery

Simply put: Handcrafted jewellery is jewellery made by hands, not machines.

This type of jewellery sounds pretty self-explanatory, doesn’t it? Believe it or not, there’s much more depth to handcrafted jewellery than just the use of hands to create exquisite pieces of jewellery art.

When jewellery was first recognized during ancient Egyptian times, obviously, electrical working machines weren’t yet invented – therefore, all jewellery was handcrafted by artisans as a trade. Over time, jewellery evolved from shells and pebbles, eventually becoming a career for artisans-turned-jewellers who continued taking jewellery design to a whole new level.

The great thing about handcrafted jewellery today is that it’s the one type of jewellery that still carries over ancient history all of these years later, albeit, in newer and more modernised fashions.

Modern or Art Deco, Boho, Modjewellery and Ethnic are just some of the newer titles given within handcrafted jewellery; all carrying some piece of history with them. Nowadays, creating handcrafted jewellery tends to fall under two main categories: Professional and hobby.

Professional jewellers have the artistic and dexterity skills required to incorporate gold, platinum and other precious metals along with pink diamonds, white diamonds and coloured gemstones into their handcrafted designs while people at home tend to use more cost-effective resources, such as, alternative metals like brass and copper wire, beads, polymer clay, wood, fabric and whatever other materials the designer may find attractive.

Because of this distinction, it puts the cost of handcrafted jewellery on opposite ends of the price spectrum. When professional jewellers create this type of jewellery, it falls into the class of being a one-of-a-kind type of custom designer jewellery, which in turn, makes it an expensive piece of jewellery.

People who make handcrafted jewellery as a home business or as a hobby use cheaper means and cheaper materials. It doesn’t mean their workmanship is cheap, it means the worth of their jewellery is lower than that of a professional jeweller.

Depending on personal style and budget, both hobby and professionally handcrafted jewellery have become an extremely popular choice when shopping for accessories.

The Popularity Of HOBBY Handcrafted Jewellery

Everyone loves jewellery – whether it’s a simple pendant necklace or a 5-carat diamond ring – but not everyone can afford valuable jewellery items. The next best thing to buying jewellery is making it or buying it from home, leading to the online craze of sites like Etsy.com, Rubylane.com and good, ole’ Ebay.com.

In fact, if you were to actually Google handcrafted jewellery, you’ll come across hundreds of how-to’s for starting your own jewellery business and personal websites selling these items. Very few websites touch on anything more about handcrafted jewellery, unless you just so happened to come across this blog, wink, wink!

The reason behind this hobby/home-business frenzy is the fact that handcrafted jewellery is perfectly fitted toward individual tastes, follows the latest fashion trend and it’s affordable for both parties – those who craft and those who buy.

Teenagers who want to become entrepreneurs, stay-at-home moms who are looking for some extra cash and people who want to one day become professional jewellers are the biggest contributors to the handcrafted jewellery hobby.

The great thing about making jewellery as a hobby is that it’s often a stepping stone towards becoming a fantastic jeweller!

The Popularity of PROFESSIONALLY Handcrafted Jewellery

Much like custom jewellery, handcrafted jewellery appeals to all people, especially women. Jewellery made by a person rather than duplicates made by machine is sure to make a woman stand out in a crowd – and who doesn’t want attention drawn to themselves after spending all that time glamorizing?

While pieces of jewellery made by home artisans are great for a night out, jewellery handcrafted by a professional jeweller are sure to add the WOW! factor for years of nights out, again and again! A jeweller who makes jewellery by hand is a sure sign that they’re not only extremely skilled but creative and artistic which leaves the guarantee of owning an enviable piece of jewellery.

Unlike home-business handcrafted jewellery, you won’t find plastic beading or fishing wire holding the necklace together from a professional jeweller. Instead, you’ll find completely original, valuable materials used such as semi-precious and precious stones, authentic crystals, glass beads, silk and precious metals amongst other uniquely, beautiful materials that are incorporated.

What makes handcrafted jewellery different than custom jewellery is that from the sizes, width, and colours all the way down to which metals and gemstones are used, it’s the customer who has complete control over the design, not the jeweller. What’s not to love about it?

Another great advantage of professionally handcrafted jewellery that most people aren’t aware of is that it’s the perfect way to refurbish heirlooms! More often than not, heirloom jewellery is handcrafted and made of precious jewels and metal before the 20th century when machines were not yet available.[i] Such immaculate designs cannot be remanufactured or redistributed which is exactly what makes this jewellery so priceless.

Perhaps your great, great, great, great grandmother’s diamond engagement ring has been sitting stowed away to keep it undamaged and out of harm’s way. Taking it to a professional jeweller (one you know well and trust) can either help you put the shine and lustre back into that ring or update it all together to recreate the heirloom to show off your heritage while still keeping it in the family line.

With all of these great advantages, handcrafted jewellery doesn’t only keep customers happy; handcrafting jewellery even has perks for jewellers! By not using machines, one handcrafted ring alone cuts gold or platinum loss by 5% meaning less recycling of gold or platinum, less refining and of course, more money saved which we can pass on to you![ii]

Making handcrafted jewellery is a wonderful part of every culture whether to hold a piece of history close by or invent a new fashion trend. Regardless of who does the designing or creating, handcrafted jewellery is vastly becoming the most popular selection because of its authenticity and never-ending choices of design.

Sam Kritsotakis
Eskae Private Jeweller

References:

[i] http://pagerankstudio.com/Blog/2010/09/jewelers-repairer-job-description-and-jewelry-repairer-job-description-education-and-training-requirements-career-salary-employment-%E2%80%93-definition-and-nature-work/

[ii] http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/Platinum-wedding-bands.htm

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Jewellery Definitions Page

Published on September 28, 2010 in Art Deco Jewellery, Bridal Jewellery, Designer Jewellery, Engagement Rings, Eskae Private Jeweller, Gold, Hand-made Jewellery, Jewellery, Mens Jewellery, Platinum, Refreshing Ring Rejuvenation and Wedding Jewellery. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .
  • Claw setting – is a setting made from either gold or platinum with prongs or wire like structure to hold your diamond secure
  • Bezel setting – is a setting which fully surrounds the diamond or gemstone in place with gold or platinum being “rubbed over” the edge of the stone
  • Half bezel setting – the same as above but where only half of the diamond or gemstone is covered
  • Bead setting –Tiny beads are raised by pushing gold or platinum over the edges of the diamond

  • Thread setting – a series of diamonds are set generally in a line down the shoulder of the ring using the same technique as the above
  • Pave setting – is a style of setting multiple diamonds using the same technique as a bead setting. This is generally used in a blanket effect with small diamonds
  • Channel setting – a channel is opened to fit exactly the size diamond and then a groove is cut to allow the diamond to sit inside the channel. Once the diamond sits correctly the gold is pushed over the girdle of the diamond to hold it secure
  • Shank – the jewellery term for the band component of a ring
  • Shoulder – the part of a ring that is between the shank and the setting, generally there are diamonds set into the shoulder to enhance the beauty and sparkle of the centre diamond
  • Setting – the component of a ring that holds the diamond or gemstone in place
  • Platinum – a precious metal used in jewellery manufacturing which exhibits a superior whiteness and brightness compared to white gold
  • Palladium – a natural element from the platinum family of elements, generally used in the alloy when making premium grade white gold to help improve the whiteness and brightness of the gold
  • Rhodium – a natural element found in the platinum group of elements.
  • Rhodium plating – a liquid solution that coats the white gold through a process called electrolysis and makes it whiter and brighter compared to its natural state which is considered grey compared to platinum
  • 24ct gold – pure gold with no other metal or element being added to it
  • 18ct gold – a 75% pure alloy of gold silver and copper. Considered the perfect mix for working in gold, it retains most of the inherent shine, strength and other properties that gold has compared to the other metals it is alloyed with.

  • 9ct gold – a 37.5% pure alloy of gold, silver and copper. Is a more commercially affordable alloy of gold because the actual content of gold is less than 50% in the mix. Because of the amount of extra alloy being added to create 9ct gold, it makes the alloy particularly brittle and can be prone to stress fractures and breaks, often mistaken as being stronger than 18ct gold.
  • Ring mandrel – a rod of steel used to measure the correct finger size when making a ring
  • Gold plating – a liquid solution that coats most precious metals with gold through a process called electrolysis
  • Enamel – comes in two types
    • Vitreous enamel – which is in a powder form when raw, once applied to the gold or platinum and then heated, it forms a glass like layer of colour in the area it was applied to. This can be colour blended and produces a very high lustre similar to that of glass
    • Cold mould enamel – is more like a plastic acrylic. It goes on like a paint and once cured it forms a high lustre finish where applied
  • Solder – an alloy of gold to the same carat but mixed with various elements to reduce the melting point so that when heated the gold solder will liquidise
  • Hard soldering – the process of heating up a piece of jewellery and applying silver, gold or platinum solder to a join between two or more pieces.
  • Soft soldering – the process of heating up two separate pieces of metal, not necessarily silver gold or platinum, and then applying a lead based type of solder. The melting point for the solder is considerably lower with this type of soldering than it is with hard soldering
  • Ring re-sizing – the process where your ring is either increased or decreased in finger size
  • Re-tipping – the process of repairing any worn out claws on a setting, by adding new strips of gold to the setting
  • Laser welding – a relatively new technology in the jewellery industry which allows us to use lasers which is super heated beams of light to spot weld two or more pieces of gold or platinum together. This process allows a far greater level of accuracy and cleanliness, than the traditional hard soldering technique.
  • CAD – a computerised designing system being introduced worldwide in the jewellery industry. It is the same idea as architectural CAD software.
  • Wax model – a wax mock up at 100% scale of a ring that will be created for you.
  • Fitting – an appointment with me that lets you look at the ring or piece of jewellery before any diamonds are set in it. I get the opportunity to make sure the size is 100% correct and that you are 100% happy with the look of the piece of jewellery
  • Engagement ring – a symbolic ring which represents the love and bright future a couple will share – given by the man to his lady love when he asks her to marry him.
  • Wedding ring – a ring presented to your fiancé on the day of your marriage. It is traditionally an unbroken circle representing “no end” in the relationship and everlasting love.

  • Eternity ring – a ring presented either at your 1st year anniversary or the birth of your first child – which ever happens first – it represents the fact that you are now wed for eternity
  • Wedding day Gift – traditionally this is a pair of earrings that match her engagement ring or a pair of cuff links that has some kind of family resemblance for him
  • Engraving – the process of marking gold or platinum with an inscription or pattern
  • Carat – the unit of measurement designed to measure the weight of diamonds and gemstones
  • Karat – the unit of measurement designed to measure the purity of gold
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Eskae Private Jeweller – apprentice week 2

Published on September 21, 2010 in Art Deco Jewellery, Designer Jewellery, Eskae Private Jeweller, Hand-made Jewellery and Jewellery. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

Hello again,
I am back to tell you how my week has been going in my new world of jewellery making. I last spoke to you at the end of week two and I have now completed week three.

Like the first two weeks, I found this week quite challenging at times. This week I practised and focused on how to correctly and efficiently use the handsaw to cut out different shapes and various files to clean up and make rue the different shapes I was working on.

One of the tasks I was given was to find various images of either shapes, architecture or anything really which appealed to me and could somehow later be turned into jewellery. One of the images I decided to focus on was an Art Deco style wallpaper print, I segmented a piece of the print and duplicated it to make a pair, then I placed the copies onto a sheet of silver and traced out the interesting design onto it. I then began to cut out the shapes using my handsaw. This can be quite tricky and frustrating at times as parts of the design were hard to get to with the saw. The fine corners were especially tricky, as well as the cut outs I had decided to incorporate on the inside.
I was shown how to get into these inside cut outs with a very sneaky technique, unfortunately I cannot tell you, as it is a jewellers secret!

Other challenges arose whilst cutting the designs out, as I had decided that these particular designs would eventually become earrings, therefore they needed to be identical and symmetrical. Being that they were cut out separately and had curved edges and internal cut outs, it was quite difficult to get the two looking perfectly alike. I did my best using various shaped files and techniques and so far they have turned out quite even.

Learning how to use the different shaped files was the most important lesson I learnt this week. I learnt which file can be used to get into the more intricate parts of the design and which file can be used to create a rounded or curved edge or which file creates a more straight edge.

Its now time for me to get back to turning them into a pair of gorgeous earrings. I hope week four is just as exciting as the first three, so I will have lots of interesting news to tell you, until next time, have a great week.

Holly
Eskae Private Jeweller

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Eskae Private Jeweller – Exponential Entrepreneur of the Year

Published on August 30, 2010 in Art Deco Jewellery, Bridal Jewellery, Designer Jewellery, Engagement Rings, Eskae Jeweller Events, Eskae Jeweller Studio and Jewellery. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Eskae Private Jeweller – Exponential Entrepreneur of the Year

Some of you will remember that a few weeks ago I was presented with the inaugural Exponential Entrepreneur of the Year Award – Start Up Category by Dr Marc Dussault of Exponential Programs.

Since that time Marc has been busy creating a specific page about all of his Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 Award Winners

I have been lucky enough to be featured on the page as the second person down – you can go there now to have a look at the page by clicking on the link above.

I’ve had an amazing past 12 months getting everything together the way I dreamed starting my own business would be. I am more confident than ever about having made the right decision to go on my own and launch – Eskae Private Jeweller.

The reason I won the 2010 Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in the New South Wales Service Industry Category is in recognition of my incredible start as an entrepreneur and business owner.

When I first met by Dr Marc Dussault and inquired about his Business Mastery Platinum Program I was working as an employed bench jeweller and absolutely knew beyond any doubt, I wanted to be running my own business – I even had the name picked out and registered – Eskae Private Jeweller.

Even before I was in a position to open the doors to my new Sydney jewelry studio, I was crystal clear on what my business would look like, how it would run and who my prospects and clients would be.  Not only did I have this information on hand, I had a complete Business Building Blueprint™ filled in before I even had a physical location selected. In other words, I had a complete strategic plan established with a step-by-step process to implement my business vision of designing and creating beautiful, unique custom design jewellery for you – all thanks to Marc

I was lucky enough to realise the benefit of prior planning and was able to invest 18 months prior to opening Eskae Private Jeweller – making sure everything was in place for the launch of my new start-up venture. I come from a family of business owners, both my parents own their own businesses and now my sister and I have ventured out on our own with separate businesses. Since my immediate family circle also own and run several of their own businesses, you can image what the talk is all about at family gatherings!

I can tell you from being around business owners my whole life that far too many small business owners are impulsive and short-sighted when it comes to getting started in business they unfortunately lack the discipline to plan properly before they make their move.

Some of my proudest achievements since opening Eskae Private Jeweller in January 2010, include:

  • Designing from scratch – the ideal Private Jewelery Studio where I can not only meet with you privately, but also have a fully functional, multi-bench production jewelry studio to create all of the unique hand crafted jewellery that you can dream of. Not only will I be ensuring quality as well as control of the design process for you, but you also have the opportunity to view the jewelry at each step of its creation..
  • I achieved operational profitability within 3 months. This may sound a little self-serving, but its important for you to know that I’m running a solid business and that it’s not a flash in the pan operation – here today gone tomorrow. I invested 18 months prior to opening so that I would hit the ground running, delivering on my promises to you from day one.
  • Because I invested time in my entrepreneurial education, I was able to learn Exponential Marketing Strategies that involve Boundless Opportunity Thinking™, I started taking orders BEFORE I was even able to produce the final jewellery pieces. Because of this I was able to hire a studio manager from day one, ensuring that I could grow my business faster and with a lot less stress by keeping my focus solely on you. While my manager is taking charge of the production side of things, I am free to make sure all of your needs are being met. Through our daily production meetings, I know exactly what stage each and every single order is ensuring that any communication I have with you is current and up-to-date.
  • I created, developed and launched a new website that includes a jewelry photo gallery along with specialized pages specific to engagement rings, bridal jewellery, designer jewellery and Art Deco jewellery. I wanted to make sure you have access to the best available source of information possible, and I believe these special photo-filled gallery pages achieve that for you.
  • My website and blog traffic has catapulted from 220 visits in the first month to over 1050 in 6 months by leveraging Exponential Internet Marketing Strategies that ensure the highest quality people like you find me EASILY when searching on Google and other search engines by using the most effective and efficient SEO strategies available to me. Again this is all about making things as easy as possible for you.
  • My jewelry blog has already published more than 100 posts in the first 6 months – while I was busy launching my new business. Most Australian businesses don’t have a blog let alone one that lets you go through this amount of information for free. I am continuously creating and writing posts to give you the opportunity to inform and educate yourself on topics as varied as Pink Diamonds, Art Deco Jewelry, and designing your own custom engagement ring.
  • As a result of being able to implement various Exponential Marketing campaigns and multiple Pathways To Profits™ – being established, with solid Management By Metrics™ to back them up – so that you know Eskae Private Jeweller can be relied upon to be here when you need me. A 1st year apprentice jeweller has been hired within 6 months of the jewelry studio’s opening. Holly’s first day is on the 30th August 2010 and I am proud to say that I will be helping not only Holly achieve her dream of becoming a qualified jeweller who is capable of making hand-crafted jewellery, but also helping to re-skill the jewellery industry in Australia, especially when you consider there has been a worrying shift of large retailers stocking mass produced jewelry made overseas.
  • I consider myself to have a generous and philanthropic perspective in life; Eskae donated $1,435 to The Smith Family through their child sponsorship program in my first year of operations. I believe that I have been lucky enough to be in a position to help. If I take no action on helping others in my lifetime then I believe myself to have abused that position.
  • Sales have steadily increased each month since the initial launch. Just another way of saying that Eskae Private Jeweller is here for the long haul. I am so happy to have been able to build the relationships I have with all of you and I am looking forward to building more as the years pass.
  • Eskae introduced environmentally friendly cleaning solutions that required additional research and effort to implement within the production cycle of creating precious one-of-a-kind jewelery. This is vitally important to the environmentally sustainable footprint that I want to establish for my operations. Eskae is all about having a holistic and socially conscious approach to jewelry making. It is not good enough just to be able to make beautiful custom jewelry, it needs to be done in an environmentally responsible manner.
  • I have been fortunate to be interviewed for a new business book. I want you to feel confident and reassured of my commitment to you as a client.

I would like to thank Marc for his continued belief in me as well as his consistent raising of the bar!

To the other winners -

Bree Robbins – Paddington Pups Category: Queensland Service Industry

Gavin Buckett – The Gourmet Guardian Category: Victoria Service Industry

Ray Keefe – Successful Endeavours Category: Engineering Consultant

David Conroy – The Lone Drainer And Pronto! Category: New South Wales Service Industry

Congratulations! I am so proud to be considered amongst a group of people that I both look up to and admire for all of the things I have seen you all achieve and what else is to come, I can’t wait to see!

Over time, the other winners will be posting their own summaries on the Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 Award Winners page so if you are someone who enjoys seeing people achieve, keep going back to the page and checking out their improvements and additions.

I know for a fact that because of the 1 Percent Improvement Doctrine that Marc and all of the winners of this years award are so passionate about – the page will get numerous improvements over the course of time, so for some of you just seeing Dr Marc Dussault practice what he preaches will be worth the time it takes to re-visit this page every now and then!

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Onyx – A Gemstone of History and Magic

Published on July 14, 2010 in Art Deco Jewellery and Gemstones. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

Onyx:  A Gemstone Steeped in History and Magic

There’s something undeniably fascinating about Onyx.

Is it the richness of its colour (typically black, but also sometimes available under the name “sardOnyx” in striped or solid dark/reddish brown, sparkling white or deep red)?  Or could it be the bold statement made by this powerful gemstone?  Whatever the reason, Onyx has enjoyed popularity for millennia and its status shows no signs of waning any time soon!

If you want more information about this semiprecious type of chalcedony, you’ve come to the right place.  Below is all you need to know about Onyx, a terrific way to highlight any necklace, set of earrings, ring, bracelet or other hand-crafted jewelry.

History and Info

The term “Onyx” has Greek origins (meaning “fingernail”, “claw” or “hoof” depending upon the translation), while the term “chalcedony” hails from older Asia Minor roots.  As for the gemstone itself, Onyx’s popularity seemed to grow during the height of the Roman Empire.  During that time, Onyx was often used to create seals and cameos because of its innate carvability.

Today, deposits of Onyx can be found worldwide, including India, the United States, Australia and South America.  Although Onyx is considered a semi-precious stone, those who love it agree that there’s nothing “semi” about it!

Folklore and Legend

From a “mystical” perspective, Onyx is deemed to be the birthstone for December babies.  (In contrast, the “traditional” birthstones for that month are blue topaz and turquoise.)  Onyx is also the Zodiac birthstone for Leos (those born between July 23 and August 22.)

Many people throughout history have believed (and still believe) that Onyx has regenerative powers, increasing happiness and mastery of one’s fate.  In India, it has even been used as a talisman to “cool” passion between lovers who would be better off apart!

Some individuals seeking alternative remedies for their afflictions turn to Onyx to help with bone, heart, kidney, liver, hair, eye, foot, hand and nail conditions by wearing the Onyx close to the intended body part.  However, please be aware that we do not recommend using jewelry to take the place of proper medical care.

Caring for Onyx

If you’ve invested in rich-looking (but ultimately affordable!) Onyx jewelry, it’s important to understand how to take care of it.  Even though it has a Moh’s scale of hardness rating of 6.5-7, it is still quite delicate in some ways.

Onyx can chip or scratch; consequently, it’s important to treat it with care.  Take off any Onyx jewelry when doing physical labour or in the evening.  Additionally, be certain that Onyx jewelry isn’t rubbing against other jewelry in your jewelry box or storage unit.

Is Onyx Right for You?

So… is Onyx the right choice for your next jewelry purchase?

Black Onyx in particular has a strong prominence and history in the Art Deco period, a period where contrast and geometrical shapes were the norm, this beautifully glossy gemstone provided exactly those qualities. Onyx lends itself to being cut into straight lined geometrical shapes as well as being polished to a glossy finish which contrasts perfectly with the pave or bead setting most commonly used in the period.

If you are looking for an Art Deco styled piece of jewellery then it is hard to go past Onyx as something to bring the sophistication and contrast that epitomises the period.

If you like necklaces, rings or earrings that make a bold, elegant statement and command attention, you just may find that Onyx is a perfect addition to your jewelry collection!

Sam Kritsotakis

Eskae Jeweller – Your Private Jeweller

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