For lustrous elegance, a timeless pearl strand — or three — holds a coveted spot in many women’s jewelry wardrobes. Pearls take you to the office with understated luxury and create effortless glamour for an evening out.
Just Add Drama
But lately, classic pearls have competition from some newer cousins: pearl statement pieces. Examples include a gorgeous pearl collar Beyonce wore on her “Formation” tour, and Rhianna’s lavish, cascading strands worn when she attended a London movie premiere. Both achieve the height of sophistication — even extravagance — but not everyone can wear these stunners.
Pearls & Hardware
Yet most women want eye-catching looks that make a subtler statement — designs they can wear frequently and add to their everyday look. Say “Hello” to a fabulous new trend: Pearls & Hardware. We love this trend and assembled a category with everything you need to work easily with customers. You’ll find a variety of pearls and chain styles, links (some diamond-accented), hinged bails, Petite Pavé and other dangles, and clasps. They can be mixed and matched for a personal expression of each woman’s style.
Put It All Together
We created this look to capture one of the trend’s signature looks: pearls and chain. Simple and elegant, it has just the right balance of sophistication and casual — “I threw it on at the last minute” — flair.
Wrist Magic
Neck stacks and bracelet layering offers a wealth of possibilities for a Pearls & Hardware design. Here we combined seed pearls, larger pearls, as well as dangles and a sleek hinged bail. Add parts and pieces to any pearl design to make it your own.
Pearls Her Way
This more elaborate Pearls & Hardware bracelet stack features the elements from the one above in different combinations. And it includes a diamond station bracelet and three gold chain styles that give it distinctive style. It would look equally charming with jeans, a little black dress, or a vintage dress — whatever fashions your customer prefers.
Get Ready to Sell
There’s nothing casual about the way these designs are selling. With the fall season ahead, you’ll want to be ready for customers who want this trending look. Shop the Pearls & Hardware curated collection now and create your distinctive look today.
Falling in love with pearls? Learn more in this blog post all about pearls and in our Pearl Center.
Fiery Moissanite: A Perfect Choice for Bridal Designs
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One look at the pristine brilliance of Moissanite makes it easy to understand its growing popularity for engagement rings, anniversary and eternity bands, and men’s bands. This gorgeous, lab-grown gem offers more than its across-the-room sparkle. Its high durability (9.25 on the Mohs scale) and affordability make it increasingly attractive to couples who want new choices for their bridal rings.
Think Big
Couples vary in how much they want to spend on an engagement ring, reflecting their priorities. Today, many want a larger stone without breaking the bank to buy it. Others seek an “eco-friendly” gem and still others choose to save for a down payment on a house, extensive travel, and other personal commitments. Moissanite makes all these priorities attainable. We offer Charles & Colvard Forever One™ and Stuller Moissanite™ in many shapes and sizes. Both come in a range of melee sizes so customers can delight in elegant accents to their heart’s content.
Cost-Effective
Diamonds — natural and lab-grown — claim much of the bridal market, but they face competition from Moissanite. In 2017, Pinterest searches for Moissanite engagement rings rose by 297%, and the trend continues. A one-carat natural diamond will cost a minimum of 5K to 6K (approximate retail) and even more if the couple wants a larger stone. A DEF 6.5 mm Moissanite — the equivalent of 1 CT — costs a fraction of a comparable diamond, retailing for up to $810 triple key for a Hearts & Arrows cut. Larger stones from 7.5 to 8 mm DEF, approximately a 2 CT stone, retail from approximately $975 to $1,800 at triple key. A natural diamond in that size would cost thousands more, at significantly less than triple key.
Environmentally Conscious
Some environmentally conscious customers feel attracted to Moissanite because it’s lab-grown, not taken from the earth. Moissanite developed this way out of necessity. In the late 19th century, Henri Moissan discovered tiny crystals of natural Moissanite in a meteorite crater. Since then, no one has found this sparkling stone in sizes and colors suitable for jewelry. The race began to grow it in a lab and it took close to 100 years. So, when Charles & Colvard first created Moissanite in 1993, it was an impressive achievement though the stone was not colorless. The company persisted, and in 2015, they introduced their crowning glory, Forever One™, available in DEF and GHI. This fired up Moissanite’s bridal breakthrough. Today, we carry colorless and near-colorless Forever One by Charles & Colvard and Stuller Moissanite in a host of shapes to tempt any bride.
Black diamonds are back in fashion. So are rose-cut stones. And when you put them together, you have a distinctive combination that lends itself to custom designs. Black rose-cut diamonds offer customers a look that stands out from the crowd as sophisticated, personal, and elegant. I’m all about big and sparkly, but not every customer feels that way. Many prefer a subtler, understated look that intrigues the eye. Also, women who lead active lives appreciate a rose-cut’s low profile.
What’s Old is New
Over the last twenty years, millennials and Gen Zs have increasingly embraced vintage looks, and along with this, vintage-inspired jewelry styles have enjoyed a renaissance. These designs feature delicate beading, milgrain, filigree accents, and more. It wasn’t long before customers wanted to make their looks more authentic with distinctive rose-cut diamonds. And black diamonds? Absolutely.
Unfolding Petals
The rose-cut originated in India around 1520. Later that century, when the rose-cut reached Venice — already a gemstone cutting hub — the city’s stone cutters used newly developed tools to refine its faceting. It reached its peak of popularity during the Georgian and Victorian eras (roughly 1754 to 1900). Round rose-cut diamonds have 24 triangular facets that suggest an unfolding rose, which explains its name. The stone has a faceted, domed top and a flat or slightly rounded bottom.
Ultra-Chic
Remember the “little black dress” — a woman’s go-to favorite for business and celebrations? A rose-cut black diamond ring, pendant, earrings, or all three, carries the same panache. They make fabulous studs or drop earrings, suit many different ring styles, and add allure when set in a pendant or necklace center. For a dramatic look, surround them with a colorless diamond halo.
Say “Yes”
Rose-cut black diamonds are perfect for an engagement ring, a trendy look, or a classic with a twist. Who would choose one? A fashion-forward customer who embraces her own sense of style, constantly seeking the unexpected. Or she could be a customer who wants to create a vintage design down to the smallest detail. Or perhaps she’s a customer who finds a rose-cut black diamond ring irresistible. Have one in your case, and you’ll be surprised by who it will attract.
Mr. Big Gives Carrie the New Black
For you fans of Sex and the City, you know what I’m talking about. It happens near the end of the second movie when Big gives Carrie Bradshaw a fabulous five-carat black diamond ring. (Some people call it an engagement ring, but it’s actually their first anniversary!) And why did he choose the black diamond? His famous answer: “Because you are not like anyone else.” Doesn’t every woman want to hear that? Though black diamonds had long established themselves as an homage to vintage style, Carrie’s ring — designed by Itay Malkin — has clean, modern lines made romantic by the contrast of the black center stone with the colorless gold and melee diamonds. If we needed any proof, this made it clear: black diamonds look gorgeous set in whatever style pleases your customer.
Whatever reason your customer chooses a rose-cut black diamond, the stone has potent symbolism. Like colorless diamonds, black diamonds embody love, fidelity, and eternity. But black diamonds go beyond that, symbolizing power, charisma, certainty, and passion. I think most women will love these meanings.
Lab-Grown Diamonds: Knowing What You’re Getting
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All signs indicate that the lab-grown diamond’s market share will continue to grow. This assortment lets you offer customers more options — with lab-grown, customers can choose a better color or larger diamond for the same price as a natural diamond. Lab-grown diamonds often give you a better margin, a novelty in diamonds.
Unparallel Lines
Unfortunately, the influx of lab-grown diamonds to the market raises a dilemma. Thousands of undisclosed lab-grown diamonds (ULGDs) — particularly melee — find their way into the vast streams coming out of diamond hubs today. So how can you know for sure if the diamonds and diamond jewelry you order is natural or perhaps a ULGD?
Choose Certainty
Stuller has a Zero Tolerance Policy for ULGDs, so when you purchase from Stuller, you have absolute certainty and can share that trust and confidence with your customers. We screen every colorless and near-colorless loose diamond and piece of diamond jewelry that enters our manufacturing facility — no exceptions. Our approach to screening ULGDs uses the most sophisticated and effective technology in the industry, so you can rest assured that when you order a natural diamond, that’s what you’ll receive.
Natural Round Melee Diamonds
We have a strategic service arrangement with GIA® (Gemological Institute of America), a separate entity from Stuller. The independent Melee Analysis by GIA lab in Stuller’s Lafayette facility has GIA specialists who use proprietary technology to screen round melee diamonds in sizes of 0.005ct through 0.24ct – our best sellers! After screening, their technology sorts the stones based on color grade, the industry benchmark. When ordering GIA-screened melee, a customer will receive their diamonds in a gray parcel sealed with a GIA sticker along with an assurance card, for easy identification.
Eye-Catching Blue
We store and ship LGDs in distinct blue packaging. Lab-Grown Diamonds will arrive at your door in a blue parcel. Lab-grown diamonds weighing 0.33ct and larger come with an assurance card notating the inscription on the girdle and that they have been screened by the Stuller Gemological Lab. If we are setting jewelry with LGDs, the diamonds travel from workstation to workstation in a blue work sleeve alerting all associates who work on the jewelry piece that there are lab-grown diamonds inside.
Do We Stop There?
Not even close. As added security, we further require our suppliers to screen all diamonds for lab-grown diamonds. Random samples of diamonds from all our suppliers are also periodically sent out to leading laboratories to check for lab-grown diamonds. These protocols let Stuller extend confidence and security to you, ensuring you get precisely what you purchase.
Stuller’s strategic partnership with GIA helps us ensure that you’re getting exactly what you order every single time. Our industry-leading processes help to ensure that we keep track of each stone we handle and that we are as fully transparent from the time of purchase through to delivery.
Gemstones To Inspire Your Vacation Dreams — Let’s Go!
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Pack your bags, load your car, and hit the road to head to the airport, and let’s take that much-needed time to de-stress and refresh. Let’s pretend, however briefly, that these past 16 months reside in the distant past — barely a flicker in our memories. We’ll make this summer trip particularly joyous and meaningful.
So let’s talk about gemstones that will brighten your customer’s vacay wardrobe, and afterward, summon memories of their wonderful time away. Select findings for a pendant, earrings, or bracelet dangles, choose family jewelry mountings to celebrate your holiday destination, or go the custom design route, and the sky’s the limit.
Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf Coast, Caribbean: Summertime and beaches are meant for each other. The lapping water or white-cap waves, the vast sky, breezes, tropical foliage, and the sand beneath my feet that always ends up in the condo — they put you back in touch with nature, serenity, and joy. You sigh and relax.
Customers can keep their beach bliss long after the vacation. Create eye-catching jewelry with water-inspired beauties such as turquoise, coral, aquamarine, green moissanite, and zircon, or paint a sunset with rose quartz, ametrine, tanzanite, and orange garnet. Keep the sand between your toes with rutilated quartz or citrine cabochons, our new brown moissanite, a top light brown, or champagne diamonds.
Summer in the mountains offers stunning vistas and refreshingly cool days. Distant snow-caps, green fields with wildflowers, rushing streams, deep lakes, and tempting trails beckon you outside. You fill your days with biking, horseback riding, rock climbing hiking the surrounding heights, and photographing all that you see. Later in the day, relax with a soak in hot springs. All the activities and vivid beauty restore your spirits.
Customers can capture the thrill and freedom of their mountain vacation with durable gemstones: sapphire, ruby, colored moissanite, emerald, aquamarine, morganite, topaz, and tourmaline. To explore the colors of mountain rock, go neutral with smoky or tourmalinated quartz. Or select our Misty, Ash, Marbled Gray, and black Specialty Diamonds.
Bring on the bright lights for your summer in the city vacation, be it New York, Washington DC, Nashville, St Louis, San Francisco, or L.A. You’ll celebrate the arts with museums and performances and catch as much music as you can. That’s not to mentions all the fabulous restaurants and sights to see. Choose black and white wardrobe pieces, then highlight with pops of color and sparkle to add fun and fashion.
Choose Stuller Moissanite in DEF — go big in a larger size — or choose one of the gorgeous colored moissanite we offer: blue, green, yellow, brown, and back. Make a statement with fire opal, lab-grown sapphires in dazzling pink, yellow, and orange, bi-color tanzanite, and imperial topaz. All these and many more will capture your city lights theme.
Stuller’s Earth to Market gemstones are gemstones of known origin, a significant initiative for us. We have undertaken it because it’s good for you, our customers, good for your customers who will increasingly want this information, and good for the industry.
Benefits of Earth to Market Gems
Help tell the story of that individual gemstone from its earthly origin to the wearer’s jewelry.
Share the compelling story of small gemstone mines that leave a minimal environmental footprint.
Support small-scale mining and jobs for individuals, families, and communities with no other means of livelihood.
Available in Stuller Notable Gems™ selection and calibrated stones.
So Many Hands
For thousands of years, most gemstones reached major markets after passing through innumerable hands. This made it near impossible to know the original source of a stone. To demonstrate what we mean, let’s think back to the famed Silk Road, an ancient series of trade routes linking China’s extraordinary wealth of goods to Middle Eastern and European markets.
Risk Takers
Traders and merchants took significant risks while crossing Asia’s vast, remote regions. They contended with attacks, disease, and even death. Today we might call them thrill-seekers or adventurers — but not entirely. They traveled in large groups and relied on their knowledge and the local contacts they had made on previous trips. And few traveled the whole distance — quite literally, many thousands of miles.
Moving Forward
Caravans would go only so far, then trade and sell their wares to other traders to acquire goods they could sell on their way back home. The new caravan would move west with their caravans of donkeys, horses, camels, and yaks burdened with China’s finest silks, jade sculptures, porcelain, paper (invented by the Chinese), gemstones from Asia’s rivers and mountains, and much more.
En route, the merchants would buy or trade for more prized treasures. In the region we now call Afghanistan, they sought highly desirable lapis lazuli, aquamarine, and more. They looked for exquisite Persian turquoise, Egyptian emeralds, topaz, and peridots in Middle Eastern markets. They were anticipating their arrival in Venice, the most powerful Western trading market in the Middle Ages. Who knows how many hands the gemstones passed through to reach this destination and the people who purchased the gems. It’s impossible to count.
Even today, gemstones from all over Asia mingle in Bangkok and and other gemstone hubs, making it hard to say anything more than “origin assumed.” Many of these gems are cut and polished in Bangkok then move on to other places around the globe and large wholesalers. Fortunately, we have our own office in Bangkok, and our on-site buyers and graders keep a close eye on what they purchase and its origin story.
Our gemstone buyers and product directors travel more than 250,000 miles per year sourcing stones and visiting stone sources and operations, ensuring they follow our strict ethical standards.
Rewards
By offering your customers our Earth to Market gemstones, you have the opportunity to share an ethically and environmentally friendly story and make them a vital part of it. You can be sure they’ll share the story with friends, and you’ll get more business as a result.
In 1893, French chemist Henri Moissan was examining rock samples in Canyon Diablo, Arizona. Peering inside a meteor crater, he came across a bevy of sparkling stones and mistakenly identified them as diamonds.
They weren’t.
These crystals were silicon carbide — aka, Moissanite. And Moissan actually wasn’t the first person to encounter Moissanite.
Enter: Edward Acheson
American chemist Edward G. Acheson successfully created silicon carbide in a lab in 1891. He pioneered the Acheson process, a process used to create silicon carbide. Similarly to Henri Moissan, Acheson also had a slight blunder: he was attempting to synthesize diamonds but instead created blue crystals of silicon carbide.
It wouldn’t be until 1904 that Acheson and Moissan would realize they were looking at the same mineral.
And although Acheson was first to the silicon carbide punch, Moissanite was named in honor of Henri Moissan.
Why Choose Lab-Created Moissanite?
In its natural form, Moissanite remains exceptionally rare, coming only from meteorites that strike Earth’s upper mantle. In fact, after Moissan’s discovery, no natural Moissanite was found until 1958 — this time in Wyoming. It’s because of this rarity in nature that humans decided to grow them in a lab, making Moissanite available for everyone — for both industrial uses and for jewelry purposes.
When used in jewelry, lab-created Moissanite has unmatched brilliance that sparkles from across the room. Its attractive price point adds to its dazzling impact, making any jewelry dream a reality.
Here are a few reasons to choose lab-created Moissanite for your engagement ring, body jewelry, or fine fashion jewelry:
Lab-created Moissanite is affordable
Because scientists have perfected the growing process, lab-created Moissanite is incredibly affordable. Carat for carat, your customers can get a larger Moissanite at a significantly lower price than a diamond of the same size. For couples with a limited budget, this lets them get the center stone they want with no sacrifice on size, clarity, cut, or color.
Lab-created Moissanite lasts a lifetime
It’s a 9.25 on the Mohs Scale, which means Moissanite has a high tolerance to being scratched. It’s harder than even sapphire and ruby, which rank at 9. Moissanite is also exceptionally durable — or, in geological terminology, tough. This refers to the fact Moissanite doesn’t chip, break, or fracture easily.
Lab-created Moissanite has some serious sparkle — more than even diamonds!
With its double refraction and radiant rainbow fire, this lively, durable gem offers each customer the exciting opportunity to wear sparks of rainbow fire in earrings, rings, body chains, anklets, and more.
Nothing gets wasted in the growing process
Non-gem-quality Moissanite is used in computer chips and motherboards.
Why Choose Stuller for Lab-Created Moissanite?
When you buy lab-created Moissanite from Stuller, you get a variety of benefits. Here are five reasons why Stuller is your go-to supplier for any Moissanite need:
NEW: 5 fancy color options
In Stuller Lab-Created Moissanite™, you have five affordable, vibrant color options:
Fancy green
Fancy blue
Fancy yellow
Fancy brown
Black
Our colored lab-created Moissanite is never coated. The color you see is the color they were grown to be.
In-stock and ready to ship
With our inventory of over one million gemstones held on-site and ready to ship, you can choose a stone on our site today and have it in your hand tomorrow.
Sizes range from 1mm to 12.5mm
If you need a larger size, special cut, or anything else, our Special Order Services team is always ready to find it for you. With more than 10,000 gemstones procured each year, they know what it takes, where to go, and who to call to find exactly what you need.
Two luxurious brands
We offer two brands, both of which are eye clean, loupe clean, and affordable: Stuller Lab-Created Moissanite and Charles & Colvard.
Stuller Lab-Created Moissanite™
Available in two color grades: DEF colorless and GH near-colorless
Best for customers who want to get maximum sparkle for their budget
Has a variety of fancy-colored options: blue, green, brown, yellow, and black
Charles & Colvard Forever One® Moissanite
Available in two color grades: DEF colorless and GHI near-colorless
Best for customers who want the traditional name in lab-created Moissanite
Comes with a limited lifetime warranty
Available in Old European cuts
An abundance of shapes and cuts
Our selection has 14 shapes and even more cuts, including on-trend and classic options, such as rose-cut stones.
Is it really March already? The calendar says so, and that can only mean we Northern Hemisphere dwellers will soon be welcoming in spring and packing up our winter wardrobes. But March means more than just spring — it also means St. Patrick’s Day is on the way!
Wednesday, March 17, marks this year’s celebration, and we’ve got just what you need to invite good fortune AND to wear something green to protect yourself from being unwittingly pinched.
The Luck of the Irish
To kick off your social-distanced St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, we’re highlighting five gemstones that will have you and your customers green with envy. We suggest getting your hands on these gems as soon as possible so that you can enjoy the luck of the Irish all March long.
1. Fancy Green Moissanite
Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, our gemstone team is THRILLED to introduce a most fitting gem: fancy green Stuller Lab-Created Moissanite™ (in addition to four other new fancy colors).
Offering both a lush green hue with the intense sparkle that is Moissanite’s claim to fame, our green Lab-Created Moissanite is perfect for any green aficionado. Share these cool facts about Moissanite to let them know you’re their gemstone expert for any need:
This stone was discovered in an Arizona meteorite crater, but all Moissanite used in jewelry today is created in a lab
Ranking at 9.25 on the Mohs Scale, Moissanite is harder than ruby and sapphire — and strong enough for daily wear in engagement rings, fashion styles, and body jewelry alike
Moissanite has more than twice as much sparkle as diamonds due to its unique refractive properties
Scientifically known as silicon carbide, Moissanite is used in computer motherboards
Stay tuned for next month’s Sell With a Story, where we’ll do a deep dive into everything about Lab-Created Moissanite: its history, our two brands, Stuller’s five fancy colors, and even a new video showcasing why Moissanite is so marvelous.
Ranging in hue from a warm yellow-green to a cool blue-green, it’s no surprise we embrace emerald for those born in May, the height of spring. As one of the Big Three gemstones, emerald has endured in popularity for centuries, being THE go-to gemstone for all things green.
Of course, there’s a variety of green gems available today, but for customers who want the traditional green gem, emerald is the only choice. Just be sure to treat it with care since these gems can be finicky and fragile to work with.
The name emerald finds its root in the Sanskrit word marakata, meaning the green of growing things
Due to its lush, rolling countryside, Ireland is famously known as the Emerald Isle
Emeralds and emerald jewelry are the gifts for the 35th wedding anniversary
The world’s largest emerald is a privately owned 7,052-carat uncut crystal from Colombia
Garnet comes in a wide range of richly hued shades that are both reasonably priced and readily available. But as with all stones, there are select types that are superstars. In garnet, that standout superstar stone is the Demantoid variety.
Getting its eye-popping color from trace amounts of chromium and ferric iron, this lime-green gem has one thing that makes it outshine the rest of the garnet family: Demantoid garnet has incredible fire dispersion — more so than diamonds!
Demantoid, meaning diamond-like, comes from the old German word demant
The highest quality gems come from Russia’s Ural Mountains, where it was discovered in 1853
Faceted stones above two carats are rare, and most are under one carat
Some have beautiful, unique golden horsetail inclusions — which make them even more valuable
Meet the other green giant of the garnet family: Tsavorite. This vivid grass-green gemstone gets its color from the element vanadium, although some Tsavorite garnets contain other elements that give their exceptional color a whisper of blue.
Tsavorite has a long, rich history that starts with its 1961 discovery — which you can read all about in our in-depth analysis at Sell With a Story: Tsavorite Garnet.
Tsavorite is an excellent, more durable birthstone option for May babies who shy away from their traditional emerald
Tsavorite’s name comes from Kenya’s Tsavo National Park
The finest quality Tsavorite hails from a deposit in Kenya’s Kuranze region
Most Tsavorite is natural and untreated, so the stone you receive looks exactly how it came out of the ground, offering the raw beauty of Mother Nature to customers
Also called the Evening Emerald, peridot is a radiant green with a hint of gold. This lush hue embodies true splendor and growth. While best known as the birthstone for August babies, anyone can enjoy peridot’s unique shade — and indeed, people are enjoying it, as peridot has been trending in a huge way recently.
If you have a customer who loves peridot for what it is, let them know that birthstones aren’t limited only to those born in a specific month. Anyone can enjoy this lovely bright green, perfect for both a spring celebration of St. Patrick’s Day and for sweltering summer days spent poolside.
Peridot is the gift for the 16th wedding anniversary
Why pear-a-doe and not pear-a-dot? Peridot was first mined in the town of Peridot, Arizona
Peridot is one of few gemstones that appears in exactly one color: a perfect pistachio panache
The oldest peridot gemstones came to Earth in a meteorite, and they’re 4.5 billion years old — a far cry from the meager millions of years of Earth-forged Peridot
Are you feeling the luck of the Irish (or perhaps even envy) yet? If not, check out these previous Sell With a Story blogs about some lesser-known green gemstones:
With more than one million gemstones in our inventory and our next-day delivery on all in-stock products, we can get you what you need, when you need it — with the spectacular customer service for which we’re known.
Think back to the stones that have dominated jewelry center pieces for years past. If you’re like many, you probably immediately thought of the big four stones: diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies. No one can deny their beauty, but as customers’ tastes evolved, beauty alone isn’t enough.
They want something else. Something with a story. Something no one else has.
One way in which we’ve seen customers exploring this desire for uniqueness is with gemstone combinations that range from bold jewel tones that give the wearer confidence to sunny color unions that invite happiness.
Take it Back to the 1920s
Back in the 1920s, Cartier unveiled a bracelet that utilized an unusual color combination: green, red, blue, and white. Of course, those four colors came from the big four stones themselves — emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and a dash of diamonds — and thus a luxurious line of jewelry was born. Later on, these designs came to be known as Tutti Frutti.
While these shades seem to conflict with one another, Pierre Cartier was clearly onto something: the popularity of this combination has endured in the approximate 100 years that have passed since Tutti Frutti’s introduction. And with the record-breaking $1,300,000 sale of one of these bracelets at Sotheby’s last year, gem-intensive styles have enjoyed a renewed cultural relevance and fanbase.
The 2020 return of Tutti Frutti has opened the door for unique color pairings — and the more they pop, the better.
Blue and Orange
Bright, ornamental designs are trending in a huge way, especially when they combine a matte, opaque stone sitting in contrast beside a translucent faceted gem. Lapis lazuli, malachite, onyx, coral, and turquoise are but a few of the gems that are up for the task.
One of my favorite pairings is in the above image, where the complementary combination of blue and orange lends itself to a striking story of fire and ice.
While you can use a deep blue sapphire for this combination, how about swapping that deep blue gem for the soft blue of turquoise? Mixing textures is a visually interesting way to kick up the fun of any design.
For example, let a faceted orange stone (I suggest the ever-beautiful spessartite garnet) take center stage, and have a halo of turquoise frame it. Accent these designs with a sprinkle of white diamonds, and the result will be a seriously eye-catching design. The contrasting texture of opaque against faceted is one we absolutely adore — and your customers will too!
Pink, Green, and Teal
For younger customers who want to break away from the rubies, emeralds, and sapphires that their grandparents wore, a combination of pink spinel, teal tourmaline, and mint green garnet may strike their fancy.
This tropical combination is a contemporary take on classic red/green/blue designs yet still offers customers an effortless piece they can wear with any outfit. Try experimenting with the balance of colors to see what you like best. The size of the stones, the shapes you use, the metal quality, and so much more give you endless ways to play with this combination.
Of course, you can always try swapping out one of these gemstone colors for another of the same hue or vibrance. For example, what if the pink spinel not working for you? Maybe a yellow sapphire will do the trick.
Explore the Rainbow: Shop Gemstones by Color
This trend toward bright colors is sure to continue and will become the foundation of many custom masterpieces to come. To help you play a part in these future masterpieces, Stuller is here for you.
With more than 105 gemstone types, you’re sure to find what you need — especially because we’ve made it so easy with one key feature on our website. When you need some color inspiration, the Shop by Color feature on Stuller’s website can help you find the perfect shade.
How it works is quick and easy:
Choose calibrated faceted, calibrated cabochon, or Notable Gems®.
Pick your desired color or color range — select one or many!
Browse available shapes and sizes for your selection(s).
Toggle any additional specifics: origin, color quality, unique features, and more.
Stuller is Your Gemstone Source
Presenting your customers with relevant color choices positions you as the trend expert. And with Stuller in your back pocket, you can quickly and easily get everything you need to cement their trust in you.
We keep an on-site, in-stock inventory of more than one million gemstones that are ready for next-day delivery.
To remain close to operations and stay current with industry trends, we maintain a facility in Bangkok, Thailand.
Our buyers travel more than 250,000 each year to procure the stones in our vaults and to visit suppliers, cutters, and miners.
We have trained gemological experts on standby when you would like firsthand information about a specific gemstone in our inventory.
From the calibrated gems you rely upon to completely unique individual stones, we can support you and your customers in finding the perfect center piece or suite of stones for any special project.
Read more articles about Stuller’s gemstone offering and find exactly what’s right for you.
As a child watching The Wizard of Oz in years, I was too mesmerized by the wonder of Dorothy finding herself in a magical new world to take in all the details. Emerald City? That I understood. Ditto for her Ruby Slippers. But yellow bricks? Only years later, watching the movie for the who-knows-how-many-times, did I realize that the bricks were gold. Ah, looking back, it’s clear the yellow brick road didn’t just lead to the Emerald City. It was priceless in its own right — the ultimate symbol of luxury, the substance of dreams.
Goldrush
Dorothy was far from the only person to follow a golden road. Throughout history, gold discoveries have launched rushes across continents, up towering mountains, or distant streams and rivers. When we look at Renaissance portraits of current fashion magazines, we see gold everywhere — particularly yellow. Most people can tell you they love gold — whether yellow, white, or rose — and why, but few know much about its long, illustrious history.
Walk Back Along the Yellow Brick Road
We all know the vital role gold plays in the jewelry industry, but did you know our hominid ancestors — perhaps Neanderthals — discovered gold 40,000 years ago? This came to light when anthropologists and archaeologists studied ancient artifacts and paintings in Spanish caves, dating these treasures back 40 millennia. Among them, they discovered small gold nuggets. This rich yellow metal no doubt mesmerized those who first laid eyes on it as it has ever since.
In Days Long Past
In 5000 BCE, the Egyptians used electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver ore, to make jewelry for both men and women. By 3000 BCE, gold jewelry appeared among the ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia. In 2600 BCE, this same region produced the earliest example of lost wax casting, a funerary decoration for a long-ago queen. By 2500 BCE, gold chains emerged in the Sumerian city of Ur. And at this same time, the Egyptians discovered a wealth of techniques: filigree, granulation embossing, chasing, inlaying, molding, and engraving. South America’s Chavin culture used these techniques by 1200 BCE.
A Death Mask
Gold “death masks” originated in Ancient Egypt, where they believed the mask would help the deceased find their body in the afterlife. The most famous of these is King Tutankhamun. In the 18th century, a gold death mask was discovered in a mining shaft in southwestern Greece, known as Mycenae. Even though the mask pre-dated the Trojan War by 400 years, it was named the Mask of Agamemnon.
Did He Exist?
Agamemnon, the King of Ancient Mycenae, may or may not have lived outside Greek mythology, tragedies, and Homer’s Illiad. In mythology, he led the Greek army to the Trojan Wars, accompanying his brother Menelaus, Helen of Troy’s husband. But we have yet to make a specific match to a historical figure. The lesson learned? Mycenae was believed to be rich in gold. The mask and numerous decorative gold items discovered there indicate this was true.
Castaway
The Nazca civilization near the Peruvian coast perfected lost-wax casting around 500 BCE. This should come as no surprise because South America was rich in gold and silver, and a number of its ancient societies were highly sophisticated.
Does the Sun Cry?
South America’s great Inca civilization believed it did. They considered gold as the “tears of the sun.” Can you imagine a more beautiful description? If so, please share it below. For me, this gorgeous image does justice to the precious metals, almost unearthly beauty.
Dorothy Got It Right
Between the Emerald City and the Ruby slippers, Dorothy knew how to pick the perfect gems to pair with gold. Centuries ago, when miners in Burma’s Mogok Valley discovered Pigeon Blood Ruby, the king had it set in 24K gold starting a tradition. Pigeon Blood — the finest shade of Ruby — has blue/purple undertones and the brilliant yellow of 24K cancels them out. This creates a peerless, vivid red, one of the most challenging shades to achieve.
Similarly with Emerald, high karat yellow gold enlivens Emerald’s brilliant green displaying it in its full glory.
I’m skipping over a long period from the Middle Ages through to the present. I’ll have to write another blog focusing on those lustrous years. Today we use gold for everyday jewelry, custom designs, sophisticated showstoppers, cocktail rings, and so much more.
Perhaps the biggest gold category is bridal — engagements, anniversary and eternity bands, and wedding bands. It makes perfect sense. Because gold doesn’t corrode, ancient cultures considered it “immortal” — like the love a couple vows to live. We say, “till death do us part,” but love lives on in the hearts of all those whose lives the couple touches — forever and ever.
To learn more about Stuller’s precious metal offerings, visit our website!
If you enjoyed this historical look at gold, view some more of our Sell With A Story blog posts.
