Natural gemstone rings

Why natural stones are never identical

A natural gemstone grows over thousands or millions of years, under heat and pressure that change from one pocket of rock to the next. That is why two peridots from the same mine never have exactly the same green, and why a small inclusion is the stone’s own signature. Each ring in this collection holds a stone that is truly one of a kind.

Peridot, the evening emerald

Peridot is one of the few gems found in only one color, a bright olive green. The Romans called it the evening emerald, because it keeps its glow under lamplight. Some of the famous emeralds of Cleopatra may in fact have been peridots from Zabargad, an island in the Red Sea. Peridot has even been found in meteorites. Our lozenge halo rings set a natural mined peridot and a natural yellow sapphire, both on rhodium plated silver.

Iolite, diopside, jasper and opal

Iolite changes color as you turn it, from violet blue to almost clear, and Viking sailors are said to have used thin slices of it to find the sun through clouds. Chrome diopside, mostly mined in Siberia, has a deep forest green. Jasper, carried as a protective stone since antiquity, hides in one of our rings under a lid that opens like a locket. And our natural opal flashes green and blue fire as it moves.

Caring for natural stones

Natural stones are not all equally hard. Sapphire resists almost everything, peridot and opal are softer and deserve a little more care. Take these rings off for sport, housework and the beach, and avoid sudden changes of temperature with opal. Clean them with warm water and a soft brush, never with an ultrasonic cleaner, and keep each one in its own pouch between wears.