Posted on
November 07, 2017
by
Gina Pankowski
| 0 Comments
What's your favorite tinsel color? Candle light gold or icy silver? I love dressing and decorating for the holidays!
Now that November has arrived we are officially into party and gifting season! Time to order now for holiday delivery. All made to order designs will ship in time for the holiday when your order is received by December 1st.
Pictured here is my Double Diamond link bracelet in 18k gold and darkened sterling silver ready for an overseas trip to the UK! I love that I can reach my customers virtually anywhere.
For immediate gratification (two for them and one for me is ok in my book!) there are many stylish treasures ready to ship here on my website! I can help you add some gorgeous to your party outfit!
When you buy a gift from my online store you will be able to exchange it through January 31st 2018! Now that's worry free giving!
Posted in
Bracelet,
Earrings,
Gift Ideas,
Gold Jewelry,
Hand Made,
Silver Jewelry
Posted on
October 12, 2017
by
Gina Pankowski
| 0 Comments
Beyond Beautiful round strands pearls come in many shapes, colors and sizes. They are also one of a few renewable gems.
Pearls are an organic gem in every sense of the word. They grow within a living creature, their quality, color and shape are determined by the environment they live in. A healthy natural growing environment produces the most beautiful pearls.
.
With so many options how do you choose?
For me pearls invoke an emotional response, their luster, colors and shapes are what I notice first. I buy what I like! But when you know a little more about them you can better choose based on the qualities that determine value and their origin.
These characteristics go into determining value and quality of pearls:
-
Color – The classic favorite is a white body color, black, grey, pink and yellow are also popular. When buying pearls you should always ask if a pearls color is natural. There are treatments to change the color of pearls that use dye, bleach and radiation. These will often fade with time. Slight changes in color will happen with natural pearls too because they will absorb oils from your skin.
-
Luster – This is what you see on the surface of a pearl. The best pearls should shine and will often glow with a rainbow array of undertones or “orient”. An example would be white pearls with a yellow or pink orient or South Sea pearls with a peacock orient that displays a rainbow of colors in natural light.
.
-
Size – A significant factor in a pearl's value, it takes time to grow large pearls! Pearls grow inside a mollusk when an irritant like a grain of sand or an injury occurs. With cultured pearls a “nucleus” usually made from oyster shell is surgically implanted. As the oyster heals it coats this irritant with layers of nacre, the substance that also forms the interior of the shell. Mud and plastic are also used in fresh water pearls. It can take up to four years to grow a 9mm pearl. A healthy South Sea mollusk may live 8 or more years and produce 3-4 pearls. Other clams and oysters can be implanted with multiple nuclei or seeds to grow more than one pearl at a time.
The rarest pearls are those collected in the wild and they are even rarer today because many of the pearl bearing mollusks have been harvested to near extinction. The passion for pearls has never waned and with it the science of growing and caring for them has given us all a chance to experience their beauty. Pearls are a true renewable gem.
Shop Pearl Jewelry Now!
I hope sharing these tips with you will help you enjoy wearing and collecting pearl jewelry even more!
For more in-depth information on pearls check out these links and books:
https://www.gemsociety.org/article/pearl-buying-guide/
http://www.pearl-guide.com/
The Pearl Book: The Definitive Buying Guide by Antoinette Matlins
Pearl Buying Guide: How to Identify and Evaluate Pearls by Renee Newman
Posted in
Earrings,
Gold Jewelry,
Pearl Jewelry,
Pearls
Posted on
April 10, 2017
by
Gina Pankowski
| 0 Comments
Aventure and Jewels - Mom's Treasure From India
My Mother loves adventure. I love that she spontaneously took this trip to India on her own with a small group of people she barely knew. She is over 70 and still excited about each new possibility. The treasure she brought home is this gorgeous 3ct Emerald cabochon gem. I am so excited to transform her emerald into an heirloom she can wear and be reminded of her special trip. Follow the journey of my mother's emerald from gem to treasured jewel here on my blog.
The big reveal will be on Mother's Day May 14th of course!
My first round of sketches for the ring show on the left one design with the gem oriented in two different ways and a side view to show more detail of the setting. The idea on the right is similar though paired down with the prongs oriented like an X as you can see from the detail I've drawn of the underside of the setting. The top right shows the prongs folded up to capture the gem.
If you were to choose, which one is your favorite design?
Posted in
Custom design,
Gems,
gold,
Gold Jewelry,
rings
Posted on
March 02, 2017
by
Gina Pankowski
| 0 Comments
Posted in
Gems,
Gold Jewelry,
rings,
store news
Posted on
January 25, 2017
by
Gina Pankowski
| 0 Comments
Posted in
Fairmined Gold,
Gold Jewelry,
rings,
Silver Jewelry,
store news
Posted on
May 23, 2016
by
Gina Pankowski
| 0 Comments
“i want to be
in love with you
the same way
i am in
love with the moon
with the light
shining
out of its soul.”
I have long been intrigued with Moonstone. The way light seems to glow from within the gem is amazing. That inner glow is a result of the mineral combination of albite and orthoclase which, as it cools the minerals separate into alternating layers. When light hits these layers it is dispersed in all directions creating a glow.
The moonstone has been used in jewelry by many cultures and is held in high esteem. Believed by some to hold the moon itself and the power to foretell the future as well as a positive influence on your love life. Moonstone is the birthstone for June.
The moonstone in this 18k gold ring will show a flash of blue as you move it. I have paired it with an Owyhee blue opal from eastern Oregon.
“The Journey of the sun and moon is predictable, but yours is your ultimate art.”
-Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
Posted in
Gold Jewelry,
moonstone,
rings
Posted on
April 01, 2016
by
Gina Pankowski
| 0 Comments
What fuels my designer energy and passion? My curiosity, fascination with movement and a bit of geekiness.
Pictured left to right, Metropolis Chevron Ring in sterling silver and white opalised wood from Australia,
Slip Fault ring in blackened sterling silver, Slip Fault ring with blue Hawks Eye gem, another Slip Fault ring in blackened silver,
Metropolis Bolt ring in blackened sterling silver with blue Hawks Eye gem and Slip Fault ring in sterling silver.
I've always been curious, willing to pause and look closer, maybe dissect and certainly ready to turn over the next rock.
My aesthetic obsession with movement blossomed in college. I liked to hang out with my buddy (now husband) in the wind tunnel. He was testing the aerodynamics of a new design. The streams of smoke flowing over the model were so beautiful, the slipstream. For his birthday I gave him a copy of The Album of Fluid Motion by Milton Van Dyke,
still on my studio book shelf.
When I am interested in a subject or idea I embrace it from all angles. That's were my geekiness comes to play. I've always preferred non-fiction, amassing a library of books on the subjects I love. Now I
"Pin" like a maniac too, collecting inspiration, information.
My first love will always be making, transforming my ideas into a physical thing of interest and beauty with a surprise, movement, to draw you in, spark your imagination and make you want to play.
Swell Bracelet, designed and created by Gina Pankowski. As you role the graduated links over your hand and onto your wrist the gold line flows through the bracelet. A version of this bracelet is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.
Posted in
Bracelet,
Gina Pankowski jewelry,
Gold Jewelry,
Hand Made,
Silver Jewelry