Materials

Jewelry is offered in a multitude of metal and stone materials, and deciding which of those materials works best together requires an expert opinion.

Metal Materials:

At Rick Terry Jewelry Designs, we prefer to most frequently work in gold (white, yellow and rose) and sterling silver for our custom pieces. That is due to the ease of upkeep for those materials, they are the easiest and longest lasting to maintain.

We offer repairs in most other metal materials as well but those circumstances are on a case by case basis determined by our associate staff and jewelers.

 

Diamonds:

Diamonds are by far one of the most common stones used in jewelry but there are even a few options for different types of diamonds. The most frequently found diamonds are a standard white diamond, salt and pepper diamonds, fancy colored diamonds and lab created diamonds.

Most of the colors of diamonds are determined by the amount of color in the stone or the lack of color in the stone. Diamonds in the normal color range are colorless through light yellow and are described using the industry’s D-to-Z color grading scale. A perfect diamond is considered a stone with no color and no inclusions. These are the most expensive options for natural diamonds. (https://4cs.gia.edu/en-us/)

A salt and pepper diamond is a stone with visible black carbon inclusions throughout the stone that make the diamond have a black and white look.

Fancy colored diamonds, on the other hand, are diamonds with very visible color ranges, typically a yellow and brown diamond that exhibit color beyond the Z range, or diamonds that exhibit any other color face-up. They come in every color of the spectrum including blue, green, pink and red. Click to read more here (www.gia.edu/fancy-color-diamond-description) 

Lastly and most recent to gain popularity are lab created diamonds. Lab grown diamonds are exactly that, diamonds that were created in a laboratory or factory rather than occurring in nature. Some lab grown diamond laboratories use advanced technology to mimic the conditions that natural diamonds undergo when they form beneath the earth’s crust.

 

Colored Gemstones:

There are hundreds of types of colored gemstones available to be used in jewelry but the three most commonly used are emeralds, rubies and sapphires. 

Emeralds: Emeralds are famous for its distinctive green color and are a variety of the beryl mineral species. The earliest emerald mining ranges widely from about 3500 to 330 BC. Some people believed its green color represented fertility and rebirth. About 60 percent of the world’s emeralds come from Colombia. The most prized emerald hues are green to bluish green. Also tone contributes to emerald value, an emerald’s value is lower if it’s too dark but has good saturation. And if the tone is too weak it is no longer an emerald, it is simply green beryl. 

Rubies: Rubies were most likely discovered around 3000 BC, and their color ranges from medium to dark orangy red to purplish red. It is a member of the corundum mineral species. Over the years people have believed that rubies could bring health, wealth, wisdom and love. Nowadays synthetic rubies are one of the most challenging for gemologists to identify from natural rubies.

Sapphires: Sapphires and rubies both belong to the same gem species corundum. Sapphires come in blue and also in a variety of other colors. The most famous historical sources of sapphires are the Kashmir region, which straddles Pakistan and India. Today, the major sapphire sources are Madagascar, eastern Africa, Sri Lanka and Australia. Many sapphires are heat treated, this is not only common for sapphires but also is practically an art form. This is because sapphire changes color when it is “cooked” for the right amount of time and under the right conditions. Improved color is the main objective of heat-treating sapphires, while a secondary goal is improved clarity.