star sapphires Archives

Cathy Waterman pink star sapphire and amethyst leaf necklace.

July 28, 2014

This Cathy Waterman pink star sapphire and amethyst leaf necklace is utterly perfect for late summer.

It’s ready to sparkle over the filmy fabric of your light silk dress as you sip sparkling cocktails next to a turquoise sea. Or twinkle under the stars as you dance with a mysterious stranger on soft white sand. Or shimmer as you huddle in front of your air conditioner, drinking $6 Moscato out of a plastic cup. However you roll in late summer, it’s ready to be there with you.

This gorgeous piece is made of buttery 22 karat gold and set with an assortment of luscious, earthy-feeling pink stones. The leaf-shaped pendant is centered by a fantastic creamy pink star sapphire surrounded by pear-shaped amethysts and sprinkled with tiny diamonds.

You’ll notice that the setting holding the central star sapphire has delicately pointed diamond-set gold prongs: that kind of detail is pure Cathy Waterman, as is the graceful, organic feeling of the leaf pendant and the gradation of colors present in the piece. So light and airy, almost casual, despite its valuable components.

I would like to know how long it is. I’m imagining it as a slightly longer necklace, maybe 22 inches? The description doesn’t specify.

Oh, this necklace. I want to wear it on an island with something filmy and green. Or blue, maybe. What do you think? Are you ready for a summer fling with this beauty, too?

This gorgeous Cathy Waterman pink star sapphire and amethyst leaf necklace is currently for sale at Barneys New York. All images and info are thanks to Barneys.

Precious fireworks: star sapphires for the 4th.

July 4, 2014

Good morning, darlings.

Today is the U S of A’s birthday. I’m not really one for going on and on in a nationalist fashion (and, really, I’m not always thrilled with my country and/or its Supreme Court), but you know what I do always love? Holidays. Fireworks. And thematically appropriate dressing.

I’m dedicating today to star sapphires. The technical term for the star of light on these beauties these is an “asterism.” And it’s gorgeous.

This glorious thing is a a black star sapphire necklace by Andrew Grima, circa 1975. So fabulous.

This Art Deco ring is one big firework: a 32 carat star sapphire set in platinum with diamonds, circa 1935.

Okay, these earrings are cheating. They’re chalcedony stars with sapphires, not star sapphires. But they’re festive and they’re Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co., so I couldn’t resist.

How fabulous is this chunky star sapphire and diamond cluster ring? Also, I just learned from Google that “star sapphire” is apparently also the name of a ladysuper hero who likes to wear pink and show a lot of clavicle.

I have to show you an Art Deco diamond bracelet or you won’t know whose blog you’re reading. This beauty is from 1930,with 50.00 carats of star sapphires and 9.25 carats of diamonds.

How about this star sapphire and diamond pendant? Simpler than some of the others, but still spectacular.

Here’s one that’s currently for sale at Lang Antiques: this one’s a delicious, cornflower blue star sapphire in a gorgeous 1930’s Art Deco diamond setting. Sign me up.

This gorgeous Mary Kretsinger bracelet features diamonds and star sapphires set in chunky textured gold links. For when you want to wear lots of little fireworks instead of one big one.

Here’s an Art Deco Mauboussin stunner (circa 1926) with onyx, diamonds, carved sapphire and a 86.53 carat (!!) star sapphire. You can bet your buttons it’s the one I’d pick from this bunch. (Found via Jewelery Nerd.)

Another that’s for sale at Lang: an 11 carat stunner of a star sapphire set with diamonds by J.E. Caldwell.

I hope you all have a marvelous day today, my darlings, weather it means anything to you or not. Put some fireworks on your fingers.

Please see the individual descriptions above for source links. All images and info are thanks to the original source of each item.

Oscar Heyman jewels at JCK Privé NY.

October 24, 2013

Today I’m going to share with you the last photos I have from JCK Privé NY – the fabulous Oscar Heyman jewels that I was lucky enough to get to try on.

If you’re seriously into jewelry, your ears perked up at the name of Heyman. Oscar Heyman & Brothers have legendary status as a “Jeweler’s jeweler,” known for producing high quality fine jewelry for the likes of Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, J.E. Caldwell, and Shreve, Crump & Low. When Cartier was asked to produce a setting for the Taylor-Burton diamond, they turned to Oscar Heyman and Brothers. You can imagine my excitement when I turned a corner at JCK Privé NY and saw a booth full of Oscar Heyman jewels sparkling at me.

Tom Heyman – who kindly showed me around the booth’s Oscar Heyman jewels that day – told me that I had half a million dollars worth of jewelry on my hand before he added the diamond ring you see in this picture.

I don’t think I took a single bad picture of this yellow diamond and diamond ring. It was basically mugging for the camera. I hope it finds a good home.

At the Oscar Heyman booth, I was stuck again and again by the incredible beauty of the stones used to make the jewelery that I was admiring. Each piece had very clearly been crafted in order to best showcase the raw materials (and with great success). It was particularly evident with the incredible cat’s eye stones that I saw in several pieces, like this cat’s eye chrysoberyl and diamond bracelet.

Have I mentioned recently how glad I am that I started this blog? I never imagined that it would lead me into as many incredible experiences as it has. For an example, please see the opal, sapphire, and diamond ring above.

This emerald and diamond ring is probably the most magical thing I’ve ever had in my hand. I say that DESPITE all of the other mind-blowing jewelery you’ve seen me try on. This one is in my top 5 of all time, no question. Because: look at it. Holy moly.

How fun is this retro swoop brooch? “Swoop” being the sound I think it makes, rather than any official name. It’s an estate piece; Oscar Heyman & Brothers was founded in 1912.

This ring is even better than it appears at first glance, if you can believe it. Thanks to an ingeniously designed mechanism on the back, it snaps off of the ring mounting and can transform into a pendant on a matching necklace. I wasn’t able to to get a decent photo of the necklace or the mechanism, but please trust me that both were very cool.

One of my favorite parts of the visit was getting to see this: a draft of a diamond and yellow diamond bracelet. The stones are arranged on this foam in a rough form of how they’re going to be in the final piece.

This is the second stage (and the necklace that’s going to match the bracelet!) Here, the stones are set into a hard wax. From this point, Tom said, it’s about 6 months more work until the piece will be complete.

Tom took a turn being the hand model when we got to this sapphire and diamond moi et toi crossover ring. It did look fabulous on him.

A million and one thanks to the wonderful Tom Heyman, who spent quite a chunk of time letting me photograph the jewels in his booth one by one. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Additional thanks to Lang’s AJU for being as informative as always.

If you’d like to revisit the rest of the pretties I’ve shown you from JCK Privé NY, please click here for the Editor’s Preview recap or here for the Mimi So reap.

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