SAPPHIRE, RUBY & EMERALD JEWELLERY

I would rather set a stone you cannot see through.

Most fine jewellery reaches for the clear, faceted, expensive version of these stones. I reach for the opaque ones. They have an earthiness that a flawless transparent gem does not, and they are the reason this collection looks different from everyone else's sapphire. I set every stone myself, at my bench on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia.

What is a rose cut, and why do you use it?

A rose cut has a flat back and a domed, faceted top, so it sits low and wide rather than deep and pointed. It catches light in soft broad flashes instead of the hard sparkle of a brilliant cut.

A rose cut sapphire is probably my favourite thing to set in the studio. The flat back means it sits down into a bezel beautifully, and everything here is bezel set, which is the most secure setting I know. Nothing is glued and nothing relies on little prongs you can catch on a sleeve.

What colours do your sapphires come in?

Almost anything except the colour people expect. Magenta, blush pink, raspberry purple, misty green, lavender, grey, orange, yellow. Sapphire is one mineral that happens to come in nearly every colour, and blue is just the one that got famous.

Ruby is the same mineral again, simply called ruby once it is red enough. The non-traditional colours are the ones I go looking for.

Why are these less expensive than other sapphires?

Because clarity is most of what drives the price of a gemstone, and I am deliberately not buying clarity. An opaque stone costs a fraction of a transparent one of the same size and species. It is no less real and, to my eye, no less beautiful.

That is the trade I make on purpose. It buys you a larger stone, an unusual colour and a piece nobody else has, instead of a small clear one that looks like everybody else's. Most of these are the only one, and when a piece sells it is gone. I do take commissions, though only in my own style. Tell me what you are after.