OC: Sapphires vs Diamonds

Okay, the time has come! I need to stop thinking/talking/re-designing and build this!

So far I have ordered in the 18K yellow gold for the support structure of the bracelet and sapphires. I decided that my piece would fully be made of sapphires. While I know that nearly all Red Carpet jewelry is made mainly of diamonds (with a few colored diamonds or rubies, etc, scattered throughout the piece) I cannot afford to make a giant piece of diamond-covered jewelry.

I have a few reasons why I decided to go this direction. One reason is to move away from the norm; another is ability to purchase in parcels (larger quantities.) But the main reason is because I can purchase parcels of mixed sapphires for a fraction of the cost of diamonds. You see, these parcels will include stones that are heat treated, some VS clarity others SI clarity, some diamond cut others cut poorly. But even when a sapphire is lower quality or cut poorly, it still has color. If I purchased lower quality diamonds, well, they just wouldn’t sparkle, or be discolored looking, and still be much much more expensive.

As a custom jeweler, I have never been a fan of mass manufactured ‘mall quality’ jewelry that has nearly industrial grade diamonds. This is not my being a snob; this is me being an educated consumer. Just like anything, if the price seems too good to be true, there is a reason for it. And usually the $59 diamond ring special is that price because (1) it’s 10K gold or sometimes less (2) it has been assembled in a 3rd world country (3) may contain lead or cadmium and (4) has ‘commercial’ grade diamond, emeralds, sapphires, etc., that do not sparkle. Basically, the consumer is buying that piece of jewelry to buy the word ‘diamond.’ I do not want to use diamonds just to say I built a huge piece of diamond jewelry.

AND from a design standpoint, color is wonderful.

So, if you are curious what my color pallet will be, here you go!



I tossed these sapphires on my scanner. They range from tones of yellows to oranges to reds.

Construction starts next week! Stay tuned!