Ex Aurum Jewelers

Hi...my name is Gino Priolo and I wanted to introduce you to my new blog.

I am the owner of Ex Aurum Jewelers in Montreal we manufacture jewelry of all kinds but diamond wedding jewelry and fine jewelry designs using precious gemstones is our specialty.

Using our CAD facility we can re-produce any design you want and at really good prices. Keep on checking our blog as sometimes I will put up different items and offer them to you at really deep discounted prices.

I will also post information on a variety of subjects such as jewelry cleaning, how to buy diamonds and today's trends and hottest selling designs.

If you have any questions concerning jewelry, trends, repairs etc, please do not hesitate to write. I will be happy to include the answers in my blog

Thursday, October 20, 2011

My thoughts on the prices of gold

We have all heard that the price of gold has reached an all time high in 2011 and there is talk that it could climb even higher in 2012. This price increase has had an adverse effect on the jewelry trade as a whole. This adverse effect translates into soft sales and price resistance. The perception of an inflated retail price has the potential jewelry customer running for the hills when they have to buy a gift made from gold.
The truth of the matter is that although the price of gold has gone up per ounce the relative cost of a piece of fine jewelry has only had a very slight increase. The reason for this is because although the price of gold is expensive if purchased by the ounce, we only buy a piece of jewelry that weighs a fraction of an ounce. Jewelry weight is measured in units of grams, therefore the cost increase may only translate into $100.00 or so overall. Another reason that the fine jewelry prices have not shown a significant increase is that the quality of workmanship is cheaper because of technology. Computers have taken over and replaced certain stages of jewelry making that would have been done by a bench jeweler in the past. This has resulted in better more exacting and consistent workmanship at a fraction of the cost to pay an individual to do the same job.

Jewellry Trends for 2011

Diamond Wedding Jewelry 2011
Fashion keeps getting stranger and stranger. Even wearing purple feathers as hair accessories is common these days. But when it comes to jewelry, many women opt for tried and true pieces. Diamond journey necklaces, diamond stud earrings and dainty diamond bracelets are the most common items found in a woman's jewelry case. These classic trends aren't going anywhere either. Tried and true jewelry pieces will continue to be popular throughout 2011.

This is because jewelry is a lasting purchase. So when men buy jewelry for women or women buy something for themselves, they don't want it to be too trendy. No surprise then that diamond jewelry will continue to be a female's favorite gift this year, but it does not mean there won't be twists.

Although the majority of jewelry worn will stay within the classic category, women will also choose to accessorize with bold pieces. Jewelry is a tale of two cities after all. To achieve this bolder look, women will pile on the cuffs and bracelets. Chandelier and drop style earrings channel this more intense look and continue to be a top pick. From diamond drop earrings to gold hoops with diamonds, it's impossible to go wrong with a dangle.

Classic pieces will also be given a bolder look in 2011 by layering jewelry pieces together. This applies to everything from cocktail rings to necklaces. For a unique take on a classic diamond pendant necklace, wrap it around your wrist and transform it into a bracelet, for example. It's fashion forward and classic.

The sky is the limit when it comes to jewelry in 2011. Celestial-themed jewelry is a top pick. Stars and moons are infiltrating the jewelry scene, with diamonds popping up here and there amongst the celestial themes. Flower motifs will also continue to be worn this year, especially sprouting up this spring.

Black and white motifs persist in proving people like contrasts and two-color combinations in their jewelry designs. Darkened metals paired with diamonds make a bold statement, as do black diamonds paired with white metal. The color scheme ranges in everything from earrings to bracelets. That said, white on white is a hit too. Diamonds always work well with white gold. Pave set gemstones and diamonds also make their way in everything from necklaces to rings, generating a big look with a smaller price tag.

Textured metals are also a key trend as are vintage - style pieces. Old or young, everyone likes jewelry that has a history. This trend ranges from overt antique-like (wearing a coin) to subtle antique-like (wearing a grandmother's diamond pendant necklace).

Although trends vary from person to person, it's safe to say that 2011 will stay classy when it comes to jewelry.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

All About Sapphires

In earlier times, some people believed that the universe was an enormous blue sapphire in which the Earth was embedded. Could there be a more visual image to describe the beauty of an elegant sapphire? And yet, this gem comes not in one but in all the blue shades of the color spectrum, from the deep blue of the evening sky to the shining mid-blue of a beautiful field of cornflowers.which casts its spell over us.

Blue is the main color of the sapphire. Blue is also the favorite color of some fifty percent of all people, men and women alike. We associate this color, strongly linked to the sapphire as it is, with feelings of sympathy and harmony, friendship and loyalty. Thus the blue of the sapphire has become a color which fits in with everything that is constant and reliable. That is one of the reasons why women in many countries wish for a sapphire ring on their engagement. The sapphire symbolises loyalty, but at the same time it gives expression to people's love and longing.

What makes the sapphire so fancy?

A sapphire's beauty, its breath taking color, its transparency, but also its constancy and durability are qualities associated with this gemstone by jewelry lovers and specialists alike. The sapphire belongs to the corundum group, the members of which are characterized by their excellent hardness (9 on the Mohs scale). Indeed their hardness is exceeded only by that of the diamond – and the diamond is the hardest mineral on Earth! Thanks to that hardness, sapphires are easy to look after, requiring no more than the usual care on the part of the wearer.

The gemstones in the corundum group consist of pure aluminium oxide which crystallizes into wonderful gemstones a milllenium past as a result of pressure and heat at a great depth. The presence of small trace amounts of transitional elements, such as iron,titanium and chromium (the chromium transitional element in corundum results in ruby), are responsible for the coloring, turning a crystal that was essentially white into a blue, red, yellow, pink or greenish sapphire.

If there is talk of the sapphire, most gemstone aficionados think immediately of a velvety blue. It's a versatile color that becomes many wearers. A blue sapphire fits in best with a well balanced lifestyle in which reliability and temperament run together and there is always a readiness to encounter things new – as with the woman who wears it. The fact that this magnificent gemstone also comes in a large number of other colors was known for a long time almost only to insiders. In the trade, sapphires which are not blue or red are referred to as 'fancies'. In order to make it easier to differentiate between them, they are referred to not only by their gemstone name but also by a description of their color. In other words, fancy sapphires are described as yellow, purple, pink, green or white sapphires. Fancy sapphires are pure individualism and are just made for lovers of individualistic colored stone jewellery. They are currently available in a positively enchanting variety of designs - as ring stones, necklace pendants or ear jewellery, as solitaires, strung elegantly together or as sparkling pavĂ©.

However, the sapphire has yet more surprises in store. For example, there is an orange variety with a fine pink undertone which bears the poetic name 'padparadscha', which means something like 'lotus flower'. The star sapphires are another sapphire variety, half-dome-cut sapphires with a star like phenomena called "asterism". A four, six or sometime twelve ray star which seems to glide across the surface of the stone when it is rocked back and forth.Cat's Eye or Chatoyancy is another sapphire phenomenon albeit extremely rare. And, last but not least color-change sapphire which changes color from blue to purple when lit by daylight or incandescent lighting.

Top-quality sapphires are rare

Sapphires are found in India, Burma, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Brazil and Africa. From the gemstone mines, the raw crystals are first taken to the cutting centers where they are turned into sparkling gemstones by skilled hands. When cutting a sapphire, the cutter has to muster all his skill, for these gemstones are not only hard. Depending on the angle from which you look at them they also have different colors and intensities of color. So it is the job of the cutter to orientate the raw crystals in such a way that the color is most intense.

When shopping for a sapphire it is always best to observe a sapphires color in daylight, however, ruby is best observed in incandescent lighting. So in fact it is not, as is often claimed, the darkest tone that is the most coveted color of the blue sapphire, but an intense, rich, full blue which still looks blue in poor artificial light. Not too light and not too dark.

Specialists and connoisseurs regard the Kashmir blue color with its velvety shine as the most beautiful and most valuable blue. These magnificent gemstones from Kashmir, found in 1880 after a landslide at an altitude of 16,000 feet and mined intensively over a period of eight years, were to have a lasting influence on people's idea of the color of a first-class sapphire. Typical of the Kashmir color is a pure, intense blue with a very subtle violet undertone, which is intensified yet more by a fine, silky shine. It is said that this hue does not change in artificial light. But the Burmese color is also regarded as particularly valuable. It ranges from a rich, full royal blue to a deep cornflower blue.

The specialist recognizes Ceylon sapphires by the luminosity of their light to mid-blue colors and their brilliant dispersion. Most commercial sapphires come from Thailand and are a dark blue color or Australia and are usually a dark inky blue.Burmese sapphire are a highly saturated medium to medium dark blue (royal blue)which may appear very inky in incandescent light, but are considered to be very fine sapphires.

Their value depends on their size, color and transparency. With stones of very fine quality, these are, however, not the only main criteria, the origin of the gem also playing a major role. Neither is the color itself necessarily a function of the geographical origin of a sapphire, which explains the great differences in price between the various qualities. The most valuable are genuine Kashmir stones. Burmese sapphires are valued almost as highly, and then come the sapphires from Ceylon. The possibility of the gemstone's having undergone some treatment or other is also a factor in determining the price, since gemstones which can be guaranteed untreated are becoming more and more sought-after by purists and collectors.

It is not often that daring pioneers discover gemstones on a scale such as was the case on Madagascar a few years ago, when a gemstone deposit covering an area of several miles was found in the south-east of the island. Since then, not only have there been enough blue sapphires in the trade, but also some splendid pink and yellow sapphires of great beauty and transparency. Meanwhile, experts in Tanzania have also found initial evidence of two large-scale gemstone deposits in the form of some good, if not very large sapphire crystals colored blue, green, yellow and orange. And the third country to register new finds recently was Brazil, where sapphires ranging from blue to purple and pink have been discovered. So lovers of the sapphire need not worry: there will, in future, be enough of these 'heavenly' gems with the fine color spectrum. Top-quality sapphires, however, remain extremely rare in all the gemstone mines of the world.