From specimen to designer ring....

Just a quick blog article to show a specimen to a finished product. I am still amazed at what mother nature creates on her own, then we as designers create beautiful and interesting pieces of jewelry. Not sure if I have mentioned to you before, yet my design process is shopping for gemstones then design the piece of jewelry, normally it is done the other way around. Yet, those of you who know me, know that I never do anything exactly how everyone else is doing it!!!

Azurite Malachite is a combination of two very distinct gemstones;  Azurite is a deep and rich blue while Malachite is shades of green in botryoidal shapes. They crystallize together forming in masses, crusts and nodules. When Azurite mixes with Malachite a beautiful blue green swirl occurs. It is found in China, yet the best specimens come from the USA. It is found anywhere that copper is present.

I love designing with gemstones such as this one because of it's deep and inspiring color combination.

Azurite Malachite Nugget Specimen

Beautiful Example of Banding.....

Azurite Malachite 18k Yellow Gold Brushed Diamond Ring

 Designed by Maryann Scandiffio Jewelry Design

Aquamarine, the transparent and versatile gemstone.....

The beryl species is one of the most notable gemstone families. Many people are only acquainted with the most famous beryl - emerald. But the family includes several important gemstones, including; aquamarine, morganite; in honor of the American banker and gem collector J.P. Morgan. Morganite is usually a soft pink to violet, yet a salmon-color is also known, helidor; also known as golden beryl and maxixe, least common and least known of the variety that is dark, sapphire blue in color. The different varieties of beryl are distinguished by their color, significant transparency and color. Deeper color blues command higher price per carat.

The traditional source for aquamarine is Brazil, yet recently some very fine Mozambique material has made it to the market for sale. Aquamarine ranges in color from a faint light blue to blue and bluish-green, with lighter colored stones being the most common type. Light green beryl can be transformed into aquamarine if heated. The green hues in most aquamarine can also be removed through heat treatment.

Aquamarine is the second most popular of the beryl, named for it’s seawater-like color. The name aquamarine is derived from the Latin words: aqua meaning “water” and marina meaning “of the sea”. It is the birthstone for March.

On the Mohs hardness scale they have a hardness of 7.5 - 8. Compared to a diamond, which is the hardest at 10 on the scale. A stone that is hard enough to wear often because it is durable, yet it may develop internal cracks if banged hard against something. Aquamarine is often completely flawless, unlike emerald. Aquamarine with visible flaws are rarely seen.

Aquamarine crystals range from very small to very large and can be up to 100 lbs. in some cases. Large stones are available, yet it is difficult to use very large stones in jewelry.


Princess Diana famously wore a large aquamarine ring during her visit to Sydney, Australia. The stone was emerald cut, flanked by diamonds and set in yellow gold. The Princess had commissioned the ring herself and would often wear it together with a diamond bracelet.


The below photos; several aquamarine specimens, stunning aquamarine and diamond briolette drop earrings.

18K White Gold Earrings with Aquamarines wit a total weight of 92.57 carats and Round Brilliant Diamonds with a total weight of 2.28 carats G in color and VS in clarity. 

We have these earrings in our stock today, please contact me more information. Thank you for reading and I love hearing your comments.

A girl in a candy store....my trip to the LA Natural History Museum

The Los Angeles Natural History Museum, Gem and Mineral Hall displays more than 2,000 spectacular specimens and is by far the finest exhibit of gems and minerals in the world. It features an incredible array of gems and minerals from all around the globe even specimens from California the Benitiote, which is the official state gemstone mined from the San Benito County mine. Every one of the objects in the gallery is beautiful and interesting in their own right.

The museum opened in November 5, 1913 and just 3 days after opening General Charles Forman, made one of the first minerals donations to the museum. At that time Dr. Howard Hill, a zoologist, curated minerals, shells, fish, amphibians, and reptiles remained for 40 years with the museum. Towards the end of 1959, NHM began a campaign to build their collection of gems and minerals through major purchases. Important purchases were from Martin Ehrmann (1904 - 1972), a long time LA resident and Museum - quality mineral specimens dealer who sold world-class specimens to museum supporters such as Marion Stuart and Ed Harrison, who later donated the purchased specimens to the museum. I have just touched on a few names as there were many others of the next many decades that made the exhibit what it is today.

In 1971 the building of the North Wing began, which is now the Gems and Minerals Hall. November 1989 “Best of LA” featured in the Los Angeles Magazine, the Museum's Hall of Gems and Minerals was recognized s the best permanent museum exhibition in LA. During the 80’s there were many large endowments, gifts, and galas that took place. The Gem & Mineral Council was founded, which provides essential support for the museums department as well as provides it’s members with unparalleled programs of activities including educational lectures, exclusives social events and field trips to various places around the world pertaining to gems and minerals.

I have to say, by far this was my favorite exhibit of any museum trip I have taken. I was like a little girl in a candy store wanting ever gem and mineral specimen that I saw. The array of colors was both enticing and inspiring to view. Every gem and mineral I viewed the next was more spectacular and beautify than the previous. The exhibit has a vault room, which houses the precious gemstones and you can see rough to the finished piece giving a perspective on from beginning to end. This, I find fascinating and exciting to view, admiring all the possibilities of a small piece of rough. Below are several photos from the exhibit that I hope you enjoy looking at as much as I enjoyed seeing and if you are ever in LA, this is a must see museum in my book.

Gems of Pala Mine Trip

The GIA school puts on several mining trips per year and I decided to embark on this particular not wanting to miss out on a once in a lifetime experience. We visited to Stewart Lithia mine located in Pala, California presently owned by a long time miner Blue Sheppard. This mine is known as the largest mine largest pegmatite operation in US history. Absolutely an industrial giant! A pegmatite is a coarsely crystalline granite or igneous rock with crystals from centimeters to several meters in length. Truly an amazing occurrence of nature that continues to fascinate me the more I learn about gemstones at GIA and experience the rock world outside of the jewelry store environment.

Gem quality natural pink tourmaline is fives times as rare as gem quality diamonds and more than time times as valuable as gold in it’s natural form. Tourmaline produces exquisite gemstones that are beautiful in saturation, vibrant in color and a tone that is luscious.
In the 1890’s most of the Stewart Lithia tourmaline mined was exported to China of rate Chi’ing Dynasty Imperial Court of the Empress T’su Hsi, who financially supported all of San Diego County tourmaline mining for 30 years. Pink Tourmaline was believed to be a sacred gem of the Bodhisattva Kwan Yin, is the embodiment of great compassion. He has vowed to free all sentient beings from suffering.

Blue purchased the museum 30 plus years ago and has operated it ever since. He has mined all over the world and has found incredible amounts of gem quality tourmaline, quartz, feldspar and other varieties. Many of the gemstones and specimens from this mine are in museums like GIA, Smithsonian & Los Angeles National History Museum. So if you are ever in one of those places do keep an eye out for a specimen from Gems of Pala.

As I put my hard hat on and grabbed a flash light the excitement of going into a mine and seeing were gemstones and specimens are dug was fascinating to me. I could see myself with a hammer and chisel standing on a ladder searching, digging and eagerly anticipating the next find. Especially, if you are like Blue and find pockets of gem quality stones that profit millions of dollars with that one find! Who knew mother nature could be so generous….

The temperature in Pala, CA was 87% and with pants and a long shirt was rather smoldering, yet the anticipation weight heavier. Entering the mine, I could feel the cool damp dark rock. We traveled down the mine about 400 meters, which, took approximately 20 minutes. Blue took us into the Honeymoon Sweet, which is a room that produced a wealth of gem quality tourmaline for him. As you view the photos from below the rock inside the mine is of all colors, the sparkle at times is stunning and to see them protruding from the rock, exposed specimens, what a delight for me. A world of fascination and as I continue to learn about different aspect of the jewelry trade my love grows deeper everyday.

Thank you for reading and your interest in my experience is appreciate. Please read next weeks blog, which will be a personal interview of Blue’s life as a miner and the extraordinary experiences he has had.

Please see below several photos from the inside of the mine.

Blue Sheppard mine owner showing us the medical device he uses while working in the mine.

Black Tourmaline specimen

Lippidolite in the mine walls