How to Match a Pair of Colored Gemstones

Matching a pair of coloured stones.

I remember sitting in a cramped grading lab in London, the air smelling of ozone and stale coffee, staring through a loupe at two sapphires that were supposedly “identical twins.” On paper, they were a match; in reality, one had a saturation like a deep, midnight ocean and the other looked like a faded, sun-bleached … Read more

Common Clasp Failures Cause Lost Pendants

Clasp types and how pendants get lost.

I was sitting on a granite outcrop near Bergen last autumn, the air tasting of salt and upcoming frost, when I felt that sudden, sickening lightness against my collarbone. I reached up, expecting the familiar weight of my labradorite, but found only an empty chain. It wasn’t some grand, mystical disappearance; it was just a … Read more