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About John and Laura

John and Laura Ramsey are two of the most well-known and respected names in the field of gemstones and jewelry. They began their career in the wholesale gem and jewelry trade, visiting some of the world’s leading gem mining districts in Thailand, Brazil, Sri Lanka, and East Africa, and working one on one with private collectors who wanted dramatic and important gemstone jewelry and extensive loose gemstone portfolios. From there, their journey expanded to television home shopping audiences in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada, through which they gained millions of loyal “Gems at Large” viewers and other clients. To this day, they continue to hear from friends and customers about how grateful they are for their enviable and timeless collections. As a team, John and Laura have created countless high-quality, custom jewelry pieces—a blending of John’s expertise in rare and exotic gemstones coupled with Laura’s exquisite talent for design. They likewise co-wrote three books on the world of gemstones and travel, including The Collector/Investor Handbook of Gems, The Gem Collector’s Handbook, and Gem Chronicles: The Early Years, all of which continue to be sought after and consulted by gem enthusiasts worldwide.

John And Laura Ramsey Are Highly Recognized For Offering World Class Jewelry

John And Laura Ramsey are some of the most respected names in the industry of gems and jewelry. Their passion for jewelry making can be evaluated from the very fact that they spent almost twenty years of their life in the wholesale gem and jewelry trade, traveling to various gem mining districts of the world, including East Africa, Thailand, Brazil, and Sri Lanka. They later appeared on TV and in no time became familiar faces to the television home shopping audiences in countries like the US, Canada, and Great Britain. Their unique style of offering information about gems and telling about their products immediately caught the attention of viewers. Their program grew quickly and led to an overwhelming response from customers in all three countries.

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Birthstone Spotlight: April Diamond

loose-diamonds

The word “Diamond” is probably the most emotionally charged word in the entire lexicon of gems. Diamond is the most sought after gem in the world. Whether or not the diamond deserves this pinnacle is up for debate, but the fact that the diamond sits on the pinnacle is not.

This is due to many factors:

1. Diamonds are beautiful to the eye.
2. Diamonds tend to last.
3. There are enough to go around. Well sort of…..
4. They are well promoted.

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Birthstone Spotlight: March Aquamarine

AquamarineAquamarine is one of my favorite gems. Of course with me, talking about my favorite gemstones is like asking a parent about their favorite child—whichever one I’m thinking about or talking about at the moment is the favorite. Still, aquamarine is right up there in my true favorites.

Aquamarine—one of the many faces of beryl

One of the interesting things about aquamarine is its true rarity—due to the unique trace minerals that have combined with its underlying base mineral, Beryl, to produce its beautiful blue tone…

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Birthstone Spotlight: February Amethyst

AmethystIn past blogs about birthstones we have been talking about gems that have their gemstone “label” in common with their mineral names. Gems like Garnet, Topaz, and Tourmaline are also the mineral name. In contrast, Amethyst is a color name for quartz, which is a mineral. Amethyst is the quartz in its purple color.

Quartz itself comes in at least several colors: citrine (yellow, orange and red), amethyst (varying shades of purple), ouro Verde (a chartreuse color), whisky quartz (brownish), smoky quartz (brownish gray), prasiolite (light bluish green), and Ametrine (naturally occurring mix of purple and yellowish gold. Some of the colors occur in nature and some are induced by man. Amethyst occurs naturally in nature.

If quartz itself were a birthstone we would be talking about all of the foregoing colors. But amethyst is plenty wonderful all by itself…

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John And Laura Ramsey – Best In The Field Of Gemstone Jewelry

Gems cut by John Ramsey are shown in the prime museums such as The American Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian Institution, The Royal Ontario Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, The Canadian National Museum, and many others. The top class gemstone jewelry by John and Laura Ramsey has always been a product of their combined efforts. Mrs. Laura Ramsey has an amazing ability for designing, and Mr. John Ramsey is highly renowned for his exceptional gem cutting skills and great techniques.

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History of the Sancy Diamond

While many of us have heard of famous diamonds such as the Hope Diamond (45.52 carats), residing as a premiere attraction in the Smithsonian, and the Koh-I-Noor Diamond (105.60 carats), displayed in the Tower of London, few people are familiar with the Sancy Diamond.

Sancy Diamond 2The Sancy diamond has a long, mysterious and passionate history. The larger of the two diamonds that carry the Sancy name, it weighs 55.23 carats and is of a pale yellow color. The shield shape (pear) was said to be discovered before the year 1570. It is named after the French Ambassador to Switzerland Seigneur de Sancy. He was the owner during the last years of the 16th century. But the stone’s history runs deeper. The legend has it that Charles the Bold, also the Duke of Burgundy, owned the diamond. As fate would have it the gem was lost in battle about 1477.

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Romanov Illustrated Volumes of Jewelry to be Auctioned

Romanov Illustrated Volumes Jewelry

Two volumes of illustrated jewelry albums will soon be up for bid at the London auction house of Bonham. The albums belonging to Ksenia Aleksandrovna, the Grand Duchess of Russia, catalogue the jewelry items she received from 1880-1912.

The catalogue served to record the exceptionally expensive belongings of the daughter of Tsar Aleksander III and sister to Nicholas II. The albums also serve as a diary and report of who presented her with gifts and when they were presented. The catalogues contain color illustrations and information on the occasion the gift was presented.

For 32 years the albums recorded the development and evolution of style in jewelry design. Including antique pieces and eventually Art Nouveau and Art Deco the albums follow 32 years of life for Ksenia; from a young girl through the births of her seven children. Many holidays and life events were marked with custom designed jewelry pieces to honor the events. Fabulous items such as an exquisite emerald, ruby and sapphire sets along with a diamond necklace, tiara and the pear collier-de-chien were gifts from Grand Duchess’s parents.

These albums recording the provenance of the jeweled gifts will be auctioned at the Bonham House in London on November 30, 2011.

Tourmaline the Rainbow Gem

tourmaline colorfulIt is interesting that both opal and tourmaline are associated with many colors. In the instance of opal there are many colors within one stone. In the instance of tourmaline there are many stones—each with its own color. Of course, to complicate matters, there are tourmaline gems with multiple colors—lots and lots of colors—all within one stone, just presented differently to the eye than opal.

No wonder the most often-used nickname for tourmaline is The Rainbow Gem. Tourmaline comes in so many colors and so many shades of each color that it is a favorite of collectors. Many serious gem collectors have separate tourmaline collections within their overall collection.

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Birthstone Spotlight: August Peridot

peridot-august-birthstonePeridot is one of my favorite gems, not only for its beauty, but because there are so many interesting stories regarding peridot through the ages…

One of the earliest peridot mines to be exploited is the Egyptian Island of Zeberget in the Red Sea. My friend and mineralogical guru from years gone by, Dr. Peter Bancroft, did some “rock-hounding” for peridot on the island many years ago. At the time, he was allowed there as a co-traveler of Dr. Edward Gubelin the famous Swiss gemologist…

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