Soooo, House of Boghossian. #JewelWatch
Don& #39;t know how I missed them this long. They& #39;re based in Geneva now, but started out in 1868 in Mardin, in Turkey. One of the stops on the Silk Road.
Don& #39;t know how I missed them this long. They& #39;re based in Geneva now, but started out in 1868 in Mardin, in Turkey. One of the stops on the Silk Road.
So with those beginnings, they made connections in both east and west for great gemstones, and they really do get hold of fabulous things. Not only the obvious precious stones, but all sorts of semi-precious. Jade and quartz of all colors, tourmaline, peridot, etc.
No two pieces are alike.
As well as all the usual, they work with two types of settings they& #39;ve pioneered and/or perfected.
The first is & #39;kissing stones& #39; where the two stones are set together, leading to interesting optical effects:
Pink diamond over white:
As well as all the usual, they work with two types of settings they& #39;ve pioneered and/or perfected.
The first is & #39;kissing stones& #39; where the two stones are set together, leading to interesting optical effects:
Pink diamond over white:
Diamond on rubellite (red/pink tourmaline): in photos a lot of the effect is lost, but imagine the pink undertones you& #39;d get in those diamonds.
I& #39;m working with photos from their website and article that list gemstones first, so you can get a feel for the scope of it, before we hit Google for random "oh, NICE".
Diamond and tourmaline:
Diamond and tourmaline:
Diamond and kunzite earrings. Kunzite has a hexagonal crystalline structure and is best viewed through a loupe, it is SO COOL.
The other thing they do - very well - is inlay. As in cutting stones to fit together like puzzle pieces.
As in hacking off carat weight to make something. Usually it& #39;s semiprecious stones that get carved up, but not always.
Ruby and pink opal.
As in hacking off carat weight to make something. Usually it& #39;s semiprecious stones that get carved up, but not always.
Ruby and pink opal.
They must have connections because I don& #39;t know how in hell they got that much of either stone, that matches.
Diamonds and white jade.
Diamonds and white jade.
Diamond in pink opal (they seem to like using opal, likely because it& #39;s soft; they& #39;ve got a diamond and blue opal one I& #39;d kick a senator for):
Continuing with other photos from websites that list the stones now,
They did an icicle collection, pretty much all stones of the right color were used:
They did an icicle collection, pretty much all stones of the right color were used:
Jumbled cuts also usually piss me off. These people are geniuses. (Into their sixth generation.)
This one& #39;s mostly garnets:
This one& #39;s mostly garnets:
This one& #39;s mostly sapphires.
"Diamond, tourmaline, and diamond" is the caption. I believe the green is the tourmaline.
I have never seen anything like that.
I have never seen anything like that.
Pearl and diamond earrings. See how they& #39;re set, you can see through the diamonds. More sparkle for your buck.
Kashmir sapphire and diamonds. Someone should give Kate a call, William owes her some make-up rocks.
Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring OMGOMGOMG. They really MUST have connections everywhere to get stones like this.
Oh - all their stones are certified un-fucked-with. No oil on the emeralds, no cooking the sapphires, rubies, quartz, or topaz. (You can change the color a lot, and in the case of rubies, trash the internal structure that makes it look so good.)
Speaking of emeralds,
Speaking of emeralds,
The workmanship on those earrings is exquisite.
Someone& #39;s got a sense of humor, this is diamonds and a Colombian emerald.
Someone& #39;s got a sense of humor, this is diamonds and a Colombian emerald.
The aquamarines are set so the light can shine through them, too.
Fancy grey blue diamond (it& #39;s a grade, okay) ring. Asscher cut on the diamond, looks like. Hell of a job, but you& #39;d hope so.
Diamond and emerald earrings. The black part is empty space, not onyx, sorry.
But they have worked in onyx, we& #39;ll get there.
But they have worked in onyx, we& #39;ll get there.
And now to Google, where we have to guess at gemstones, for the most part.
I WANT THIS. Even as I want to have words with whoever cut the opal. But LOOK at it.
I WANT THIS. Even as I want to have words with whoever cut the opal. But LOOK at it.
I don& #39;t hate it, which is impressive given the number of yellow diamonds crammed in there.
This one they& #39;re very proud of, all the emeralds are flawless and it took them a few years to get all the stones to make it.
Betting that& #39;s blue chalcedony.
The inlays are the ones that really blow my mind, because they& #39;d HAVE to have custom cutters practically sitting next to the gem-worker to make them work, and the skill making them fit together.
Carved to look like a flower, or a splash, or both?
Also, HOLY SHIT.
And the probably-turquoise has little diamonds set into it.
Also, HOLY SHIT.
And the probably-turquoise has little diamonds set into it.
I THINK I remember seeing this on a model as a bracelet, not a ring. Either way, we& #39;d wear it, right?
If I was an Orange County housewife, I wouldn& #39;t be settling for a diamond doorknob ring from Harry Winston, just sayin& #39;.
Earrings! matching ring!
Earrings! matching ring!
HoShit, hadn& #39;t seen this one before.
In progress. I saw the inside of one of those rings, and there& #39;s a screw. Will post if I find it, that& #39;d explain a lot.
Are some of those links white jade or rock crystal or something??
A search for Boghossian tiaras hasn& #39;t gotten us any tiaras but I found these earrings. (!!!!!)
There was mention of this bracelet in an article I read, took them over ten years to collect all the stones, then set a record at auction when sold.
Another shot of the bracelet. See how all the stones are set to be see-through? Takes extra skill and fuss, obviously. Lots of extra skill.
Well that& #39;s a bib necklace. Holy shit.
Taking a break, may or may not come back, I& #39;ll leave you with SHINY.