Renaissance Revival pendant of gold, enamel, opal, sapphire, diamond and pearl, est. $25-35k, at Sotheby's New York on April 14, 2011

Some stunning Renaissance Revival jewelry is coming up for sale this month, renewing interest – yet again – in that 19th-century style, one of jewelry history’s most beautiful revisitations. Hollywood jeweler Neil Lane probably  has his eye on these sales – and one piece in particular.

“I know it sounds silly, but I actually like Renaissance Revival better than the original stuff,” Neil Lane told me once.

While Lane is most famous for bejeweling stars for the red carpet, he also has a world-class personal collection of antique jewelry, including works by Jules Wièse, a French jeweler who specialized in 19th-century revivals.

The piece Lane is probably watching is the Renaissance Revival pendant by Wièse (below) that’s coming up for sale at Sotheby’s New York next week.

Not surprisingly, the most spectacular examples of original Renaissance jewelry are usually in museums or private family collections – if they weren’t broken down and made into other jewelry. But Renaissance rings or earrings do appear at auction at fairly accessible prices – usually small gold and enamel pieces made in Spain, Portugal or Germany and usually at Christies or Sotheby’s London.

For dealers and collectors with $10,000 to spend on a bauble, however, age and provenance are not always enough.

Renaissance Revival necklace of gold, diamond and enamel with carnelian intaglio of a Roman Emperor Laureate, signed Wièse, Paris, c. 1850, est. $10-15k, at Sotheby's NY April 14, 2011

“I appreciate the age of Renaissance jewelry and the difficulty in finding it,” Lane says, “but I prefer revival jewelry because it’s technically pretty. Revival styles are much more sophisticated, more mannered and defined. There’s a schematic to them – especially on the level that Wièse produced.

“When you look at enough of it, you begin to appreciate the technical superiority, the heft of it, the piercing of gold, the enameling and stone-setting – all very sophisticated.”

“A lot of Renaissance jewelry looks a little crude,” Lane explains. “They didn’t have the technical skills or the lapidary tools they had in the 19th century. A lot of stones are native-cut in Renaissance jewelry – cut by locals where they were found in India or Burma. In Paris during the 1880s, the stones were faceted in cutting centers which were more technically advanced. A lot of the jewelry from the Renaissance has little holes in the emeralds.”

Renaissance Revival gold and enamel necklace by Carlo Giuliano with green zircon, diamonds and pearls, c. 1860, est. $18-24k, at Christie's London on April 20, 2011

Renaissance Revival necklace of gold, diamonds, ruby and pearl by Carlos & Arthur Giuliano, London, c. 1890, at Wartski, London (wartski.com)

With many revivals, jewelers were looking back not just at jewelry of a particular era but decorative styles and motifs in general, then updating them into wearable jewelry.

Renaissance Revival limoges enamel cherub in gold and pearls by Carlo Guiliano, 1884, sold at Sotheby’s NY in February for $74,500

“Most pieces that are clearly Renaissance Revival were obviously done by modern hand, using modern cut stones consistent with the period — more in the inspiration than duplication of actual Renaissance jewelry,” explains Peter Shemonsky, a San Francisco-based jewelry appraiser who frequently appears on the Antiques Road Show.

Renaissance jewelry copying actually began while the originals were being made, due to the advent of the printing press. Jewelers began publishing detailed engravings of their designs in the mid-1500s, which were circulated throughout Europe and freely copied by other jewelers.

Many collectors of revival jewelry, like Lane, avoid the forgery trap by buying within a narrowly-defined category — Giuliano, Castellani, Wièse, French or British neo-Renaissance — with which they become intimately familiar.

Renaissance Revival pendant-brooch of gold, cat's-eye chrysoberyl, ruby, diamond and enamel by Carlo Giuliano, est. $20-30k, at Sotheby's NY April 14, 2011

How do you spot a Renaissance forgery? “I always say, style can be copied but craftsmanship can’t – unless someone’s really good,” says Shemonsky. “In today’s market, craftsmanship is so costly, it eclipses the value of a piece.

“If a piece costs $10,000 to reproduce and it only sells for $12,000, there’s no motive to copy it – which is why many pieces we see now that are period-style reproductions were made in Asia and fall part when you look at the back. The style may look right but not the craftsmanship.”

Of course, whenever you pick up a revival piece, there’s always that slim but intoxicating possibility that it could turn out to be an original. “I like the edge of collecting revival jewelry,” Lane says. “Sometimes you’re not sure: Is it ancient or is it 19th century? A lot of 19th-century pieces that we call Renaissance Revival were once bought as originals from the Renaissance.

“We revalue these pieces now in their own right, but there were a lot of forgeries around at one time that only came out later. A lot of the collection at the Met is valued now for being these great interpretations. We see them today and think, how could anyone have confused them for Renaissance? But the people that bought them wanted to believe. Famous workshops collected this stuff for wealthy patrons like the Rothschilds, and they were bought as originals.”

Fortunately for antique jewelry dealers, there is a lot more knowledge available about revival jewelry today. Buyers interested in this category would do well to arm themselves with this information before venturing into the marketplace.

Related posts:

Jewelry & watch auctions 2011

What you need to know about jewelry hallmarks

How to buy ancient jewelry for $3000 or less (Ask an Expert: G. Max Bernheimer)

What you need to know about collecting ancient jewels (Ask an Expert: Kenneth Lapatin)

                          

Greek gold earrings, late 4th-3rd century B.C., with beaded-wire rosette and solid-cast figures of Eros, sold for $25,000 (Christie's NY Dec. 2010)

Gold jewelry from the ancient Mediterranean has a particular thrill that carries through the millenia, capturing the sensuality and extraordinary intelligence of the cultures that thrived there.

Roman gold pendant with filligree and granulation, c. 2nd century A.D., sold for $3,750 (Christie's NY Dec. 2010)

Poets were waxing nostalgic for the heyday of gold jewelry even before the birth of Christ. As Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 65-8 B.C.)  put it: “The centuries roll back to the ancient age of gold…”

Some experts believe goldsmithing had reached its peak even before the Hellenistic period, when the earrings on this page were made.

“The quality of Etruscan filigree and granulation never really has been surpassed in any other period,” Max Bernheimer, director of antiquities at Christie’s New York, told me once in a magazine interview, referring to the culture that developed in Italy around 800 B.C.

He explained that Etruscan art and gold work were influenced by the Greeks as well as the ancient Near and Far East before giving way, like the Etruscans themselves, to Roman and Hellenistic style. “So Etruscan art is is very eclectic and unique.”

Greek gold and garnet ring engraved with Tyche, c. 1st century B.C., sold for $3,750 (Christie's NY Dec. 2010)

Many of today’s most skilled and innovative designers refer to the work of goldsmiths throughout ancient civilization with awe and admiration, seeking inspiration from both form and technique.

Because ancient gold jewelry was worn at galas and civic functions by the wealthiest of society, it reflects high fashion as well as fine art. The upper echelons of Greece, Rome and Etruria took their ornament seriously.

The result is that while you find motifs from ancient sculpture echoed in earrings and paintings in diadems, you also find concessions to popular trends. Ancient gold jewelry is high and low culture twisted, hammered, and soldered together into some of the finest goldwork ever produced.

Parthian gold earrings, c. 2nd century A.D., with granulation, filigree and bezel-set glass, sold for $5,000 (Christie's NY Dec. 2010)

Despite all that modern technology has contributed to the jeweler’s studio, it’s amazing how little the basics of goldsmithing have changed. There are ornaments made 2,000 years ago with hand tools and the naked eye that leave contemporary goldsmiths scratching their heads.

Just how the Etruscans achieved such fine granulation, for example, is still debated. Did they directly fuse those tiny gold beads or use an adhesive?

Regardless, few have been able to match the precision of the intricate patterns and textures found on the surfaces of Etruscan fibulae – the ancient ancestor of the safety pin that held fabric together, often at a woman’s shoulder – or the lacy filigree on a Greek diadem. You almost need a magnifying glass to appreciate the workmanship.

Raw gold was rare in the Mediterranean before Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and the Near East in the 4th century B.C. Before that, goldsmiths had to make creative use of a very limited resource. Sheet gold was hammered as thin as possible and goldsmiths concentrated on surface treatments.

Roman gold snake ring, c. 1st century A.D., formed from stout wire, sold for $2,750 (Christie's NY Dec. 2010)

Along with applied decoration like granulation and filigree, sheet metal was engraved and molded. Chasing and repousée, for example, methods of hammering a design from front and behind, were relied on instead of casting, which involved pouring molten metal into molds.

“The virtue of repoussé is that it makes gold go just about as far as it can go,” Anne Bromberg, curator of ancient art the Dallas Museum Art, once explained to me. “You get a maximum amount of glitz and impact from a minimum amount of precious metal.”

You can find beautiful examples of ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman goldwork at the Dallas Museum of Art, as well as at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and  Boston Museum of Fine Arts, including some of the finest examples of repoussé, granulation and filigree ever achieved.

Gold and agate bead necklace, Greek or South Arabian, c. 300 A.D., sold for $8,125 (Christie's NY Dec. 2010)

Not all ancient gold ends up in museums, of course. Everything you see on this page was sold at Christie’s New York in December, along with ancient gold rings for less than $2,000 and museum-quality pieces like an exquisite cameo of Minerva that went for $60,000.

Personally, I prefer to see pieces like that end up in museums where we can all ogle them, but it’s nice to know that even us humble non-billionaires can aspire to own a gold ring that once graced the hand of someone in Ancient Rome.

Expect to find some ancient gold at the June antiquities sales of the New York branches of Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Look for details of these and other upcoming sales on our constantly-updated auction calendar.

Related posts:

How to buy ancient jewelry for $3000 or less

What you need to know about collecting ancient jewels

                          

Me: You’ve written books about ancient forgery and curated exhibits on Pompeii. What’s your true passion?

KL: My passion is the ancient luxury arts – what others call minor arts or decorative arts – gold work, carved gems and ivories.

Ptolemaic gold jewelry, Greek, c. 220-100 B.C., with garnet, carnelian, pearl, bone, moonstone, amethyst, emerald and glass paste (J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection)

Not the kind of antiquity the Getty is famous for. When I think of ancient art at museums, I picture vases and statues.

Most people do because that’s what they see. When most people think of the Ancient Greek and Roman world, we think of marble statues and figured pots. We don’t think of ivories, gems or gold work. Those things have become minor arts in the post-Renaissance view of art history but that doesn’t reflect ancient realities. Of course, larger work like pots and marble statues are what survive well. They’re also easier to display. It’s harder to display gems, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

How important were jewelry and carved gems in ancient times, compared to other decorative arts? How was a goldsmith or gem carver perceived, compared to a sculptor or pot maker?

Engraved amethyst, c. 40-20 B.C., set in 19th century ring (J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection)

Decorative arts is a modern concept. “ars” in Latin and “techne” in Greek mean “craft” and scholars have long debated the degree to which the ancients conceived of art in the modern sense, or artists. Certainly they valued finely made and beautiful objects and some craftsmen became famous. These Greek artists were the old masters most valued by the Romans. Among them were a few gem engravers and silversmiths, certainly not any potters or pot painters. When you hear about an important ancient pot painter, that’s a modern evaluation.

Craftsmen in general were not well thought of by the upper-class writers who are our contemporary literary sources for the ancient world. There were no muses of the visual arts, but rather literature, poetry, and music. Making what we call art was a dirty, lower-class business – you got sweaty. They admired the work, not the worker.

As to the value of the objects, those made of precious materials – gemstones, ivory, gold, silver, etc. – were intrinsically valuable, and thus were often entrusted to better artists, so their overall quality was much higher.

Gold (except in jewelry) and silver are mostly melted down, ivory and fine textiles have decomposed, but gems often survive in condition similar to that when they left the craftsman’s shop. There is quite a wide variety in quality but the best pieces certainly rival, if not surpass, what we have in other materials. Apart from their high monetary value, they were often personal possessions – intaglios as seals were closely bound up with personal identity – and thus valuable symbolically as well, displayed on significant occasions.

Roman gold rings, c. 250-400, of mother-of-pearl, carnelian, rock crystal and agate (J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection)

How valuable were these jewels when they were made?

We don’t have a lot of ancient prices, but Pliny the Elder and other ancient authors record very high amounts paid for tables of imported wood and ivory, gems, and hardstone bowls – single objects worth the equivalent of entire estates. Consider too that the most highly valued object in the inventory of possession of Lorenzo d’Medici upon his death in 1492 was an ancient cameo, valued at 10,000 florins. The next most valuable art object was a painting by Fra Angelico at 106 florins.

I think ancient values would have been similar. Painted pottery, being terra cotta, fired earth, was really cheap – which is not to say that it was not beautiful or valued aesthetically, but those who could afford it drank from finely-crafted precious metal or hard stone vessels.

Roman intaglio rings regularly sell for $2000 to $3000 at major auction houses. What should potential buyers know before they buy ancient jewelry?

Engraved dark green chalcedony set in gold ring, c. 50-40 B.C. (J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection)

As you mentioned on your blog, there are a lot of post-antique gems carved in ancient styles. Not all were made as forgeries. Many were carved all’antica, in emulation of ancient works. It’s often difficult to date them if the carver did not make some iconographical mistake, use the wrong shape of stone or material, or the like, because the techniques have not changed all that much over the centuries. On our website, you can find a video we made for last year’s Carvers and Collectors exhibit that shows Chavdar Chushev, a Los Angeles carver, replicating one of the gems. It demystifies the process in about four minutes.

If it’s that easy, how can we be sure we’re getting the real thing, even from Sotheby’s or Christie’s?

I think the experts at the major auction houses are pretty good but we’re all fallible, and not only do we sometimes think early modern items are ancient, we also sometimes condemn ancient work as early modern.

The auction houses do, I think, guarantee what they sell. What buyers should do, in my view, is what they should do in all cases of buying art – buy what they like and what makes them happy at a price they are willing to pay – and not buy for the label.

As I said, there is a wide range in quality in ancient gems. Because they were used as personal seals, people who were not super-rich had them, and the really nice items do sell for quite a lot today, though often still less than pots and other forms of ancient art, which certainly would have surprised the ancients.

I think many people (me included) are fascinated by the idea of owning a piece of the ancient world – especially something precious, hand-made and wearable. Just how wearable is ancient jewelry?

Gold is incorruptible and gemstones are pretty durable, but stones do fall out of mounts, rings can be banged up and earring hooks break, so people should be careful in checking mounts and what they do when wearing this jewelry. When they own something that is already 2,000 years old, they should also consider that it comes with a responsibility, that they should take care so that it will survive them, as it has all these years.

And, it may be something of subjective call, but the higher the quality of the object, the greater the responsibility, and thus, perhaps, the less the piece should be worn. Consider that it might be okay for me to pin a drawing by my friend up on the wall in a bright room, without any protection, but a drawing by Rembrandt should probably be under protective, anti-UV glass and not in the bright light all the time. That sort of thing.

Related:

Ask an Expert: How to buy ancient jewelry for $3,000 or less, interview with G. Max Bernheimer, head of antiquities for Christie’s New York

Holding up an Ancient Mirror, my profile of Kenneth Lapatin for California, UC Berkeley’s alumni magazine

                          

Sapphire, diamond, emerald and gold Cornucopia necklace, signed R. Boivin, c. 1938, sold for $68,500 in 2009 (Christie's Images)

A few notable exceptions pop up in almost every major jewelry auction – including ones being held by Christie’s and Sotheby’s this month. So I thought I’d pay tribute to three of the most influential – starting with the woman behind the jewels stamped with her husband’s famous name.

Pearl and diamond Groseilles brooch designed as a bushel of pearl currents mounted in platinum by René Boivin, c. 1953 (est. $15-20k, Christie's Images)

Jeanne Poiret Boivin (1871-1959) lived in the shadow of two prominent Parisian designers, her brother Paul Poiret, the couturier, and her husband René Boivin, who founded a jewelry house under his name. Jeanne was also a talented and prolific designer and a skilled businesswoman, but you’ll find only passing mention of her in most jewelry books.

“The House of René Boivin is a bit of a misnomer in my opinion,” jewelry expert Dianne Lewis Batista says.  “René Boivin died in 1917 at the age of 53, at the height of his career. It was his wife who should be credited with much of the firm’s incredible fame.”

When he died she was in her forties and could have easily closed the shop, Batista adds, “but she decided the business should continue—a brave decision to make in 1917.”

She took over production as well as administration, employing others to draw her designs. “She knew how jewels should be worn, and like her brother, had a good sense of style,” Batista says. “Her work predated her time.”

Jeanne Boivin favored abstract designs using closely-set gems and helped to pioneer the use of rock crystal, wood and chalcedony in jewelry.

She also launched the careers of two women who would become major designers. Suzanne Belperron was hired as a saleswoman at 21 then promoted to designer, but left in 1931, around the time Boivin hired designer Juliette Moutard, with whom she collaborated until her retirement. Boivin’s daughter Germaine also became a designer at the firm in 1938, took over after her mother retired and eventually sold the company to Jacques Bernard, another Boivin designer, in 1976. (Asprey acquired the firm in 1991.) Thus, this jewelry firm, despite its male name, was run by women designers for 62 years.

Some maintain that working under her husband’s name allowed Jeanne Boivin to succeed in a male-dominated field. In his book on Boivin, François Kie writes: “Madame Boivin was always anxious to perpetuate the memory of her husband and professional use of his name. This only served for her as a kind of protection, permitting her to occupy a privileged position in the jewelry trade.” Next up: Suzanne Belperron, a designer who got her start designing for Boivin.

Related posts:

Women who paved the way: Suzanne Belperron

Women who paved the way: Jeanne Toussaint of Cartier

Women who paved the way: Margret Craver

Related products: (Buying from links on this site doesn’t cost you extra but does add a few pennies to the maintenance of this blog.)

                          

Gerarad Marti (in Loree Rodkin & Royal Order necklaces, bracelets by Ari Soffer, Borgioni & John Hardy) and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith (in Borgioni bracelets, Shannon Koszyk rosary & turquoise from Peru)

Men may think twice about wearing jewelry to the office but you’d be surprised how many keep a stash of skull rings and Celtic cross pendants in their dressers. That’s because when they’re safe at home or partying with likeminded friends on the weekend, they’re rock stars.

Just ask Gerard Marti, who left a career as a record producer at EMI (1974-1989) and opened Célébrités, a Maui gallery with his wife Colleen, using his rock-world connections to sell the artwork and signed memorabilia of famous rock legends and, eventually, the jewelry they made famous. (The jewelry was Colleen’s idea.)

I visited the Martis’ galleries in Lahaina and Wailea in June and, while my husband was drooling over the signed Fender guitars, and artwork and lyrics by John Lennon, I was ogling the jewelry by Ari Soffer, Royal Order, Borgioni, Pianegonda, Rosalina, and Loree Rodkin.

Tommy Lee (wearing Ari Soffer and King Baby jewelry) with Criss Angel at the 2007 Scream Awards.

Paris Hilton has been known to close this gallery down – literally – so she can buy out the jewelry. But she wasn’t in town – and neither was Steve Tyler, Mick Fleetwood, or any of the other celebs who hang out with Gerard in their off hours. So I got to bend his ear:

If you compare the shot of Keith Richards in my first post to modern rockers, it doesn’t look like rocker style has changed much in four decades.

It hasn’t. This look has been around for ages. Keith Richards has been wearing that skull ring forever. It’s his trademark. Steve Tyler, Tommy Lee, every single musician in rock-and-roll wears a skull in one form or another – in a ring or pendant or t-shirt.

The skull is a rock staple, it comes from the image of the pirate, the black flag, and that’s been around for centuries. It’s an image of being a rebel, an outlaw, someone who lives life by different rules.

More is definitely better with the rocker look, isn’t it? The more outrageous, the more layers, the better it works. Steven Tyler is really good at that. So is Tommy Lee.

Well, Steven will wear anything. He was on vacation [in the top shot] wearing a hat and beaded necklaces he got in Chile and Bolivia mixed with jewelry he got from me. He was just returning from being on tour in South America. Steven mixes everything. He can wear silver, beads, chokers, feathers. He comes to my store and tries on girl clothes, kids clothes. If I give him a t-shirt, the first thing he does is take a pair of scissors to it to make it his own.

Steven Tyler wearing Borgioni bracelet and custom-made necklace

The cross is another staple of rock jewelry. In this shot, Steven Tyler is wearing Christ without the crucifix.

He had that custom-made, that’s his thing. But crosses have been around forever too – not just Catholic crosses but Celtic crosses, all kinds. Skulls and crosses are the major sellers in the gallery.

Just last night, I sold a skull ring and cross necklace to one of the founders of MySpace, a 38-year-old millionaire. He was telling me, ‘I spend every day in a suit and necktie and on the weekend, I like to dress down in jeans and t-shirts and look like a rock star.’

He actually said that?

Yeah, yeah. I have a lot of people – dentists, lawyers – everybody wants to be a rock star, even millionaire businessmen. You want to be a rock star because that’s what everybody wants: to have fun, drink, party, sleep with a bunch of girls. That’s the fantasy even if it’s not your reality. Trust me, my customers are businessmen with wives and kids, all very successful financially, but they still secretly want to be rock stars.

Stay tuned for more on how to wear jewelry like a rock star. If you’re lucky enough to visit Maui any time soon, you can play out your own rock star fantasies at Célèbrités Galleries.

Related posts:

How to wear skulls like a rock star

How to wear jewelry like a rock star

Skulls in jewelry and watches

How to get this look:

                          

Proper technique: close up and well-braced (photo National Jewelers Supplies)

• “Hold the loupe about an inch from your eye and the item you’re examining approximately an inch from the loupe. Many people – including jewelry salespeople – hold the loupe six inches or even a foot away and the item they’re looking at another six inches from the loupe. That is not effective.”

• “You have to learn how to focus, and that takes practice. Once you find a sharp focus on the surface of the stone, you can examine the surface but not what’s inside the stone. If you want to see further into the stone, you  have to move the stone slowly, closer or farther away.”

• “It’s important to brace your hands or arms so that you’re not wobbling, and to hold the loupe so it’s in contact with some part of your face. Some people hold it against their eyeglasses and use that as a  brace. Some use their cheekbones, some use their nose. I’ve never mastered using my nose. You have to find what works for you, but the loupe has to be touching some part of your face in a way that allows you to see through it.”

• “Find a way to keep your hand steady. You can do that by putting the fleshy part of your arms together or bracing your arm against something, but always try to find your most stable position.”

• “Remember, a novice will not be able to see what professionals who have been using a loupe for years can see. But use your loupe regularly and you will gain proficiency. Slowly, you’ll begin to see more and more inside each stone.”

It helps to start with a professional-quality loupe, of course. Ten-power (10x) magnification is the industry standard, but make sure you get what you pay for: Antoinette’s tips for how to buy a loupe. Want more? All of her gem and jewelry buying guides have a section on how to use jewelry loupes like a pro.

Related posts:

How to buy a jewelry loupe

Beware of glass-composite rubies: how to spot them

What you need to know about jewelry hallmarks

How to photograph jewelry: tips from the pros

Related products:

                          

Emerald-cut natural ruby with baguette diamonds

What’s changed since you last updated this book?

The most important change has to do with treatments, in particular the introduction of composite ruby, a glass mixture which is being sold globally as genuine ruby.

How bad has this become?

It is bad. There is rarely a day that goes by without my getting a call from somebody, a consumer or another gemologist who wants me to explain this problem to the person crying at their desk because they paid thousands for a stone that’s probably worth $100. The real problem is that this material is being confused with  natural rubies that have been treated in some way – either fracture-filled with glass or treated with high heat which creates a glass residue.

Which is not necessarily bad?

Ruby composite on the right was heat-treated for 30 seconds

Not necessarily bad. “Treated” ruby starts out as ruby, a single crystalline structure of red color that’s been cut and polished. The color and clarity can be improved through various treatments, and these treated stones are priced appropriately for those treatments.

Natural, untreated ruby is extremely rare and one of the most expensive stones in the world.

As the world’s ruby sources became depleted, treatments were introduced that would provide lovely rubies at more affordable prices. The earliest treatment – and one still used – involves heating with low to moderate heat. Nothing is added to the stone. In some ways, it simply extends the natural process. These are the most expensive of the treated stones and can still cost thousands of dollars per carat.

Later, high-heat techniques were introduced that were a bit more affordable. High-heat techniques that left a residue of glass in fissures were even more affordable. Most recently, a treatment was introduced using glass to fill unsightly fractures so they become less visible. These are more affordable yet – and so on.

But because there are ruby treatments where the word “glass” appears, it has led to tremendous confusion about this newcomer, which is produced by totally different methods.

Composite ruby with visible bubbles and surface crazing

What exactly is this new composite ruby?

It starts with material that is extremely low-grade corundum (the mineral known as ruby when red, sapphire when blue or any other color). There is some question as to whether it started out red or pink – thus, whether you can even call it ruby. It starts out as a rock containing multiple entwined crystals, interlaced with other extraneous minerals, rather than a single crystal  with a nice color and good transparency. The treaters leach out all of the surrounding extraneous material from the host rock leaving this tangled mass of low-grade corundum. This material is very porous, not a single structure, so it needs the glass to hold it together in order to cut it.

At a minimum, stones I’ve examined were approximately 15 percent glass. But some I’ve seen lately are pushing 50 to 60 percent glass. Some labs are calling them “composite rubies,” some are calling them “glass ruby composites,” some “hybrid rubies.” By whatever name, there is universal agreement that these are not, and should not be sold as, genuine ruby. There is no universal agreement, however, on what they should be called. That’s where the issues are currently creating consumer problems.

What can buyers do to spot this interloper?

If they have a 10x jewelry loupe and know how to use it, they can easily and quickly see telltale indicators. When the surfaces are viewed in reflected light, you can see lots of intersecting lines looking something like a spider web or a fingerprint where the glass is holding things together. If you view a ruby composite with light coming through the stone, you can also see a significant number of glass bubbles – some quite large, some smaller – through the entire crown or pavilion. That’s how you know the stone is a composite.

Sometimes you can also see some yellow color, because they frequently use yellow tinted glass to make certain shades of red look redder. That is an indication of where some of the glass is.

Beyond trying to spot these indicators through a loupe, what can consumers do to protect themselves from paying thousands for a ruby worth $1.50 per carat?

Ask the person you’re buying from straight out: “This is not one of those glass composite rubies, is it?” They should be willing to write, “This is a genuine ruby, not a composite” on the sales receipt. Because that’s what they told you. If they’re not willing to put that in writing, my advice is: Run, do not walk, run to another source, because this one is not reliable. He or she is either ignorant or dishonest. Those are the only two possibilities.

Are these composites being sold by mainstream retailers?

They’re being sold at Macy’s. I did a segment on this for Good Morning America in December because Macy’s was selling “ruby” jewelry for $3,400-5,000 when the wholesale value of the stones was less than $100. I don’t believe Macy’s buyers have done it knowingly, but a lot has come out about these composites in the trade press since then. I went into a Macy’s a few weeks ago and that jewelry was still there.

Is there a place for composite rubies?

I think there’s a market for it. It looks more like real ruby than most synthetic rubies do, so it gives somebody who can’t afford a ruby a wonderful alternative. I wouldn’t recommend mounting them in gold and diamonds but set in sterling or plated metal, maybe surrounded by CZs, and you’d have a very pretty, very inexpensive piece of jewelry.

I noticed today that JTV is selling this, calling it “hybrid ruby” and explaining what it is. They’re pricing it at a few dollars a carat, about $50-74 per stone. At that price, it’s one thing. At $1000 or $2000 or $5000, it’s a totally different thing. Apparently, when you buy this from JTV, you get a booklet that tells you what it is and how to care for it. Take it off before you do the dishes, for example, because Dawn dish-washing detergent will destroy it. So will lemon juice and any number of household chemicals.

Find out more about ruby composites and other gemstone treatments in the latest edition of Colored Gemstones: The Antoinette Matlins Buying Guide.

                          

There are a lot of jewelry loupes out there. Which work best for examining gemstones?

Nikon Precision 10x jeweler's loupe

A proper loupe for gemology or jewelry has to be a ten-power (10x) triplet – three lenses fused together to eliminate distortion at the edges and color fringing. You know those big magnifying glasses you used to see elderly people use? Anything viewed through those gets blurrier and blurrier the further you get from the center. A triple-layered lens corrects that.

I have a generic loupe that’s labeled a triplet but I’ve heard many so-called triplets are actually doublets. Is that true?

Absolutely. I see doublets labeled all the time as triplets.

How can I tell if a loupe is really a triplet?

You can tell the difference by the amount of distortion at the edges or color fringing. To test a loupe, hold it a half-inch from newsprint and make sure everything is in focus from one edge to another. Then hold it over flat white paper. If it takes on a beige tone, it’s not a triplet.

How much should I expect to spend?

The reality is that you cannot buy a proper, absolutely correct 10x triplet loupe that is exactly what it should be for under $30. When you see them advertised for less, they’re not fine, properly-corrected loupes.

Bausch & Lomb Hastings triplet magnifying loupe

Which brand do you recommend?

Bausch + Lomb has a wonderful reputation for top-of-the-line loupes. There are also loupes made by Nikon and Zeiss but they can accede $100. I don’t know that you need to spend that kind of money. Bausch + Lomb offers a very fine, optically-correct gemological loupe for about $50 which is, in my opinion, the best value for the money. Because it has a smaller diameter in the loupe area, some people complain that you have to move it around to take everything in. But you’re looking at – or for – microscopic things inside or on the surface of a stone. A smaller diameter is actually better for gemological purposes because it helps you focus more critically and precisely.

You can learn a lot more from Antoinette Matlins at Jewelry Camp 2010, held at New Rochelle College, NY, July 16-18.

Related posts:

How to use a jewelry loupe

Beware of glass-composite rubies: how to spot them

What you need to know about jewelry hallmarks

How to photograph jewelry: tips from the pros

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But many countries – including the U.S. – do not have an official hallmarking system and the hallmarks of one country can vary dramatically from another. How does a budding collector begin to unravel this puzzle?

A trusted dealer can help but if you want to learn to identify jewelry on your own, you’ll need a good guide. There are a few books on the market, but if you want the ultimate, illustrated reference book, be prepared to shell out a couple hundred bucks for World Hallmarks: Europe 19th-21st Centuries, due out in its second printing this month. As co-author Danusia Niklewicz puts it, “This book will pay for itself with one correctly identified piece.”

I recently spoke to Niklewicz and William Whetstone, who compiled this tome with fellow appraiser Lindy Matula, about the basics of hallmark identification.

Is it common for people to confuse a maker’s mark with a hallmark?

Danusia Niklewicz: Yes, especially in the U.S. where we don’t hallmark goods. On our website people can send in questions about hallmarks and many times we receive maker’s marks instead of hallmarks. People think any maker’s mark is a hallmark and that becomes a problem. Maker’s marks aren’t nearly as well documented as hallmarks.

Many countries don’t offer lists of registered makers or their marks. Even in the U.S. and Canada, there is no requirement to register one’s mark. As a result, there is nowhere to research the identity of a signature or mark. You will only find hallmarks on jewelry made in countries that have laws that require independent testing of metal fineness and that document their makers marks with an official stamp – a government stamp or an independent lab stamp – indicating the results of such testing.

William Whetstone: In many places, especially Europe, it’s required that a maker register their mark at a hallmarking or assaying office so it can be tracked. In most European countries, a secondary system is set up where the assay office tests the pieces and puts their stamps on it to indicate that it was verified by an independent body. It’s similar to gem certification. Most people buying an expensive diamond today want a certificate issued by an independent organization like the GIA. Just like these certified diamonds that are laser-inscribed on the girdle of the diamond with the cert number, a hallmarked item is marked with the results of the testing.

Russian hallmark and maker's mark

So what kind of assurance am I getting with a maker’s mark?

Whetstone: A maker’s mark can be the manufacturer, the company that sponsored the piece to be made, or the individual craftsman. In any case, whoever is marked on the piece takes the responsibility for it. In countries where they don’t even mark their pieces, the importer becomes the responsible party. Really, a hallmark is about the most important means of consumer protection within the precious metals. In other words, if you’re a maker and you stamp something 18kt, you take responsibility. You’re guaranteeing that it’s 18kt.

Niklewicz: In most European countries, including France and Great Britain, an item is not legal for sale without a hallmark. Germany doesn’t have hallmarking, but it’s the exception. A few countries, like Austria and Norway, have optional hallmarking. Italy doesn’t require hallmarking but it has better registration of the maker, a specific number, so what you see as an Italian mark was placed there by the maker. It’s a little more formal than any other maker’s voluntary marking.

Italian maker's mark

Does that mean I’m safe buying jewelry made in Italy?

Whetstone: Not necessarily. I think it’s easy to recognize Italian marks but you don’t have the same protection or guarantee unless an item is hallmarked. There was a notoriously famous chain that marked their jewelry 18kt on one side and “Italy” on the other. “Italy” is not a guarantee. So you find the 18kt gold chain you bought is only 14kt gold. Who do you hold responsible? The merchant you bought it from can say, “It’s not my fault. It doesn’t have my trademark on it.” This goes on all the time. Under-karating is rampant in North America.

It’s caveat emptor here?

Whetstone: We were talking to assay masters at a conference in Geneva and they privately say they laugh at the consumer protection system within the U.S. because there is no policing of this.

Niklewicz: The U.S. is missing out on a huge European market because we don’t have the standards they demand. They consider our products generally inferior.

Whetstone: Tiffany & Co. sends jewelry to London to have it hallmarked so they can sell it on the European market. Most jewelry makers don’t realize how fast and inexpensive it is to have jewelry hallmarked now, given modern technology. If you’re selling something for $1,000 or more and it only costs $10 to get it hallmarked, that’s a worthwhile investment. You can also get volume discounts.

French maker's mark

What can I learn from hallmarks if I’m collecting estate or antique jewelry made in France or other parts of Europe?

Whetstone: In some countries, hallmarks can tell you what city and what year a piece was made. At the very least, they allow you to figure out the country of origin and that’s really important. Somebody recently sent me a picture of an Art Deco piece they thought was French. It wasn’t. It was Egyptian. It was extremely well made. There were a lot of talented craftsmen in Egypt during 1920s who came from France and England and were doing very fine work. But this person thought the piece came from France. Does it make a difference in value if a piece is French Art Deco instead of Eyptian Art Deco? Yes, a big difference.

Does understanding hallmarks mean I can buy antique jewelry on eBay – or is it best to avoid that?

Whetstone: eBay is a viable market, providing you’ve done your research to make sure what you’re looking at is correct. I buy on eBay. One problem with buying on eBay is that I consistently see stuff that is just wrong. I informed a seller recently that something advertised as “made in the 1700s” was actually made in the 1930s in Czechoslovakia. In many cases, mistakes like that are innocent and they thank me and take it down. But that is why you have to read and do your homework before buying.

Want more? William Whetstone and Danusia Niklewicz will be talking hallmarks in July at the 29th Annual Antique Period Jewelry and Art Conference - better known as “Jewelry Camp.” If you want to learn more about estate jewelry, I recommend attending this conference at least once!
Jewelry Camp 2010, Long Island, NY
July 16-18

                          

Six bracelets of ruby, sapphire and green tourmaline set in 18kt gold (photo Lee-Carraher)

Photographers who specialize in jewelry tend to have a lot of patience with detail. John Parrish makes a nice living shooting jewelry for glossy magazines and brandname designers but he got his start, he says, “because I was the only apprentice at a large photography studio who was willing to lay out a chain nicely and get all the dust off everything.”

Now he removes the dust on his computer—but it’s multiplied alarmingly. When he started in the business, everything was shot close to actual size on 8×10 film. Now when he opens a digital file on the computer, he’s looking at a 15 x18-inch image. “You have to go over every square inch for dust,” he says. Parrish replaced his photography assistant with a full-time computer operator.

Kimibox jadeite ring (photography Eydis Einarsdottir)

Some jewelry photographers tell me every hour they spend shooting an image means another hour tweaking it on the computer. Eydis Einarsdottir of Studio 80s in Vancouver spent six hours shooting the image above and eight hours retouching it on the computer. She’s so good at this, other photographers often hire her to do their retouching for them.

Many years of practice helped, as did working with Shu Akashi, a commercial photographer who shoots for Vogue and W and uses digital manipulation to transform product photography into an art form. “He takes retouching to an extremely high level, often combining images,” says Einarsdottir.

Not everyone can turn a necklace into a sci-fi fantasy the way Akashi does, but it’s not unusual for pros to combine five or more shots. “I shoot for a certain highlight from every angle, then layer up and layer up and layer up to get the jewelry to look the way you want people to see it – the way it looks in real life,” Einarsdottir says. “When you’re so close to a piece, you can spot every detail, every scratch on the metal – those little things the eyes don’t really see.”

If you’re doing the tweaking yourself, it pays to know your way around Photoshop – and it helps to have someone demonstrate. On web sites like lynda.com, for $25/month you can do as many tutorials as you make time for. (Disclosure: I became an affiliate of Lynda.com about two years after this was originally posted, which means I get a small commission if you sign up through a link on this site, but I made that recommendation long before.)

Kimibox Lilian jadeite ring (photograph by Eydis Einarsdottir)

Photoshop is one of those things you get good at by doing it all the time. A few tips from the pros:

Use color balance. Einarsdottir processes her images in Photoshop Lightroom, starting off with color balance. “For the most part, color does not need much correcting because I shoot tethered for the most part and do my color balance with a gray card at the start of the shoot,” she says. If not shooting tethered (connected to a computer), she uses Expodisk as well as a gray card, then adjusts exposure, blacks, brightness, and contrast.

Use unsharp mask. Photographer Tino Hammid, who shoots jewelry for Christie’s catalogs, recommends this tool. ”It’s something that sets the professional apart from the amateur,” says Hammid. ”Sharpening is essential when you want that extra touch.”

In particular, he advises learning how to use the three sliders. “You really have to play with them to figure out ways to overcome problems like graininess,” he says. “You want to sharpen edges that are slightly fuzzy but leave others alone, especially the background which should be smooth.”

Emma Bracfield Juicy Rings (photography Eydis Einarsdottir)

Go easy on the contrast. “You can overuse contrast,” Hammid says. “It’s critical to have enough but not too much. Rule of thumb: There should be something white, at least one tiny area, and one completely black area in a photograph in order to have the full dynamic range.”

Work in layers. Layers provide lots of flexibility. “Every layer increases the size of your file but I can’t begin to list the ways layers can be used,” Hammid says. “One tiny example is that you can make a global (overall) adjustment on a layer without applying it to the entire image, only certain areas. You make the change on one layer but still have a copy of the original and can clone little areas you want to change.”

Spiral-cut citrines by Arthur Anderson (photo Lee-Carraher)

Tinnee Lee of Lee-Carraher Photography agrees that layers are the key to Photoshop because you can manipulate individual parts without changing the entire image. “I can sharpen just the diamonds on a ring without affecting the background,” she says. “The background can stay soft and neutral.”

John Parrish says his finished image is always made up of a number of color correction layers and focus layers. “I try to arrange it so that I can go back if I decide I don’t like something. If you do everything in layers, you can use the ‘history’ option in Photoshop, go back to a specific point and throw away a layer.”

Try the pen tool. To isolate a specific area of an image, Hammid draws a line around it using the pen tool. “This is my favorite tool,” he says. “It’s the most space efficient because a whole selection saves as a channel. The pen tool draws a line around the subject and creates a path. It can be controlled very nicely and creates beautiful curves, even bezier cruves (curves that change size or direction).”

Tinnee Lee uses the pen tool to cut paths, which allows her to dissect an image and work on each part individually. For instance, she’ll draw a line around the diamonds of a ring, another around the colored stones, and another around the shank. This allows her to sharpen the contrast on the diamonds and the shank while keeping the background soft and neutral. She also uses the pen tool to correct the color of a gemstone without affecting the rest of the image.

Experiment with Photoshop actions. If you don’t have hours to spend on retouching, you might try playing around with the “actions” in Photoshop. Photoshop and Illustrator offer batches of predefined tasks that can fix common problems in focus or exposure, soften skin tones, or turn an ordinary shot into an artsy one – like a vintage sepia-toned still life or the bleached effect of a magazine fashion spread. For a taste of what’s possible, here are 80 images using Photoshop actions, including before and after shots using Photoshop actions.

If you shoot product yourself, block out a few hours to play with Photoshop. You don’t have to be a pro to learn your way around the basic tools. If you’re shooting fine jewelry, retouching is crucial. “Jewelry is supposed to be so pretty. That’s the essence of it,” Einarsdottir says. “And it’s very expensive, so the photograph has to have that wow factor. You want to have it really without flaw.”

For more on shooting jewelry:

How to photograph jewelry: tips from the pros

How to photograph gems: tips from the pros