Marking the beginning of summer, the Summer Solstice or Midsummer is the day with the longest period of sunlight. Its name derives from Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still) because the sun’s position at noon doesn’t appear to change much on this day and surrounding days. Cultures around the world have celebrated […]
In many of our previous blogs, we have spoken of Egypt and its use of gold and gems. Egyptians were the first to have organized production of jewelry and their work in advancement of metallurgy and collection of gems impacted jewelry development in every civilization that came after. One piece of jewelry, the funerary mask […]
Last year, we celebrated our June birthdays by exploring one of the three birthstones associated, the pearl (see our June 1, 2021 blog post for more). June babies are also blessed to have the moonstone and alexandrite as their other stones. Moonstone, which is found all over the world, is valued for its blue to […]
Here at Bridgewaters, we live and breathe jewelry. It provides our livlihood and gives us joy when we help a customer to find their perfect piece or have an old favorite repaired. We love to hear the stories of where and from whom our customers found or received their jewelry. It got us thinking about […]
In our third installment of our five-part series on caring for gemstones, we will explore the care and cleaning of emeralds, the May birthstone. Check out our birthstone of the month post from May 5 for more information on the stone itself. While emeralds are very durable, but are not as hard as diamonds, rubies […]
This Saturday, May 21 (rain or shine), Old New Castle opens its doors to the public with the annual A Day in Old New Castle! Founded 96 years ago by the women of Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green as a fundraiser, the event is now sponsored by the New Castle Community Partnership and the […]
Since we are celebrating the birthstone of May, the emerald, it seems fitting to share information on the Crown of the Andes that includes nearly 450 emeralds, including one known as the “Atahualpa Emerald” which is twenty-four-carats. The Crown is one of the most important examples of colonial Spanish American gold work, crafted in the […]
The May birthstone, also the gem for the 20th and 35th wedding anniversaries, is a beautiful, rich green and symbolizes rebirth, renewal, loyalty and peace. The emerald was adored by the ancient Egyptians who mined them as early as 330 BC. Queen Cleopatra had a passion for emerald and claimed ownership of all emerald mines […]
In addition to considering color, clarity and carat weight, you will need to determine the type of cut that suits you best. Cut is often thought of as shape, but a diamond’s cut is about how well a diamond’s facets interact with light. We’ve reviewed cut (see our blog from December 14, 2021 for more […]
In our second installment of our five-part series on caring for gemstones, we will explore the care and cleaning of diamonds, the April birthstone. Check out our birthstone of the month post from April 5 for more information on the stone itself. Diamonds are the hardest natural substance on Earth. They are formed from carbon […]
