After a manic couple of weeks, I found a bit of time to do what I love. I spent some of that time browsing through Instagram posts and feasted on many images of gems and jewelry and these were the first to wow me!

The rings are by @taffinjewelry – the top left is a ceramic ring with purple spinel and sapphires. (more…)

“I am not afraid to go to jail because it will be an opportunity to do human rights work inside jail.”

The above image and quote is from The Guardian.

The quote is the voice of Rafael Marques de Morais. An award winning and prominent investigative journalist in Angola, who is on trial for his book Blood Diamonds : Corruption and Torture in Angola.

The book is said to contain details of more than 100 killings and over 500 cases of torture in the (more…)

As we all know, diamonds are ‘The Stones’ with the most arresting sparkle in its tiniest size.

With the highest quality of adamantine luster, cut in the right proportions, a ‘round cut’ with all 58 facets, certainly sparkles with brilliance.

The tiny studs that you see on my earlobes are made with round brilliant petals. Wearing these give me the opportunity to wear big cocktail rings. Long dangly earrings with huge rings are a little too fussy for me. Also I am truly grateful to these studs during my daughter’s baby years!!! A worry free season of anything being yanked off my ears! They worked well for the day as well as the night.

Now the thing with Diamonds is, that it is generally thought of as pretty “indestructible”, right? (more…)

The stunning 113.24ct Aquamarine was cut to reflect optical illusions in three dimensions. Michael Dyber won 1^st prize in the International Competition: 40^th German Award for Jewellery and Precious Stones IDAR-OBERSTEIN 2009 ~ for Gemstone Design.

I don’t think we appreciate enough the work that goes into cutting any gemstone and cutting it (more…)

Jeremejevite is a lesser known gemstone and you are looking at a rod like inclusion found within one.

It’s one of those calm Sundays where I had time to glance through previous images I have taken. (more…)

I love old photos! People and places revealing ‘the activity of the day’ of days long gone. Food for my imagination! The past looks like another world entirely.

The image of this beautiful girl is called ‘Kandyan Lady’ from well over a hundred years ago. That’s all I know of her and she will remain a mystery for now. I bought this photograph while (more…)

The unexpected turns of the path of life can open new worlds and opportunities if we are open to receiving x

* a rushed snap shot at the Lighthouse Hotel, Galle, Sri Lanka <3

This Aquamarine solitaire in a ‘whisper’ of a setting makes a loud noise on my finger! Not only in terms of the sparkle of colour but also in the story it carries. It marked my first fascination with gems.

It was years ago that the energy of all those gemstones gripped my attention for the first time. It all started with Maj Britt Baker, a Swedish Gemmologist living in Sri (more…)

Doesn’t the Metamorphosis film just make you smile?

My two favourite stories in the film are ‘The Secret Garden’ and ‘Through the Keyhole’.

Its energy resonates with how I feel about jewellery – light hearted and fun and playful. Yes you may have an exquisitely crafted jewel, beauties in silver or an inherited piece or even highly valued costume pieces – whatever the case, they’re meant to be taken out into the world and worn with ease, enjoyed and made part of your expression, energy and hopefully… some ‘fun’ of the day!

The 7 minute film shows Solange Azagury – Partridge’s Metamorphosis Collection. Exquisite creations of fun, they’re wearable pieces that captivate with its playfulness, its fantasy. I love its transformable qualities!

When I was watching this, one of her inspirations came to mind. The ‘cloud’ and her thoughts (more…)

It was Diana Vreeland who said “I think water is God’s traquillizer. To be in it, to drink it, to look at it.”…

There’s nothing like getting away from everyday reality and switching off for a bit. It’s my daughter’s half term holiday and taking advantage of it, we escaped to The Fortress for the weekend. It’s in Galle, SriLanka. For more stunning views of the place and information, click here.