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Complete the look with the complementing starter bracelet J408728.
Warranty: One year warranty from the date of purchase. Includes a gemstone romance card with purchase.
Part of the Gems en Vogue II Collection. Avoid using chemical jewelry cleaners. All weights pertaining to diamond weights are minimum weights. Additionally, please note that many gemstones are treated to enhance their beauty. Click here for important information about gemstone enhancements and special care requirements.
Gold Embraced: Our Gold Embraced collections feature layers of precious 18K gold over sterling silver or bronze for a rich, lustrous, radiant finish everywhere you look and touch.
To care for your plated jewelry items:
Ammonites were squid-like creatures that swam the seas more than 70 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. Their shells were constructed into a unique series of air chambers that allowed them to float and move through the water using jet propulsion. Today, these complex chamber walls appear as intricate patterns in the fossils. Ammonites were abundant in all the oceans until they became extinct around the same time as the dinosaurs.
Because each gemstone is a fossil, ammolite is regarded as one of the rarest gems on earth. The preserved mother-of-pearl went through a mysterious geological and mineralization transformation, giving it light refracting characteristics that qualify it today as a precious gem. Ammolite is capable of splitting sunlight into every color imaginable, a fact that illuminates why the stone came to be known as the "Seven Color Prosperity Stone" by Feng Shui masters.
Ammolite is only found in the Bearpaw formation that extends from Alberta to Saskatchewan in Canada and to Montana in the United States. Those found in and around Alberta display the most vivid colors. Ranking 5-7 on the Mohs Scale, pricing is based on size, shape, number of colors present, brightness of those colors, and overall appearance. Each ammolite is unique and the rarest stones show three or more colors.
In 1908, a member of the National Geological Survey team found fossils of ammonite along the St. Mary's River in Alberta. It was not until 1981 that enough high-quality ammolite was discovered to make mining commercially viable. The International Commission of Colored Gemstones officially recognized it as a gemstone at that time.
Being one of the three organic gemstones, in addition to amber and pearl, ammolite is commonly impregnated with a colorless hardened substance to increase stability. It has been compared to opal in that it can either be spinel-capped or a natural doublet. The spinel-capped version is very similar to the opal triplet, while the natural doublet is similar to an opal doublet.
The stone was named for Ammon, the ancient Egyptian god of life and reproduction, because the shell of the ammonite was similar in appearance to the ram-headed deity’s horns. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder regarded ammolite as the holiest of stones because it was said to evoke prophetic dreams. The Blackfoot Tribe of North America came to know ammolite as the “buffalo stone”, as it signified wealth and abundance and played a key role in their traditional culture and magic.
Gems en Vogue II The vintage inspired designs of Gems en Vogue II conjure romantic visions of elegance from the Art Deco movement to the French Renaissance. Set in advanced Sterling Palladium Alloy with 18K Gold Embraced™ accents, each piece of Gem en Vogue II jewelry is a wearable work of art, individually designed and executed with intriguing, often unexpected detail and highlighted by a colorful variety of unique gems.
Each piece of jewelry is designed around a specific gemstone and is often inspired by nature or architecture and influenced by historical jewelry and current fashion trends. The ultimate goal is always to present customers with original jewelry pieces they'll be delighted to wear.
About the Guest Guest Michael Valitutti G.G. (GIA) is a graduate gemologist from the Gemological Institute of America with a wealth of knowledge and a deep passion for gemstones and jewelry. Winner of two design competitions and the subject of numerous articles and industry news, Michael introduced Sterling Palladium Alloy to America in 2006 with the launch of Gems en Vogue II.
Before entering the jewelry business, Michael had decided to pursue his MBA. However, before returning to his studies, he took a summer job working for a friend - a jeweler in a swanky area of downtown Toronto. He recalls, "I liked it so much, I decided to pursue this career full time, so I asked for a refund of my tuition and the rest is history." It's no surprise that Michael ended up on TV selling jewelry. More than 30 years ago, he did a pilot for his own TV show. He also worked at the TV station on weekends, working his way up to floor director. Now he is at home on TV and at home in the jewelry business.