Astraeolite

New discoveries in the gem world are few and far between these days, so the 2011 discovery of a brand new gem, caused quite a stir at Gems TV.

Astraeolite’s name is derived from Astraea the daughter of the Greek God Zeus, who was also known as the “Star Maiden”. When you study a piece of Astraeolite you will see why. You can’t help but feel like you are looking into a starry sky.

So far the gem is only known to come out of one location in Brazil, so the extent of its rarity is as yet unknown.

To own Astraeolite see our range of jewellery.

Augmented Reality

Lots of people got Christmas Presents of iPads, iPhones, Androids etc. this year, so I thought I would share a great app for them.

Blippar uses the device camera and a network connection to recognise products and offer information, coupons, recipes etc. for that product.

I was very dubious at first on if it would work or not, installed the app, pointed the phone at a bottle of Tomato Ketchup... suddenly the bottle kicked into life and small buttons and links appeared around the bottle. Recipes coupons and links started appearing, all connected to the bottle! Tried it on a jar of Marmite too.

Very clever!

Now I wonder if I could make this work for Jewellery? Pointing the device at a Gems TV logo would be a simple one... but what about a ring, or a necklace?

Have a look for yourself - Blippar

Christmas Look Book

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The Gems Christmas Look Book, take a look for inspiration on your next ring, bracelet, earrings or necklace...

 

If you are buying a Christmas or new year gift, have you thought about Tanzanite?

 

Tanzanite

Tanzanite  is  truly  spectacular!  This  precious gemstone is only found in one location in the world: Tanzania, Africa. Claimed to be a 1000 times rarer than Diamonds, Tanzanite is the  blue variety of Zoisite.

Even  though  Zoisite  occurs  widely,  the geological conditions that are required to enable  the gem to turn into its trademark blue is so rare that it has been described as ‘more astounding than the stone itself’.

Tanzanite  is  extremely  popular  due  to  its  trichroic nature, which means that three different colours can be seen when looking at the gem from different angles. In Tanzanite’s case these  colours are: blue, pinkish violet and yellow. 

As with many gemstones, the darker, more vivid  its colour the more valuable it is; and dark blue  Tanzanite is currently amongst the most desired,  and therefore most expensive, gemstones in the  world.  So  enchanted  is  anyone  who  sees  this  gemstone that today it is often talked about with  the same reverence as Diamonds.

On discovering this beautiful gem in 1967, word  of the unearthing reached the celebrated New  York Jewellers, Tiffany’s. At that time Henry B  Platt (the great grandson of Louis C Tiffany) was  working with Tiffany’s president, Walter Hoving.  He was completely awestruck by the beauty of    the  gemstone,  a  gem  which    he  later  named  Tanzanite,  after  the  country  where  it  was  discovered,  and  this  amazing  gemstone  was  launched at Tiffany’s in 1969. 

Hailed the “gemstone of the 20th century”, it has  been recommended to wear Tanzanite as an anti-depressant,  due  to  the  nurturing,  emotionally  supportive  and  cheering  energies  it  is  said  to  bestow.  The huge demand for this gemstone led to the  Gemological Institution of America adding the  gem to the official birthstone list in 2002, for the month of December.

Christmas Delivery

It’s beginning to look at lot like Christmas!

Despite having a very busy week here at Gems TV, Gems Extra, Gem Collector and Jewellery Maker... the dispatch team have worked their little Christmas cotton socks off and (at the time of posting this new blog) we can still offer pre-Christmas delivery - BUT be quick, this could change at any time... its always good to check with the call centre when estimated delivery time will be.

I have been talking around the offices here, and it would seem that most people here have ordered most of their Christmas shopping online... and ordered anything! A goose, games consoles, toys and of course jewellery!

BUT - nobody can tell me what this year’s big children’s Christmas present is... is there one?

Jewellery on Gems throughout December

The Gems Christmas Gala was the talk of the office on Friday and there were quite a few tired people, with red eyes walking around - it must have been a really good night! If you would like to see some photos of the evening, keep your eyes peeled on the Facebook site and they will appear there very soon.
 

Gems welcomes back Glenn Lehrer

Gems is pleased to announce the return of Glen Lehrer to your screens on Friday the 9th December and Sunday the 11th December. We are very pleased to welcome Glenn back, and really look forward to the gemstones and jewellery he will be bringing with him!



What do you think of the new look website? (Jewellery From Gems). We hope you agree, its a lot clearer and more user friendly. To search for an item either directly enter the text into the search box (ie Ruby Ring, Tanzanite Earrings) or use the search facility.

There is a new section called Gift Finder. This is great if you are buying a present for someone, but want a few ideas that suit your budget - give it a go, plenty of people already have and they have found the perfect jewellery gift. Which reminds me - if you are buying a gift for somebody, don't forget that the money back guarantee has now been extended until Jan 25th 2012... giving they plenty of time to make sure that they are happy with the jewellery gift you have got them.

Gems Special hours throughout December

There are lots of special hours coming before Christmas - keep your eyes on Jewellery TV Watching Page for more information.

Promise not to leave it too long between blogs!

Gems Blogger
Jewellery from Gems Web



 

Going up, up, up... into the sky...

It’s hitting the headlines again! Record prices - where will it stop?

I am of course talking about GOLD!

At the time of writing this it is just short of $1900 an ounce! That is a huge leap from the price of gold when Gems TV first started on our screens - it was about $400 back then... and even if you don’t follow stocks shares and commodities you can see that is one huge leap!

But where is it going to end? What is causing the price to surge? With so much turmoil in the world economy it looks like gold is the stable investment that is causing this price increase.

Its also quite interesting to note that there is a reported 143t of gold held in Libya... at $1900 an ounce... that’s $8,735,357,785.10 (That’s eight billion, seven hundred and thirty-five million, three hundred and fifty-seven thousand, seven hundred and eighty five Dollars and ten cents!) Now that’s a lot of gold!

Summer Sale

Is summer here yet? Have we had it? Is there more to come?

Questions you can hear at any moment up and down the UK. One thing is for sure - Gems TV's Summer Sale is here right now, but only for a few days (all good things must come to an end!)

Keep your eyes peeled on the TV screens until Friday for some crazy prices on all of our items. Lots of people have already managed to grab a bargain, and there are still plenty more to be had!

Take a look right now.

The Summer Sale on Gems TV... Virgin 755, Sky 652, Freeview 43 and Freesat 805

Meet Glenn Lehrer

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Glenn Lehrer, one of the worlds premiere gemstone artists. I quickly understood why he is known as an artist and a lapidarist.
 

Glenn Lehrer is internationally recognised as one of the finest living gemstone artists of our time. His precisely-faceted stones and fluid carvings are known the world over for their original concepts, flowing lines and stunning brilliance. His genius in GemArt and jewellery is unparalleled - creating masterpieces that ignite passion and stir a grand sense of beauty.

Be sure to watch GEMS TV this weekend to see some of his finest works.

GEMS TV
Saturday 23rd July 3pm
Sunday 24th July 6pm

New items

Because of a slight technical error, we noticed today that the variety of jewellery on the Gems TV website was very low. The technical team checked data, clicked and dragged and before you know it the problem was fixed. The online Boutique now has thousands of potentially new items ready to be looked at. Have a look yourself and find a piece of jewellery you adore!

http://gems.tv/Products/Search.aspx

Mozambique

Steve Bennett has this week left the UK offices and headed off to Mozambique in search of new beautiful rare gemstones. His trip includes visits to various mines and gemstone traders as well as a spot of presenting work for feature videos here on Gems TV. Mozambique is famous for its deep crimson red garnet - but there are a whole host of other gemstones available too. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few months for some beautiful and rare Mozambique gemstones.