the jewelry loupe

June birthstone: Pearl

Cathleen McCarthy — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Nothing is more universal and timeless than pearls. Wander through any major art museum and you’ll find them on everyone from maharajahs to lowly servants. There’s Rembrandt’s “Weighing of Pearls,” Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”—which inspired a Hollywood movie—and nary a portrait of Queen Elizabeth where she isn’t dripping with them. Leonardo da Vinci even had his own recipe for making a small pearl into a large fake, according to Promethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Quest to Perfect Nature: […]

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How to shop for turquoise jewelry

Cathleen McCarthy — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 20:10:39 +0000

When you’re shopping for turquoise, it’s wise to inquire about treatments and—if you’re paying a significant price—request a guarantee of quality and origin. I learned this the hard way many years ago when I bought a pair of “turquoise” earrings with large stones of a deep, classic turquoise blue webbed with convincing black veins. The stones (or whatever they were) faded to almost white within a year. To be fair, I paid very little for them. These days, I’d look […]

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Eugenie brooch among 8 jewels stolen from the Louvre

Cathleen McCarthy — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 21:27:49 +0000

Eight historic jewels were stolen from the Louvre on Sunday, October 19. Media outlets are scrambling to place a value on these priceless treasures. The value of one is pretty clear, though. Here’s what we know about the diamond brooch that belonged to Empress Eugenie, which entered the Louvre amid high drama in 2008 and has now vanished the same way. Empress Eugenie’s diamond bow brooch was made in 1855 of old mine and old European-cut diamonds — lots of […]

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How to wear jewelry like a rock star, part II

Cathleen McCarthy — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 08:56:00 +0000

You may be surprised who pulls out the skull rings and cross pendants on weekends. Seems everybody wants to be a rock star. Just ask Gerard Marti, owner of Célèbrités galleries in Maui. His customers include Steven Tyler, Tommy Lee and Paris Hilton, as well as the co-founder of MySpace.

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Beware: That ruby may be a glass composite

Cathleen McCarthy — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 17:00:00 +0000

If you're in the market for rubies, read this. There's an interloper among those red beauties - and it's been spotted at mainstream retailers, priced well above its true value.

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Femme métal: women who paved the way for today’s jewelry designers

Cathleen McCarthy — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 08:00:00 +0000

If you think building a career as a jewelry designer is challenging today, imagine what it was like 50 years ago, when the women’s movement was just catching fire – or a century ago when the suffragettes were battling in the streets for our right to vote. Yet jewelry is an art form women have always had a natural affinity for. We’re the primary wearers, after all, and jewelry is often closely connected to fashion. Designing and making jewelry is a craft that […]

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