Birthstones are the stones that are associated with each month, jewelry featuring these stones is the fabulous way to commemorate or celebrate your big moments (or a loved ones)
Traditionally the June birthstones are pearl and moonstone. Pearls & moonstones are wonderful to work with and have been a long time favorite of mine.
Pearl has long been popular as a gemstone, despite being fundamentally different from most other crystal-based precious and semi-precious stones. Pearls are the only gemstones made by living creatures. Mollusks produce pearls by depositing layers of calcium carbonate around microscopic irritants that get lodged in their shells, usually not a grain of sand, as commonly believed. They have such unique shapes and color variations.
Click here to watch my jewel school about all things pearl. I have been a pearl wearer myself for years, everyone should own a strand or two!
Moonstone, was named by the Roman natural historian Pliny, who wrote that moonstone’s shimmery appearance shifted with the phases of the moon. The finest classical moonstones, colorlessly transparent with a blue shimmer, come from Sri Lanka. Since these sources of high-quality blue moonstones have essentially been mined out, prices have risen sharply. Other mines have since been found in India, Australia, Myanmar, Madagascar, and the United States.
Moonstone traps light and scatters it inside, creating a vivid imagery of a moonlight glowing in water. The energy of moonstone is introspective and balancing. Wear it to usher in new beginnings and bring closure to each end.
Click here to view moonstones throughout my collection.
May birthdays fall right in the heart of Spring and the emerald is the perfect gem to symbolize and celebrate this month. It is also the traditional wedding anniversary present for the 20th and the 55th year.
Prized for its brilliant green color, the emerald, a symbol of rebirth, is believed to grant the owner foresight, good fortune, and youth. Emerald, derived from the word smaragdus, means, quite literally, green in Greek. Emeralds are the green to greenish blue variety of the mineral Beryl, the majority of Emeralds are mined in Colombia and Zambia.
To determine if an emerald is real you can shine a blacklight onto the emerald. A natural emerald will show a pure green or blue-green hue. With the light, it will either not have any backlight or a weak orange-red or green color. Synthetic emeralds fluorescence will showcase a dark red color. An imitation stone will have a yellow or brown undertone color.
Click here to see emeralds currently featured in my collection.
Click here to read the cameo of my emerald flower necklace in The Zing Report from May 11th 2023.
Diamonds are the birthstone for April babies, as well as the gemstone for the 60th and 75th anniversaries. This classic stone has stood the test of time and a perfect addition to your jewelry collection.
Natural diamonds are a rare and unique ultimate gift for a loved one. Thought to be one of the hardest substances on the globe, natural diamonds date back billions of years. Diamonds are also thought to provide the wearer with better relationships and an increase in inner strength.
During the Middle Ages, diamonds were thought to hold healing powers and to cure ailments stemming from the pituitary gland and brain. By heating the crystal and taking it to bed, it was thought to draw out the harmful toxins that were crippling the body.
It was also believed that diamonds could have an effect on an individual’s balance and clarity and could boost their energy when combined with other crystals like amethyst. Research has shown that the most common diamond carat size is somewhere between 1.0 and 1.2 carats. A single-carat diamond is just over half a centimeter in diameter, less than half the size of a penny!
Traditionally diamonds have been the center of jewelry designs as the main focal point. However in my collection I sprinkle them throughout lots of my designs as a natural enhancer to a vast array of other beautiful, colorful gem stones. Diamonds also complement my signature gold crownwork® elevating the design and adding some extra sparkle!
Click here to see more ways diamonds feature throughout my collection.
I love to change up the norm a little bit and work with black and champagne diamonds both gorgeous, they add a unique touch to classic styles. Also great unisex options for diamonds!
Everyone loves a true love story including me and jewelry is my love language. Whilst I don’t have a specific wedding collection, I love to work one on one with clients to create a unique, personal piece that they will cherish forever. Here are some of the wedding stories I have been a part of or here to start the conversation of your own love story.
Read about the history of the diamond as an engagement ring.
New York-based master jeweler Ray Griffiths accentuates his ever-present Tahitian pearl and 18-karat … [+]
In the luxuriant landscape of rare and one-of-a-kind jewelry, Australian-born; New York-based designer/goldsmith Ray Griffiths is legendary for visionary design, superb quality gem materials and intrepid, master artisanship. Having trademarked the distinctive, chic and airy 18-karat gold jewelry genre called Crownwork® in 2014, Griffiths has earned an assured place in jewelry history, although he’s too modest to say so. While he’s also renowned as a master jewelry restorer, this year marks the 20th anniversary of Griffiths creating adornments in the USA. “I left Sydney, Australia for New York when I won the U.S. Green Card lottery many moons ago,” he recalled in his sun-lit atelier high atop Fifth Avenue. Wearing his trademark necklace of Tahitian pearls and a Crownwork® ring, he explained, “I’m about to become a naturalized U.S. citizen any day.” To honor these dual milestones, Griffiths is celebrating and compensating for COVID pandemic-related travel restrictions with a new E-commerce websitethat is rich in editorial content, videos and jewelry lore.
Celestial blue sapphires animate this 18-karat gold Crownwork® unisex ring by Ray Griffiths.
“2020 was the first year that I was unable to tour the U.S. doing trunk shows at independent jewelers and luxury department stores due to the pandemic,” Griffiths said. “I have been working with some of the same jewelry stores for 18 years, so the customers and I know each other very well. We all socialize when I come to their towns and stay in touch throughout the year. Many of these people feel like family to me.” An irrepressible extrovert and frequent philanthropist, Griffiths is donating a portion of his February and March 2021 jewelry website sales to the nonprofit mental health organization The Child Mind Institute. “I am donating to this organization in memory of a family member,” he explained “I’m also giving because of all the people I know who’ve mentioned that their children have struggled with remote learning and missing their friends throughout the COVID pandemic.”
Teardrop-shaped green amber pendants are suspended from 18-karat gold Crownwork® ear wires and caps
The revamped Ray Griffiths site is notable for its ease of use, interactivity and the authoritative yet lighthearted way that Griffiths imparts jewelry knowledge that educates and entertains. In the Design Notes section, for example, when visitors see a pink design note bubble on the product page, they can click on it to read some thoughts from Griffiths about how he conceptualized the specific jewel. There is also a gemstone information index that shows images of stones in the raw while noting their material properties, along with its zodiac sign and birthstone month. While the experience of shopping on the site is far livelier than what one encounters on many other websites, Griffiths schedules virtual appointments for those who wish to connect directly. Other noteworthy features on the site include The Restoration and Custom Section. Here, Griffiths highlights and explains the design process involved with certain pieces.
Tahitian pearl and 18-karat gold Crownwork® bead necklace by Ray Griffiths
The transcontinental jewelry journey of Griffiths began when he was sixteen in Melbourne, Australia, with an apprenticeship in restoring antique European jewels. “I signed on with a high-end restoration house run by master artisans,” he recalled. “We had all sorts of elaborate suites of jewels coming in all the time, and tiaras, too.” Because his training was quite technically exacting and detail-focused, it helped Griffiths acquire fluency in the language of gold and precious metals. “Each metal has unique material qualities and has its own temperament, so to speak,” he explained while showing this writer around his pristine workspace. “I had a fantastic apprenticeship, because the more you learn about what can be done with gold to shape and form it, the easier it is to use your imagination to design with it and create beautiful jewels.” This experiential understanding of gold’s unique characteristics; its myriad technical and artistic potentials are two essential elements that differentiate Griffiths from mere jewelry designers. So does his rigorous training in 400-year-old European jewelry traditions.
According to Marla Zimmerman of the upmarket Pittsburgh, PA. jewelry salon, Choices “Ray’s jewelry embodies old world craftsmanship and fuses it with a timeless and glamorous design aesthetic. Between his superb quality colored gemstones and his Crownwork®, he creates incredible jewels for people of all ages and genders. He is indeed a master jeweler.”
Ray Griffiths made these large 18k yellow gold and oxidized silver Crownwork® finial earrings
As Griffiths explained, European artisans invented crownwork to form the underside of tiaras and crowns from the 1600s through the 1800s. In those days, a structured, sculptural shape was made and then hollowed out to create a lightweight yet resilient grid on the reverse of the headgear. This lattice-like grid formed the piece’s hidden structural integrity. Taking this concept as a point of departure for his own jewelry collections, Griffiths started designing and hand-fabricating jewels featuring fully visible; 18-karat golden Crownwork® for everything from earrings to pendant necklaces, oversized yet lightweight link bracelets, wedding ring sets; high jewelry glittering with important diamonds or colored gemstones. “I can’t tell you how many women have thanked me for making earrings, rings and other 18-karat and gemstone jewels that are boldly proportioned yet lightweight and comfortable to wear for an entire day,” he said. “No more sagging earlobes or weighed-down wrists!”
18-karat gold and opal Crownwork® ring
Griffiths also makes sculptural Crownwork® beads in classically graceful and universally appealing forms like lanterns, spheres, ovals and pods. Whether these beads comprise an entire necklace of their own or form golden stations on a strand of Tahitian pearls, a tourmaline bracelet or turquoise earring, their voluminous forms and ergonomic appeal make them look and feel utterly pleasing.
Iridescent opal orbs and 18-karat gold Crownwork® beads
“Ray brings personality to every piece he creates,” said Karen O’Neil of Frederic’s Fine Jewelers in Upper Montclair, N.J. “Our customers gravitate towards his colorful gemstone and trademarked Crownwork®, which is lightweight yet strong and always perfectly executed. Our clients treasure Ray’s designs as timeless heirlooms, yet they also look forward to passing them on to future generations,” she added. Musing over the good fortune that he enjoys long-term relationships with other upmarket retailers around the U.S., such as Stanley Korshak in Dallas, TX., Saks Fifth Avenue stores in Palm Beach and in Naples, FLA.; Belle Cose in Jackson Hole, WY. Sotre Collection in New Orleans, LA., Angela in Menlo Park, CA. & The Fine Jewelry Bar in Palm Desert, CA.), Griffiths is also a jeweler to several generations of the same families. “I get the feeling that people of all ages love the detail in my work and how it unites a classic sense of Antiquity with contemporary forms, clean lines and lightness. My pieces are made to last forever,” he said, “as long as they are looked after with care.”He added that, “The continuity of relationships I have with my customers means that I have been involved in making many jewels that mark important events in many family trees.”
18-karat gold Medium Baby Crownwork® Link Bracelet
While he has long worn jewels that he designs and makes by hand, like Indian maharajahs of yore, Griffiths always wears pearls, and his favorites are organically shaped baroque pearls, some of them offset by Crownwork® beads. “I have been wearing lustrous, irregular pearls for at least 20 years,” he recalled. “I am often stopped on the street by people asking where I got them, which has resulted in some serendipitous sales.” Given that musician Pharrell Williams has been rocking pearls on Chanel runways and in daily life since 2014 and global pop star Harry Styles wore a pearl earring to the 2019 Met Gala, Griffiths feels vindicated in having led the charge for men in pearls. “At last, more style-setting men are wearing pearls!” he enthused. “Besides being beautiful, pearls are fascinating as they are one of the few gem materials created by living creatures. Baroque shapes with beautiful luster suit the more casual dressing in this day and age,” he explained. “They should be a staple in everyone’s wardrobe.”
Airy necklace of 18k Yellow Gold Crownwork® links
As one surveys the Griffiths jewelry oeuvre; observes how he’s designed a jeweler’s version of the American Dream and launched a new website, it’s obvious that his enthusiasm for human connection through jewelry is part of the secret of his success. Elaine Souza, owner of the Gladstone luxury jewelry and fine art gallery in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA., put it this way. “We have an amazing track record with Ray. We have enjoyed representing his innovative and impeccably crafted designs since 2009. Customers of all ages and genders fall in love with the timeless, sculptural, and colorful aspects of his jewelry. And once they meet the charismatic person behind the designs, they find themselves collecting Ray’s jewels on a regular basis.”
Cabochon Opal and Amazonite Drop Earrings
“I can’t wait to start doing trunk shows again and working face-to-face with clients,” Griffiths wrote in an email. “For the time being, however, I’m styling their jewelry and dreaming up special made-to-order pieces with them via FaceTime and Zoom. Working closely with clients informs my designs in the best possible way. I’m so fortunate that I have the chance to view the jewelry on the client and see how they experience it.”
We teamed up with Image Intelligence, a fabulous personal branding company with a love for color for their take on some of Ray’s designs. They picked out a few favorites and gave us their tips for wearing them.
One of Rays biggest inspirations is COLOR ! “I have always been drawn to the joy, happiness and feeling that color can bring. My inspirations as designer come from the colors that I was surrounded with growing up in Australia, there is something special about the sunlight there that intensifies the color , I love using bright juicy stones in my designs.”
Garnet is the birthstone for January babies, these gorgeous gemstones are one of the most interesting and diverse to work with as they come in such a large variety of colors. Garnets symbolize love and inspire passion. As well as being the birthstone for January, Garnets are the gemstone for your 2nd Wedding Anniversary and the Zodiac gemstone for Aries, Leo and Libra.
The variety and vibrance of the colors of these stones are why they are such a delight to work with.
Pyrope Garnet – these are the most popular of the red varieties, with that rich, juicy color that most people associate with garnets. The word pyrope derives from the Greek word for “fire-eyed”, in reference to the high refractive index of the stones.
Spessatine Garnet – the color way for these babies are orange to orange-red in color. They have a high refractive index that gives them a luscious fire and brilliance, they literally glow.
Hessonite Garnet – these are a unique variety of grossular garnet, in that it is an orange-brown color, rather than the typical green. Although sometimes confused with citrine or topaz, Hessonite garnets can be distinguished by their inclusions, which appear as curving areas of varying translucency.
Color Change Garnet – these Garnets are pure magic, they change color depending on the light source. The color change can be from greenish yellow to purplish red, or from blueish green to blueish purple (my favorite). This color characteristic is due to the combination of various mineral compositions of three or more garnet species.
Tsavorite – these are rich, almost fluorescent green colored garnet.
There are many more variates of the versatile stone, I really do adore working with Garnets. Click here to shop our Garnet jewels and keep an eye out for all the new pieces that are currently marinating in my mind.
“Jewelry is something that takes a long time to get right. Integrating technical skills into one’s own sense of style and design occurs over time. Jewelry isn’t seasonal, it’s evolutionary.”— Ray Griffiths
In the rarified realm of design-driven, luxury jewelry, Australian-born; New York City-based designer/goldsmith Ray Griffiths is legendary for visionary design, superb quality gem materials and intrepid, master artisanship. At the end of the 20th century, Griffiths drew a winning number in the U.S. Green Card lottery made his new home in New York. While 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Ray Griffiths Fine Jewelry, having trademarked the distinctive, chic and airy 18-karat gold jewelry genre of Crownwork® in 2014, Griffiths has long distinguished himself from other designers.
Having apprenticed in a high-end jewelry restoration house in his native Australia, Griffiths became fluent in the language of gold and precious metals as a teenager. “The more you learn about what can be done with gold to shape and form it, the easier it is to use your imagination to design with it and create beautiful jewels,” he reflects. His masterful grasp of gold’s unique characteristics and deep understanding of its myriad technical and artistic potentials distinguish Griffiths from mere jewelry designers, and many jewelers, for that matter.
Griffiths designs and fabricates everything from earrings to pendant necklaces, oversized yet lightweight link bracelets, wedding ring sets and high jewelry glittering with important diamonds or colored gemstones.
Situated in a sunlit studio on a lovely stretch of New York’s Fifth Avenue, Griffiths dreams up collections that are influenced by adornments from Regency and Edwardian eras as well as Moorish aesthetics and masterpieces from Roman and Greek antiquity. It’s also worth noting that Griffiths loves to create bespoke engagement and wedding jewelry, in addition to offering classic engagement rings and wedding bands.
Owing to his unparalleled restoration skills, Griffiths is renowned as a “jewelry whisperer” who takes weathered jewelry and restores it to its youthful structure, sensuality and shine.
The atelier of Ray Griffiths is a sunlit space that sits high above New York’s Fifth Avenue. Here, gold is worked and made into precious pieces stamped with the mark of Ray Griffiths Fine Jewelry. Likewise, this is also where Griffiths lovingly restores vintage and antique jewels. To some of his clients, Griffiths is a “jewelry whisperer” who takes weathered or damaged jewelry and restores it to its original shape, sensuality, sparkle and shine. “I like the time-traveling element of doing fine jewelry restoration,” Griffiths says. “It’s fun to imagine who these pieces may have belonged to previously, and where they might have traveled,” he says. “If only some of those jewels could talk to us!”
As gold has often been described by poets and alchemists as sunlight made solid, it is perfectly fitting that the picture-windowed space where Griffiths creates and restores golden jewels is bathed in golden light. Housing two jewelry benches, (one for Griffiths and one for the jeweler who assists him), the studio also contains a safe, the contents of which rival Aladdin’s Cave in terms of treasure. In addition to packets of diamonds, sapphires and other colored gemstones, there are of course 18-karat gold Crownwork® jewels, along with strands of pearls, turquoise and myriad of other gems. “It’s a privilege to be able to work with gemstones and make gold jewelry for people who appreciate the beauty of what I produce,” Griffiths says. “Gold came to our planet from meteorites that crash landed here one hundred million years ago, and gemstones are also precious pieces of eternity. Creating jewelry more than a career, it’s also an emotional process. I love seeing my clients light up when they wear my designs.”