Edwardian era: The Edwardian era spanned from 1901 to 1910, during the reign of King Edward VII of England.
Filigree designs: Edwardian engagement rings are known for their intricate and delicate filigree designs. Filigree is a technique where metal wires are twisted and formed into intricate patterns, creating a lacy and feminine appearance.
Use of platinum: Platinum became a popular choice for Edwardian engagement rings. Its strength and durability allowed for intricate detailing and delicate designs. Platinum settings were often accompanied by diamonds or other gemstones.
Influence of Art Nouveau: The Art Nouveau movement, characterized by its flowing, organic designs, heavily influenced Edwardian engagement rings. Natural motifs like flowers, leaves, and bows were common, reflecting the era's artistic style.
European and Old Mine Cut diamonds: Edwardian rings often featured diamonds cut in the European or Old Mine Cut style. These cuts were popular during the time and featured fewer facets than modern cuts, giving the diamonds a unique, romantic sparkle.
Colorful gemstones: Alongside diamonds, Edwardian engagement rings incorporated colorful gemstones like sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. These gemstones were often used as accents or in combination with diamonds, adding a touch of color and vibrancy to the rings.
Influence of the Belle Époque: The Edwardian era overlapped with the Belle Époque period in France, known for its elegance and opulence. This influence can be seen in the luxurious and lavish designs of Edwardian engagement rings.
Bow and ribbon motifs: Bow and ribbon motifs were a popular design element in Edwardian rings, symbolizing femininity, romance, and eternal love. These motifs were often incorporated into the ring settings or as accents around the gemstones.
Lacy and light appearance: Edwardian engagement rings were characterized by their light and airy appearance. The intricate filigree work and delicate designs gave the rings a feminine and ethereal quality.
Handcrafted and one-of-a-kind: Edwardian engagement rings were often handcrafted, making each ring a unique piece of art. Skilled craftsmen meticulously created these rings, emphasizing attention to detail and craftsmanship.
These are just a few interesting facts about Edwardian engagement rings. The era's jewelry showcases a romantic and elegant style, making them highly sought-after by collectors and those who appreciate vintage aesthetics.
Art Deco era: emerged as a prominent style during the 1920s and 1930s, following the Art Nouveau movement. It was influenced by various artistic and cultural movements, including Cubism, Futurism, and Egyptian and Oriental art.
Geometric Designs: Art Deco jewelry is known for its bold, geometric designs. It features clean lines, symmetrical patterns, and geometric shapes such as triangles, rectangles, circles, and trapezoids. These designs reflect the modern and industrial aesthetic of the time.
Precious Metals and Gemstones: Art Deco jewelry often used platinum as the primary metal due to its strength and ability to hold delicate settings. Diamonds were highly favored, but other gemstones like emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and onyx were also popular. Vividly colored gemstones were frequently used to add a vibrant touch to the pieces.
Contrasting Colors: Art Deco jewelry embraced contrasting color combinations to create a striking visual impact. Common color combinations included black and white, red and black, blue and green, and vibrant jewel tones paired with black or white accents.
Innovative Techniques: The Art Deco movement introduced innovative jewelry-making techniques. Filigree work, piercing, engraving, and milgrain detailing were commonly used to add intricate patterns and texture to the pieces. Platinum and diamond settings allowed for delicate and intricate craftsmanship.
Influence of Nature and Culture: Art Deco jewelry drew inspiration from various sources, including nature, ancient civilizations, and different cultures worldwide. Designs often incorporated motifs such as sunbursts, chevrons, flowers, feathers, animals, and Egyptian hieroglyphics.
The Rise of Costume Jewelry: With the increasing popularity of Art Deco jewelry, costume jewelry began to gain prominence. Costume jewelry imitated the style of fine jewelry but used less expensive materials like glass, enamel, and faux gemstones. This made fashionable jewelry accessible to a wider audience.
Iconic Designers: The Art Deco period witnessed the rise of influential jewelry designers and houses. René Lalique, Georges Fouquet, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Boucheron were some of the renowned names associated with creating exquisite Art Deco jewelry pieces.
Jazz Age Influence: Art Deco jewelry mirrored the spirit of the Jazz Age, a time of liberation, glamour, and excess. The opulence and exuberance of the period were reflected in the bold and flamboyant designs of the jewelry.
Enduring Popularity: Despite being a product of a specific era, Art Deco jewelry continues to be highly sought after and valued. Its timeless designs and craftsmanship make it a favorite among collectors and enthusiasts to this day.
These are just a few fascinating facts about Art Deco jewelry. The style's enduring appeal lies in its ability to encapsulate the energy and creativity of the 1920s and 1930s, making it a cherished part of jewelry history.
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You've decided to go the custom route, EXCITING! We love custom and even if you're going with another designer (we hope it's us), here are some helpful things to consider.
Custom jewelry allows you to design according to your unique vision and preferences. Not everything can be found online. If you have an idea you've endlessly searched for and cannot find, stop stressing yourself out, you're most likely the perfect candidate for custom jewelry design. If there are elements of something you like but not other part of it, save the image and circle the parts you do like. Take a try at sketching, it doesn't have to be perfect but at least it will give us a starting point/reference.
Before consulting with a jewelry designer, explore different jewelry styles and materials to understand your style and narrow down your preferences. We encourage everyone to shop in person at all the places. Visit many shops and try on jewelry and see what feels the most complimentary to no just what you think is your style but the shape and size of your fingers. This will give you confidence in moving forward with your ideas.
Reach out to designers whose style aligns with yours to inquire about the custom process and price range. This is important, you want to know that your designer will run with your ideas and execute them in a way that puts your mind at ease. Knowing you love their work will add a level of excitement and flow between you and your chosen designer. Typically if you are into their work, they will likely be able to tie loose ends on ideas you have or can make suggestions to improve upon them that you'll actually be excited about.
Once you've chosen a designer, ask them about their process. Will they present design sketches and/or possibly create a 3D CAD rendering to give you a better idea of the final design? A very important part to consider when working with a designer are how they use visual aids in the design process. You do not want to be surprised with a design that looks nothing like what you've discussed, you want to be confident in your design before it goes into production. We do a mix of bare bones sketches, full 3-D designs, sometimes we use gel boxes to play with stone placement, as well as PDF's to scale that you can print at home to cut out and "try-on". Some more complicated designs require a 3-D wax, which we do offer for some design projects. We make sure you have the aids needed to be confident in the finished piece.
Timeline, this is an important one! Do you have the time to even consider going custom? When do you need this piece done by? The custom design process typically takes a few weeks. Factor in time for your designer to shop for your stone, for you to chose your stone, for actual design to be sketched or 3-D produced. Then leave time to make any necessary edits. Also factor in the actual production time. Production can take a month or more depending on how complicated your design is or how many clients are before you. So plan accordingly and give the designer more than enough time (really as much time as you possibly can) to source materials and create the piece. You and the designer should be able to enjoy the process together and short turn around times can sometimes steal the joy out of the creative flow. Reminder: You also have to sync your schedule with your designers schedule too. Sometimes even getting an appointment may take time due to the time of year and the demand of your designers work.
Does your budget allow for custom? The cost of a custom jewelry varies based on the designer and materials chosen. Designers can work with your budget to find high-quality gemstones within your price range. To figure out what yours may cost- reference the designers website for similar looks. If you can't find any, search similar designers and their prices. Do keep in mind that big box jewelers mass produce their jewelry and are able to offer much lower prices. These are not good references for bespoke pieces where the designer is catering to you and designing something that will not be mass produced. Consider the time and attention given to you and your design as well. Plus, It's worth the extra cost to invest in someone who's in love with what they do. You will feel the difference in your experience as a whole. Trust me on this. We small shop designers appreciate your business more than you will ever know. Good vibes only.
Research designers and figure out if they match your design esthetic. When choosing a jewelry designer, it always helps to follow their social media channels to understand their process or review other work they have done. Not all jewelers post their work to their personal website. This will give you the best idea on what kind of work they produce on their social media.
Do the work BEFORE your consult. Get the most out of your experience and do your homework. Have a clear idea of what you want before consulting with a designer and trust their advice and expertise when it comes to what is possible within your budget. Not having a clear idea and making several changes to the design and or budget usually come with fees since they require more labor/design time. Save yourself the headache of dragging out your design time and paying for more work than you want to.
I feel like this one is obvious, but it happens to often so I have to say it. Avoid asking a designer to copy another designer's work. While you can use other's work as inspiration, it's best to create a unique design that reflects your personal style. Make personal tweaks or pull some inspiration from several designers to create your own vision board. This is helpful, but do not ask a designer to straight out copy another. It insults the designer and infringement on other people's worth is ethically not cool.
We wish you the best of luck with whomever you chose for your custom piece, but we would love to be that person for you! If you're interested in working with us, here's a link to get started: https://www.kingandcurated.com/pages/custom-design-questionnaire
]]>Semi-Custom was made out of the desire to make the tailor-made experience accessible to everyone, serving all sorts of budgets. That's precisely the vision that led us to develop Semi-Custom, a revolutionary option that combines the best of customization and convenience. We couldn't be more excited to share with you the myriad of reasons why Semi-Custom is a wonderful alternative to full custom:
1.Personalization: Semi custom jewelry design offers a high level of personalization, allowing you to create a truly unique engagement ring. You can choose specific design elements, such as selecting the type and shape of the gemstone/diamond those of which we have hand picked! You can chose the metal and setting style, and even add personalized engravings. This ensures that the ring reflects your partner's individual style and preferences, making it a meaningful and special symbol of your love.
2.Quality and Craftsmanship: We do not mass produce any of our settings. We recreate the preferred setting every time specifically to perfectly fit your selected stone. When you opt for semi custom jewelry design, you are working with skilled artisans and jewelers who will create your engagement ring with meticulous attention to detail. All rings will be designed specifically for your stones.
3.Budget-Friendly: Semi custom jewelry design can be a more budget-friendly option compared to fully custom designs. While fully custom engagement rings are entirely bespoke, semi custom designs offer a balance between personalization and cost. You can work within a set range of design options and modifications, which can help you manage your budget while still achieving a unique and beautiful ring.
4.Faster Turnaround Time: Compared to fully custom designs that require extensive design consultations and multiple iterations, semi custom jewelry design generally has a quicker turnaround time. Since you are picking your stone directly from our stone library and working with setting designed from us, the process can be streamlined, and the jeweler can efficiently create the ring based on your chosen elements. This is especially beneficial if you have a specific timeline in mind for your engagement.
5.Design Style and unique stone selection: You'll be sure to get a design that's specially designed by KING + CURATED and rest assured it will be in-line with everything else designed with care but made specifically for you. You'll also be able to choose from stones that are not widely available and have been hand picked by our designer for their uniqueness. They are only offered by us for our customers only. We do not share our inventory with other Jewelers.
Overall, semi custom jewelry design offers a balance between personalization, quality, affordability, and expertise, making it a compelling option for those seeking a unique and meaningful engagement ring with the style and care of our team at KING + CURATED.
If you're not on our email list, you'll want to sign up for it to know when semi-custom is live. The finish line is in sight!
]]>Summertime calls for refreshing salads bursting with vibrant flavors, and what better way to elevate your salad than with a homemade vinaigrette? Whip up a delightful summer salad by drizzling it with a zesty vinaigrette that will awaken your taste buds. With fresh mint bursting from the garden, we were ready to use it in nearly everything from dropping it in our water, putting it in our cocktails and of course, salads! See below on how to make a vinaigrette that can be as basic or extra as you wish. We chose a good assortment of veggies, fruits and herbs to go with the dressing as well. See below for what we mixed in with our base of salad greens. The Mandoline slicer is a huge help in getting this whole salad chopped and ready in nearly no time. All items can be store bought, but a lot of these were grown in our own garden!
First lets start with the dressing!
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Feel free to customize this recipe by adding herbs (we like to add scallions and dill), spices, or sweeteners like honey or maple syrup to suit your taste. You can also experiment with different oils and vinegars to create unique flavor combinations.
Now The Salad!
We use a Mandoline slicer to quickly chop up green apples, celery, radish, sugar snap peas and fennel. Chopped fresh mint and green spring onions tossed in some feta along with the vinaigrette and you're ready to dig in! Add candied walnuts if you desire or pepitas! We do several different iterations of this salad throughout the summer. It's a great base to add so many crunchy and refreshing veggies. If you can get your hands on watermelon radishes or are able to grow them at home, they really make the salad pop!
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