Denney Jewelers :: Diamonds and Fine Jewelry in Springfield, Illinois

Valentine Ball 2012

Matthew T. Dearing — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:53:17 +0000

Join us for our Second Annual Valentine Ball on February 11, 2012 from 6 – 9 pm at Denney Jewelers!

It will be another perfect “date night” with many complimentary treats including a Valentine Serenade from Nathan Carls as a preview of his performance at the Hoogland and Tango dance lessons from Grace Nanavati of Springfield’s Dance Arts Studio. We’ll also be serving h’oeuvres and drinks — featuring delicious Belgium chocolates from our last diamond-buying trip — and have a free professional photo session from Heather Reed Photography to capture the evening with your special someone.

The winner of our “Most Romantic Couple 2012″ contest will be announced and all of our nominees and finalists will be featured during the evening.

If you would like to be in the Most Romantic Couple contest, there is still time to submit your story! Visit our “A Little Bit of Romance” blog and send in your story of your romantic jewelry presentation along with a photo or video that represents your story. Stories are selected by a panel of judges and may include input from comments posts on the website and facebook, so be sure to share our site with your friends.

Good luck to all of our Romantic Couple participants, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the party to enjoy an evening of love!

The Denney Diamond

michelle — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:58:36 +0000

The Denney Diamond is secure in its new home at the corner of Veterans and Wabash.

When you have 10,000 square feet of jewelry, you need a sign that reflects who we are: We appreciate art. We appreciate diamonds. We appreciate beautiful things. We think we hit the mark with this brilliant cut diamond.

Guinness World Records is researching whether the gem — illuminated with 2,000 LED lights — can claim the title as the world’s largest diamond.

Read more about our new sign here http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x890736525/Jewel-of-a-sign-created-for-Springfield-business or better yet, come and see it yourself. The newest Springfield landmark is filling the sky with sparkle.

Welcome Brandi!

michelle — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:15:46 +0000

We are pleased to introduce Brandi Plowman, the newest member of the Denney Jewelers team!

Brandi has over nine years of experience in jewelry sales and management. During her previous work in the industry, she was certified by the Diamond Council of America in both diamonds and colored stones. Brandi is a great addition to the showroom at Denney Jewelers, and she looks forward to meeting all of our wonderful customers soon!

Join us as we welcome Brandi to the Denney Jewelers family. Come in to say hello and let Brandi help you select the perfect gift for Christmas this year.

Join us for our 2011 Holiday Party!

michelle — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:15:18 +0000

Our 2011 Holiday Party will be held Thursday, November 17th from 5-9 pm.

We look forward to celebrating our 57th year with refreshments, friends, and Brendan Finnell on the piano.

Come and fill out your wish list and try on all the new sparkles just in for the holidays.

We’re also excited to once again have Peter Storm Jewelry presenting during the party!They have a gorgeous line of fine jewelry, and this is a special chance to experience everything they have to offer.

September Sapphires ~ A Royal Stone

Matthew T. Dearing — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:57:01 +0000

Sapphire is the traditional stone for the 45th wedding anniversary and September birthstone. Ever the stone of royalty, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge’s engagement ring is a stunning 18 carat oval sapphire encircled by diamonds once worn by Diana, Princess of Wales.

Sapphire comes from the Greek word for blue, sappheiros , and this gem provides the most beautiful blues of the gem kingdom. The ancient Persians believed the earth rests on a giant sapphire. Its reflection, they said, made the sky blue.

Sapphire is the original “true blue”: the gem of fidelity and of the soul. In ancient times, a gift of a sapphire was a pledge of trust, honesty, purity, and loyalty. This tradition makes sapphire a popular choice for engagement rings.

But sapphire doesn’t have to be blue to be beautiful. Sapphire also comes in beautiful pinks, yellows, oranges, and peach and violet colors. These other colors are often referred to as fancy sapphire. In fact, sapphire comes in every color but red, because a red sapphire would be a ruby: both are the mineral corundum.

The most south-after color of fancy sapphire is the rare and beautiful padparadscha sapphire: a pink-orange corundum with a distinctive salmon color reminiscent of a tropical sunset . Found mostly in Sri Lanka, these ultra-rare, ultra-expensive stones are among the most coveted gems in the world.

Pink sapphires are a current fashion favorite. Jewelry designers are setting sapphires in bubblegum and powderpuff hues in platinum or white gold in exquisite styles adorned with pave diamonds.

As designers have delighted in pink sapphires, they have also begun to discover related hues such as violet, purple, and a bright reddish-orange some call “papaya.” With earth tones now featured in clothing, jewelry manufacturers have begun to explore corundum’s extensive range of yellow, golden, and orange shades.

Sapphires are found in Kashmir, Burma, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, Tanzania, Kenya, and the United States.

Sapphire with fine color is so desirable that producers take an extra step after mining and before cutting to make sure that a sapphire has the best hue possible. Most blue sapphires are heated almost to 2,000 degrees which can intensify the color. Sometimes dark sapphire can be lightened by heat but this process often doesn’t work. Fancy colored sapphires are also often heated to develop the best possible color. Some sapphires are heated to improve clarity as well as color. Heat enhancement is stable, routine, and does not require special care.

If you want a sapphire whose color is natural, insist on a report from a recognized gem testing laboratory like the AGTA Gemological Testing Center indicating the stone shows no evidence of heat alteration. But also be prepared to pay a premium for the privilege.

It is also recommended that you ask for lab verification of origin for any sapphire purported to be from Kashmir, Burma, or any other prestigious country of origin. Stones proven to be from certain localities command a premium based on that fact. AGTA’s lab also offers respected origin reports.

Sapphire occurs readily in sizes up to 2 carats, and yet, it is not unusual to see gemstones in sizes of 5 to 15 carats. Sapphires are most common in cushion and oval shapes. Other shapes, including rounds, emerald cuts, princess cuts, and trilliants are readily available in sizes under a carat.

Peridot for August Birthdays

Matthew T. Dearing — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:47:08 +0000

The fresh lime green of peridot is its distinctive signature. The color of most gems is caused by traces of other elements but the color of peridot is an integral part of its structure. If you love citrus tones or earth tones, you’ll find that peridot is an integral part of your jewelry wardrobe. Its spring green color also is ideal with sky blue.

The beauty of peridot, the gem form of the mineral olivine, is a result of extreme conditions. Peridot is found in the rocks created by volcanoes and even in meteors that fall to earth. A few samples of extraterrestrial peridot have even been faceted into gems. Peridot is formed deep within the earth under tremendous heat and pressure.

Peridot is treasured in Hawaii as the goddess Pele’s tears. The island of Oahu even has beaches made out of tiny grains of peridot. Although hawaii’s volcanoes have produced some peridot large enough to be cut into gems, virtually all peridot sold in Hawaii today is from Arizona, another state with extreme geology.

Today most peridot is mined, often by hand, by Native Americans on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona. Peridot found here is beautiful in color but relatively small in size. Faceted peridot from Arizona is rare in sizes above five carats.

Fine large peridot are found in Burma and large quantities of peridot are also mined in China. In 1994, an exciting new deposit of fine peridot was discovered in Pakistan, 15,000 feet above sea level in the far west of the Himalaya Mountains in the Pakistanian part of Kashmir. Beautiful large crystals of peridot were found, some that cut magnificent large gemstones.

The ancient Romans called peridot “evening emerald,” since its green color did not darken at night but was still visible by lamplight. Peridot was mined in ancient Egypt on an island called Zeberget. Mining was done at night because legend said that peridot could not be easily seen during the day. The island was infested with serpents who made peridot mining a very dangerous occupation until one Pharoh finally had them all driven into the sea.

Peridot later was also often used to decorate medieval churches, probably carried back to Europe by the Crusaders. Large peridots, more than 200 carats in size, adorn the shrine of the three magi at the Cologne Cathedral.

Small cut peridot smaller than three carats are very common and affordable. Gemstones over 5 carats begin to climb in value. Those above 10 to 15 carats are rare, but provide a big and bold look for an affordable price.

Peridot, the birthstone for August, and is said to bring the renewal of springtime to its wearer.

Ruby Fireworks for July

Matthew T. Dearing — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 18:39:58 +0000

Throughout most of recorded history, ruby has been the world’s most valued gemstone. Even diamond was considered common in comparison to the supreme beauty and value of this glowing red gem. Named from the Latin word for its hue, ruber, ruby is the epitome of the boldest of colors: the gem of desire, passion, courage, and emotion.

In the ancient language of Sanskrit, ruby is called ratnaraj, or “king of precious stones.” In the Bible, only wisdom and virtuous women are “more precious than rubies.”

Early in the eleventh century, Persian sage al-Biruni was only conveying the popular wisdom of the time when he wrote that ruby has “the first place in color, beauty and rank” among all gems.

Nine centuries later, British author Max Bauer, in his 1894 Masterpiece Precious Stones, writes: “A clear, transparent, and faultless ruby of a uniform red color is at the present time the most valuable precious stone known.”

Granted, the value of fine ruby relative to other highly prized gems wasn’t as extreme in Bauer’s day as it had once been. Around 1550, Italian goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini reported that the finest one-carat ruby cost eight times more than a comparable-quality one-carat diamond. By Bauer’s time, the same ruby was only two times as expensive as its diamond equivalent.

Nevertheless, a 2:1 value ratio between fine rubies and diamonds is impressive. Certainly, ruby’s status as the most valuable gem of the age helps to explain why England took the rather drastic step of invading and annexing Upper Burma in 1885 when it learned a French company would begin mining of this gem at the famed Mogok ruby tract—the most celebrated source for ruby ever known and still the most important today.

Although certain color tones are associated with different country’s mines: Burma, now known as Myanmar, with pure reds, Vietnam with vivid pinkish rubies with exceptional clarity, Sri Lanka with more pastel softer pinkish reds, Thailand with dark red to burgundy, Kenya with translucent stones with juicy pure reds, Madagascar with pure transparent reds, color alone cannot tell you where a stone was born: a laboratory report may be required. When confirmed, stones from Burma’s famed Mogok mine command a premium, particularly if the color is natural.

Ruby is most common in oval and cushion shapes. Other shapes may be difficult to find in sizes above a carat. Rubies above five carats are extremely rare and valuable.

Ruby, like sapphire, is the mineral corundum, one of the most durable minerals, a crystalline form of aluminum oxide. Corundum has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale and is also extremely tough. In its common form, it is even used as an abrasive. As a result, rubies are the most durable of gems. Ruby is the traditional birthstone for July and the symbol of the 40th wedding anniversary.

Introducing Belle Étoile Fine Italian Enamel

michelle — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 20:38:19 +0000

We are pleased to announce that Belle Étoile fine Italian Enamel is now available at Denney Jewelers!

Belle Étoile invites you to “Shine Like the Star You Are” and combines the finest Italian enamel with designs ranging from bright and whimsical to elegant and timeless.

With a jewel box full of styles and colors to express yourself, Belle Étoile adheres to the philosophy of combining natural beauty and grace with the perfection of high-quality craftsmanship and outstanding designs to give our customers the fun, beauty, and excellence they expect.

Mix and match pendants, earrings, rings, bangles, pearls and more from this fabulously fun line of jewelry. Just looking at it is going to put a smile on your face. Come and see what all the fuss is about and have some FUN this summer!

Pearls – June Birthstone and Traditional 30th Anniversary Gifts

michelle — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:37:49 +0000

Nothing is as elegant as a simple strand of pearls against a black dress. But cultured pearls today have an exciting range of colors, sizes and shapes that make them ideal for a wide range of jewelry.

Cultured pearls come in many beautiful colors, from palest cream and white to rose, lilac, green, gold, gray, and black. This new pearl diversity is thanks to new producing countries, new mollusks, and new demand from consumers who have made multicolor strands and new styles of pearl jewelry as popular as traditional strands of white pearls.

For the entire span of human history, mankind admired, even worshipped, pearls. In Persian mythology, they are called “the tears of the gods.” In some Muslim legends, the pearl is God’s first act of creation.

According to ancient Chinese legend, the moon holds the power to create pearls, instilling them with its celestial glow and mystery. The ancient Greeks thought pearls were dew from the moon collected by oysters that opened their shells as they floated on the sea at night. Pearls are an organic gem, created when a mollusk like an oyster covers a foreign object with beautiful layers of nacre, the mother of pearl.

Once occurring only by chance, today most pearls are cultured by man. A shell bead or mantle tissue is placed inside an oyster and the oyster is returned to the water. When the pearl is later harvested, the oyster has covered the bead or tissue with layers of nacre.

The cultured pearl industry began in Japan, with Akoya saltwater cultured pearls. A wardrobe classic, these lustrous white strands are still produced in Japan today but they are much more rare, as ocean pollution and the industrialization of Japan has made it more difficult to farm oysters in the coastal bays. Akoya cultured pearls are known for exceptional luster, due in part to the cold waters where they are grown. Today the majority of the cultured pearls on the market, even traditional-looking white strands, are freshwater pearls cultured in China. Most freshwater pearls are nucleated with tissue instead of a round bead. This means the nacre is thicker but it means that most pearls are usually not perfectly round. China also produces freshwater cultured pearls in warm pastel pink, oranges, and purples. Many of the shells used as tissue starts for these pearls comes from very close to home, mollusks from the Illinois and Wabash Rivers are collected and shipped to pearl fields in Japan!

In the warmer waters of the South Pacific, bigger mollusks produce South Sea cultured pearls and black Tahitian cultured pearls, which are larger, up to 20 mm in size. South Sea cultured pearls, white, cream, and golden in color, are the world’s most valued pearls for their immense size and natural satiny luster. South Sea pearls are produced in Australia, the Phillippines, and Burma.

The popularity of Tahitian cultured pearls has exploded over the past decade. These natural colored pearls are not just black: they are grown in an amazing range of colors, including pistachio, silver, eggplant, green, and charcoal, with shimmering iridescent overtones. Traditionally, pearl dealers had to slowly and patiently collect matching pearls from among the wide variety of hues to put together a matching strand. Today, multicolor strands that celebrate the variety of tones available are also very popular.

The quality of cultured pearls is judged by the orient, which is the soft iridescence caused by the refraction of light by the layers of nacre, and luster, the reflectivity and shine of the surface. Also look for any flaws or spots in the nacre: the best pearls have an even smooth texture. Other factors that affect value are the regularity of the shape, size, and color.

Cultured pearls and natural pearls can be distinguished from imitation pearls by a very simple test. Take a pearl and rub it gently against the edge of a tooth. Cultured and natural pearls will feel slightly rough, like fine sandpaper, because of the texture of natural nacre. Imitations will feel as smooth as glass because the surface is molded or painted on a smooth bead.

Because pearls are organic, they have a relatively low hardness of 2.5 to 3.5 and should be stored away from other jewelry to prevent scratching. Always put on perfume and sprays before you put on pearls, since chemicals may be absorbed into pearls, staining them. Wipe pearls clean with a moist soft cloth.

Alexandrite – The Magic of Science

michelle — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:27:40 +0000

One of the birthstones for June, Alexandrite is a rare and beautiful gem. If you love magic, especially the magic of science, you’ll love alexandrite, the color-change gem. Outside in daylight, it is a cool bluish mossy green. Inside in lamplight, it is a red gem, with a warm raspberry tone. You can watch it flick back and forth by switching from fluorescent to incandescent light.

A lexandrite is a gem variety of the mineral chrysoberyl discovered in 1830 in Czarist Russia. Since the old Russian imperial colors are red and green it was named after Czar Alexander II on the occasion of his coming of age.

How does the color change work? Most gems transmit and absorb light throughout the visible spectrum and we interpret the mixture of the transmitted wavelengths as the gem’s color. Alexandrite transmits light only in two discrete windows of the spectrum, in the blue-green and red regions. The rest of the spectrum is absorbed. When viewed under light sources active in those particular regions of transmission, you see one of the two colors. In daylight, or in artificial light that simulates it, like fluorescent light, light waves in the green region predominate. In candlelight, or artificial light that simulates it like incandescent or tungsten light, light waves in the red region predominate. The gem is displaying changes in the light, not changing itself.

Today, fine alexandrite is most often found in period jewelry since newly-mined gems are extremely rare. You’ll see fine gems offered at auction with impressive estimates. The original source in Russia’s Ural Mountains has long since closed after producing for only a few decades and only a few stones can be found on the market today. Material with a certificate of Russian origin is still particularly valued by the trade. Some alexandrite is found in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and Brazil but very little shows a dramatic color change. For many years, alexandrite was almost impossible to find because there was so little available.

A photo can never do true Alexandrite justice. Denney Jewelers is pleased to be able to offer our customers some amazing Alexandrite samples. Come in to see one of the rarest gems in the world.