Rebecca Zemans Jewelry Blog — custom jewelry design

  In an inverse of the motto of the United States "E Pluribus Unum" meaning "from many - one", our most recent Before & After project is an example of "Ex Uno Plures" meaning "from one - many."   Our customer came to us with her heirloom cultured pearl necklace, a gift she received for her Sweet Sixteen.  Nearly forty years later, she was ready for an updated necklace yet wanted to create something meaningful to pass down to her young nieces as well. The original pearl necklace was tapered meaning that the largest pearl is in the front with...

Welcome to our ongoing series exploring the different types of metals we work with!  Palladium is a metal we are seeing more requests for in additional to traditional metals, so we wanted to educate our customers about some of the great characteristics of palladium.  Palladium is a silvery-white metal with similar properties to platinum, however it is the least dense of the platinum group metals, making it a more affordable metal option than platinum.  It is named after the Pallas asteroid which was discovered around the same time as the metal, at the turn of the 19th century.  Over half...

We hope everyone has been having an excellent summer!  The studio has been busy working with couples to create special wedding bands all season long, as well as custom tailored anniversary and birthday presents.  Our favorite projects always seem to involve heriloom materials and the transformation which takes place in using something old to create something new. Our most recent heirloom redesign was for a client's wedding band using elements of a ring from her Oma.  Our client works with her hands and needed a durable wedding band that suits her lifestyle, yet wanted to incorporate materials from family heirloom...

Mike Stephen, host of Outside the Loop, a WGN 720am radio show that airs on Saturdays at 6am came to visit the studio a few weeks ago to talk about what I do. It was so much fun to have him record the sounds of the studio and chat about my process and inspiration. Click here to have a listen. You'll find me at the 8-minute mark. Enjoy!    

The traditional birthstone for the month of May is the emerald, a beautiful gemstone known for its deep green color. Some of us cannot afford emeralds or might be looking for more variety in color. Chalcedony, the alternative birthstone for May, offers both. Chalcedony is a term that includes several varieties of cryptocrystalline quartz gemstones rather than one specific gemstone itself. The chalcedony is very common and can be found in all 50 United States. It also comes in a variety of colors, shapes and transparencies. The word chalcedony comes from the Latin word chalcedonius, which was first used in...