Rebecca Zemans Jewelry Blog

The alternative birthstone for the month of September is the beautiful Lapis Lazuli, often referred to as the cousin of the turquoise. Because of its beautiful blue color it has often been ground to powder form and then used to create paint and make up. Lapis Lazuli has been used in jewelry for thousands of years and got its name from the Latin word "lapis" which means stone and the Arabian word "azul" which means blue. Lapis is composed mainly out of lazurite and several other minerals, making it a rock rather than a mineral. It measures a 5 -...

We have been busy building up our inventory and working on many custom pieces and so we thought it would be nice to give you a little preview on what we have been working on!   These two gorgeous pieces are wedding bands, which have been carved in wax and then cast into 14K gold with diamonds.  These are variations of our classic Starburst Ring in different metals.     And here are some of the custom necklaces we have been working on over the last few weeks/months. As you might be able to see, the necklaces are variations of our...

One of the birthstones for the month of August is jade, a stone often known for its intense green color. Jade has been known for more than 7000 years, and while one might assume it has mainly been used in ornaments, it started out as a very practical stone used for tools because of its extreme toughness. Jade consists of two separate minerals known as jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite is very tough and resistant because of its tight growth of tiny interlocking grains. Nephrite, a variety of the mineral actinolite, is even tougher, due to its composition of fibrous crystals...

Citywoods is a beautiful little gallery located in downtown Highland Park, IL and specializes in unique handmade pieces from all over the country. This gem of a shop first opened in 1988 and is still run by its original owner, Diana and Robert Schaps. Citywoods showcases a vast variety of art pieces ranging from beautiful wooden furniture and room decorations to fine handmade jewelry and clothing. Nearly five years ago, at my first One of a Kind Show, a buyer from Citywoods came by my booth in the emerging artist section and bought an original Luna Pendant with peridot for...

As you probably know by now, we do a lot of custom work, especially a lot of custom commitment rings. Often times we create pieces from scratch, but sometimes we also revamp an existing piece. A few months ago a couple came to us with two beautiful wedding bands from their grandparents. They wanted to keep the rings and honor the tradition, however they were looking to customize the rings a little bit and add a personal touch. Here are the before and after pictures. As you can see, the simple 14K yellow gold half round band (on the left)...