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Birthstone month: OctoberColor: Opals come in a variety of colors, but are most often predominantly clear, white, blue, black, or orange (known as Mexican or fire opals)Family: OpalMoh's Hardness: 5.5-6Transparency: Translucent to opaque Opals are best known for the flashes of rainbow-colored light that dance across the surface of the stone. These flashes of light and color refract as a result of the grid-like formation of tiny silica spheres that make up this gemstone. The varying size of spheres changes how light is refracted back to your eye, and thus what color you see in the opal. Opals are typically...

I attended a lecture at the University of the Arts last night entitled "The Modern Marketer: a discussion on what it means to work in today's digital landscape." This event was a panel discussion led by Alisha Miranda, and featured Suzanne Cotter, Swabreen Bakr, and Ashley Bernard. They discussed SEO, building content calendars, researching trends, content pillars, decks, metrics, Google analytics certification, and so many other terms that I could barely take notes fast enough! My favorite part of the night was hearing specific details about each of these women's workdays, and how they've been able to learn, adjust and...

  It's engagement season! I've been designing a number of custom engagement rings this month, so my sketchbook has been filled with ideas for halo rings, one-of-kind solitaire stunners, and vintage-inspired engraved rings. xo, Christine

The alternative title for this blog post is "My First Engagement Ring". So glad it was for my sister! On Halloween weekend in 2009, my sister Tania and her boyfriend Chris came to the city for a Halloween house party in South Philly. Tania's always been a little craftier than me, so while she helped my boyfriend whip together a last minute costume, Chris and I went out to the corner store. On that walk, Chris asked if I'd be willing to design an engagement ring for Tania using a diamond he had researched and sourced from Blue Nile. My...

Birthstone month: SeptemberFamily: CorundumColor: Sapphires are typically associated with the color blue, but actually come in almost every colorMoh's Hardness: 9 Sapphires come in red (also known as ruby!), pink, purple, yellow, green, and orange, but the color most often associated with sapphire is blue. A deep, saturated blue is the most coveted shade, though there are desirable variations such as the paler Montana sapphire. The world's most famous sapphire was worn by Princess Diana as an engagement ring. Hers was an oval sapphire, set with numerous delicate prongs and surrounded by a cluster halo of diamonds. Prince William proposed...