The Legend of the “Star of the St. Croix”

It is said that there is a legend in the St. Croix River Valley from long ago. I don’t know if it is true. 

The fabled "Star of the St Croix" diamond- 1.1 carat

Once upon a time there was a handsome French fur trader who married a beautiful Native American woman. He knew of diamonds and promised her that one day he would give her a beautiful stone that would shine like the most brilliant star in the night sky.

They had a wonderful life together but as hard as they worked there was never enough money for him to buy this precious stone. One day, when they were older, they took their canoe out on the river at night to look at the stars. It was calm and the stars were reflected in the water. She said “It looks like the stars are floating in the river.”   He reached down and in his hand there was a beautiful diamond that he gave to her.

This stone was passed on through the generations and at one point was cut into a gem stone and set into a ring. So the story goes.

I recently purchased some old gold jewelry to be recycled. Among the pieces was an old beat up ring with a hundred year old mine cut diamond. I do not normally buy old diamonds because of the expense and It may be difficult to find the right person to sell it to. (See my recent blog “Let’s talk about diamonds) But this one spoke to me. It was hard to tell how good it was because of the old fashion cut. I had it re-cut and certified. It is a lovely diamond.

Whether it is the fabled “Star of the St. Croix” I cannot say, but it surely looks like the brightest star in the night sky!

If you or someone you know may be interested in a larger recycled diamond of good quality, let me know I would be happy to show it to you.

Winter Wonderland

Final ring- Front with cabin 

Ann and Steve are good friends of mine who were recently married. Steve and his family have a cabin in the Black Hills where they have spent wonderful times together. They asked me to make their rings for them. 

Final ring- Deer tracks leading to rose

When I asked what they wanted their rings to be like, Steve thought of the cabin. He then drew a sketch. Ann wanted a rose to be a part of the design as well. There are deer tracks leading from the rose to the trees surrounding the cabin- a winter wonder land.

The "sketch"
You don't need to be a Rembrandt, I'll know what to do

Happy Holidays From James Hunt Designs

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James Hunt

A Joyous Occasion

Several years ago you may have seen one of the early YouTube video’s that went viral. The dancing wedding! It is delightful.  If you have not seen it, there is a link below.  The couple asked me to make custom rings for them and I happily agreed.  The link is for their wedding site, which contains the YouTube video that you just have to watch!  

http://www.jkweddingdance.com/#donate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0&noredirect=1

About a year after they were married, I received an e-mail from them that I thought I would share with you:

“Hello,

My husband, Kevin, and I had our wedding rings made by you last year (we love them!).

You have also made wedding rings for some of our close friends who are also in that video (Ann and Jeff Mason, Lisa and Jimmy Krieger).

We are working on making a short online ad for Google about our wedding- showing websites that we used to plan our wedding. We would like to show your website briefly in the ad- because ours rings are really special to us.  

Sincerely, 

Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz”

All weddings should be this joyful! Enjoy the video!

Tire Tread

This wedding ring was made for a client who lives out east. The couple found me through my web site. We, unfortunately, never met. (I prefer meeting with people. It is just more personal) It was all done on the internet and by phone. They are a really nice couple.

He is a motorcycle racer and wanted a tire tread ring! She was OK with that. A good sign, I think! He sent me a picture of a specific tread design. My guess is that it has a design meant for going around in circles at some kind of frightening speed and precarious angle.

Tire tread picture

Wax casting

Finished ring

How’s that for unique? 

Roman Glass

This pendant was made for a friend of mine. His daughter went to Israel on an archeological dig. The site was a 2000 year old roman ruin. Scattered about the site were pieces of glass from that era. She was allowed to take pieces outside the specified work area and brought them home.  These delicate shards had developed an amazingly beautiful patina, after all that time, that was like an opal. The piece we chose to set was very thin and the coloration was vulnerable to flaking off, both concerns in setting and wearing.  Also the coloration was faint.  What I ended up doing was to mix two part glue, which dries thick, with black india ink and put it on the back of the glass. This gave it strength and enhanced the color. I then sprayed the colored surface with clear enamel to protect the patina.

The setting is made from tiny pieces of driftwood giving it a look of something found along a shore.

This was fun. It is a man’s ring. He brought me a picture of water and said “Do water.” The small stones are black diamonds. (Very manly!)

 

Ruby and Diamond ring

This ring is a twentieth wedding anniversary gift. They were both students when they were married and could not afford a diamond engagement ring. She is of Czechoslovakian descent and loves the look of jewelry from that part of the world. They commonly to use garnets and the gold is a different color from what we are used to seeing. The diamond is a little under one carat and of very high color and clarity. We used deep red rubies instead of garnets and the 14 K gold has a more reddish hue. The pattern of the stones is similar to the designs used by her ancestors. I am pleased with how it looks and she loves it.