In 1847, the now world-famous Cartier jewelry company was founded in Paris by Louis-François Cartier, whose son Alfred took over in 1874. In 1899, Alfred’s sons—Louis, Pierre, and Jacques—took the reins and established Cartier as a worldwide luxury brand name. Not long after Pierre, the last of Louis-Francois’s three grandsons, died, the great grandchildren sold…
For more and more couples, traditional gold or diamond-and-gold wedding bands aren’t reflective of their unique relationships. For second marriages, many couples even eschew the engagement ring, which allows for more freedom in choosing wedding bands because they aren’t restricted by matching needs. Often, couples don’t even find the need to match each other, but…
David Yurman’s distinctive sculptural designs are easy to spot, and you’ll spot them often when shopping for jewelry at pawn shops in northern Virginia. A Long Island, New York native, Yurman met Cuban welder and sculptor when he was only sixteen years old; from Gonzales, the would-be jewelry designer learned the techniques that influence his…
Eternity rings have been in the trendy limelight as wedding bands, not just because they’re far more beautiful and stunning than their plain gold counterparts, but because both the name and the endless circle of those ever symbolic diamonds—hard, durable, lasting—ramp up the meaning of the ring by at least a carat. The style was…
For watches as beautiful as they are functional, Loudoun Jewelry on Maple Avenue is a great place to start. We have a rotating and varied selection of luxury watches with precision movements so stunning as to be art, and styles so classic they can be worn for generations and the Rolex Submariner certainly falls into that category. The Rolex Oyster…
To call platinum a trend is a bit of a misnomer. Hardly new, platinum was revered even in ancient Egyptians’ time. By the end of the 19th century, it was the preferred metal for jewelry design, remaining so until World War II, when the government declared platinum a strategic metal and banned its use for…
Nobody can deny the beauty of precious silver, but in its natural state, it’s too soft to use for anything functional, including most jewelry. Enter sterling silver, an alloy that 92.5 percent silver, and 7.5 percent other metals (usually copper) that give it strength and durability without taking way its luster and brilliance. With sterling,…
When DeBeers coined that famous phrase, “A diamonds is forever,” they weren’t just talking about engagement rings and they certainly weren’t just talking about a solitaire. Diamonds in design, clusters, and shapes are just as eternal and infinitely more interesting. Vintage designers—Victorian, Edwardian, and Art Deco styles are most popular—knew this, and made use of…
It seems that earrings and necklaces get most of the attention when it comes to statement jewelry, but you when a bracelet is bold or bright enough to draw attention, it can do the job as well as any pair of chandeliers. We dare anyone to not admire the diamond bracelets we’ve got at Loudoun…
Everything old is new again, so while you’re right in thinking that brooches are your grandmother’s jewelry, you’re totally wrong if you think that means they’re not hip. Here at Loudoun Jewelry on Maple Ave., we get a lot of brooches through estate collections, and they’re among the most novel and unique pieces we have…