Posts Tagged ‘engagement ring nz’

It’s been a while between drinks and blogs, right?
Most of you would know by now that myself and Mr Deb have left New Zealand and have relocated to Australia’s Sunshine Coast hinterland near Pomona.

Moving countries in your 50s ( or at any age really!) is no easy task, but moving countries during a pandemic has probably been the most challenging and stressful time in my life since living after the Christchurch earthquakes.
There were so many times we thought we would never get here with the Queensland border shut tight and a few times we thought, let’s just call it quits it’s too difficult, find a rental manager for the house in Aus, and remain in NZ because every time we booked a flight it was cancelled.
So we flew into Sydney on December 15 thinking let’s stay the mandatory 14 days as international arrivals, avoid quarantine and drive up crossing interstate into Queensland.
The plan whilst good in theory quickly became a nightmare that revolved around finding Covid testing sites.
First the day after arrival, then 3 days after, then 6 days, just as Omicron took off and we became caught up in the madness of 10-hour queues for testing and the huge backlog of people also trying to get across into Queensland.
Of course, Murphy’s Law would have it that the day after we finally made it across the border Queensland dropped the 72-hour pre-Covid testing.

I am a strong, fierce woman – but geez – it nearly broke me.

But we’re here, and our new life has just begun, there’s still a massive amount of work that needs done daily, but there’s so much to discover whether it be new places to visit or new people to meet – It’s exciting and we want to embrace it fully!
In times like this I try to remember life’s not a destination it’s a journey and there’s always calm amongst the chaos and you just need to reflect on what’s important.

As I mentioned a few times on social media there is still a bit of work to do on the studio before we are fully up and running.
Mr Deb likes to build things properly, so has made the decision to virtually rebuild from the ground up where the old art studio space was.
New lining, new gib, plus replacing a sidewall with windows so we now have a view into the garden #jungle .

“ Do it once. , do it right “ is his motto.

This is not an easy task with building material shortages and 30°C, 90% humidity days, but his persistence is admirable, especially as a few of the locals had to be “moved on  .”
Just the usual scorpions, a huge nest of jumping ants and spiders the size of your fist, however of the stars of the show were two snakes that needed to be removed from the roof space yesterday.
Luckily they were only brown tree snakes and not brown snakes ( yes, Kiwis there is quite a difference ), but still they reared their heads up at being disturbed.
For once Mr Deb actually listened to me when I said using a leaf blower to move them on was possibly not a great idea and let’s call a snake catcher.
He’s ( Mr Deb ) not at all fazed by all this -but I will admit I now have the local snake catcher on speed dial!

SO WHEN WILL WE BE UP AND RUNNING?

Ideally, I would like to be up and running to some degree by the end of February and even if I am not quite ready for custom work then perhaps I could still be open for one on one ( very casual ) appointments at our house, where I show you what I have in stock over a coffee ( or perhaps a cheeky wine, or cocktail)!- we just need a little more furniture to not look like squatters in our own home.
Currently, our container packed up in NZ with Crown in December seems to be not leaving the country anytime soon. ( Hand on head Emoji ).

“I always like to tell my customers”…

“Moissanite isn’t a fake diamond, it is its own gem and chemical composition,” Cubic zirconia may be a better-known  ( very cheap and a little nasty ) diamond alternative, but it doesn’t have the same unique qualities as moissanite. ”

For the longest time, there was no good alternative to diamonds.

Stones like CZ become cloudy over time, have a not-so diamond-like blueish undertone, don’t sparkle like a diamond, and are not hard enough to wear daily to hold up over a lifetime.

Moissanite however is extremely hard wearing, near impossible to chip never clouds or loses its sparkle, and thanks to the innovation of facet patterns, it looks identical to a diamond.

Moissanite Discovery

They say that moissanite is a gemstone born from the stars. It was discovered in 1893 by French scientist Henri Moissan inside a meteorite crater in Arizona. He thought he’d just found a diamond and after studying it in a lab, Moissan found out it was silicon carbide, which he named moissanite.

Where Moissanite Comes From

In recent years some quantities were found in Israel; however, mined moissanite isn’t suitable to be used in jewellery. So this gem is lab-grown these days, which makes it environmentally friendly and conflict-free as well. Many appreciate and choose socially-responsible jewellery, which provides assurance and guarantees like moissanite.

Growing moissanite in a laboratory isn’t easy or straightforward either. Only a very few companies in the world can create this complex process of growing moissanite gems. It is certainly a mix of science and art!

This makes moissanite rarer than diamonds.

Strong Moissanite

While moissanite looks and behaves like a famous diamond, not many know it is more brilliant than a diamond. That’s because moissanite reflects more light. This clever gem can also stay brilliant for longer as its surface attracts less grime and dirt than a diamond. So it sparkles for much longer between cleans.

It is made to be worn every day no matter what conditions, as it’s very durable and scratch and heat-resistant. So it’s needless to say that it delights its owner for a lifetime. Moissanite is harder than rubies and sapphires with the Mohs hardness scale rating of 9.25. Being heat-resistant brings a massive advantage to moissanite, and this is why:

● This gem can be cast in place more precisely, which produces exact-fit designs.
● Repairing your moissanite jewellery is easy and will not damage the jewels.
● Gems can survive extreme temperatures like fire.

Affordability

You’d think that something rarer and more brilliant than a diamond will be expensive, but the answer is no. Moissanites are generally lower in price than diamonds, so it’s very affordable. Jewellery with moissanite allows its owner the option of choosing a gem size they truly desire.

COLOUR GRADING OF MOISSANITE

For those wanting a near-colourless stone, a moissanite is a great option – colourless moissanite is the equivalent of the MOST EXPENSIVE and rare diamond colour grading D-E.

Coloured moissanite has a lesser price point and comes in blues, greens, greys, yellow, pink and shades of champagne.

Moissanite is an Ethical Choice Compared to Many Diamonds

The diamond industry has very questionable ethics even today ( Goggle De Beers “diamond cartel ” and you can read all about the many unethical practises the industry turns a blind eye to).

There are many jewellery companies that use the phrase ” ethical mined” or ” sustainably mined” or some other catchphrase. And whilst I too use mined gems from only ethical suppliers  – at the end of the day, these are  STILL MINED!

Underground mining can cause tunnel collapses, contaminate water, release toxins into the air, erode soil and destroy vegetation.

Not only that hazardous chemicals used to extract and process the gemstones can leak into the environment, harming local human populations- did you know it can take many tonnes of precious water to mine a single sapphire?