Why is there a Jaguar in our logo?
We get it… “Why the Jaguar? What’s the connection?” So, we asked Manuel to explain: “The recounting of the majesty…
Carl’s Top 5 Jewelers Bench Jams
With whatever purpose you listen to music, that purpose will be increased. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Duval street is empty with the exception…
Top 10 Jewelry Care Tips
So you have gone and bought yourself a nice new emerald ring, or you got one as a gift from…
Marcial de Gomar Designs
What inspires a Marcial de Gomar Design? The founder of Emeralds International, Manuel J. Marcial, is a self-taught jewelry designer…
Catching Green Fever
“Forget the gold, forget the diamonds. The emerald is a romance that never ends. That emerald should reach in and…
How To Buy An Emerald
The beauty of purchasing an emerald lies in the diversity and variety of nuances of color, clarity, fire/brilliance and sizes available to select. Choose clarity and fire/brilliance over color or conversely, the darker green, whichever pleases you more.
Rough Emerald Perfection
Our very own journey in this classroom of life requiring the mining of the “inner gems of virtue” that lay latent within each one of us, somewhat mirrors that same journey in the gem world. The extreme pressures and heat that the elements of the earth undergo to transform into magnificent gems are mirrored by the heat and pressure of trials and tribulations mankind endures which also have the ability to transform us into spiritual gems.
How To Buy a Conch Pearl
We understand that the process of buying any piece of jewelry, let alone a rare conch pearl design, can be a difficult one. Unless you are an expert in gemology how do you know? Here are a few tips specifically on how to buy a conch pearl, but some of these tips can help you for all types of jewelry purchases.
Manuel’s First Conch Pearl Encounter
“One successful fishing day I traded 8 lobster with a local fisherman named Regino Castillo, for a fine pink pearl that later was made into a beautiful gold pendant with emerald and diamond accents. Although I felt that I might be getting the short end of the deal since I knew nothing of the history of conch pearl jewelry at the time or what I was looking at, that same pendant sold for over $6000.00 in the 1980’s…”
Secrets of the Spanish Galleons
Sometime within the first year after finding the scattered remains of the two galleons, Mel came into my shop on Duval Street, and without the customary greetings said in a loud and concerned voice, “I have lots of green stones coming up off the Atocha and I don’t know what they are!” I reassured him that I would come over to his offices and make the determination of the nature of his ‘green stones’.