Gemstones
I seek out the finest, highest quality gems in my wedding ring designs, add to them my forty-year story of art, design, and craftsmanship and offer it to you as an addition to your life story that you can wear and pass on to your loved one as a statement of who you are.
Every gemstone has a story, a story of how it was formed, how it was found, how rare it is, how durable, how it is cut, how we found it, and most of all how beautiful it is. I respect this story just as I respect your story of who you are, what you like, and where you are going. I strive to design and make jewelry that employs my forty years in art, design, and jewelry making to honor your story and the gems story.
Carat, Clarity, Color
All our gemstones are naturally forming real gems. We do not use any synthetic, or treated or simulated gems. We search the globe for rare and superior quality gems. Our colored gems (all gemstones not diamond are considered "colored stones") are inspected for clarity, color, and cut and we will only sell superior quality gems. Our diamonds are natural, conflict free diamonds.
Certification
I am certified by The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) for diamond appraisal and grading. I have been certified since 1977 and we are an authorized dealer of Keppie Kiger diamonds.
What is Keppie Kiger?
Keppie Kiger is one of the first diamond cutters in the world to embrace the GIA "Ideal Cut Diamond". Before 1950 each diamond cutter, depending on how he was taught and his own preferences, determined what proportions and facets were best for his diamonds. In the 1950's GIA, after exhaustive research, came up with a set of proportions and facets that were deemed to have the best balance of color, brilliance, and scintillation. This set of proportions was named "Ideal Cut" by GIA, some cutters recognized the superior brilliance and immediately began to cut Ideal Cuts. The new proportions had one drawback for cutters, it required more of the rough diamond to be removed to get the finished stone to the correct proportions. If a cutter had a rough diamond that would yield a 1.25 carat round in his old way of cutting for example, to cut the same rough in "Ideal Cut" proportions the finished stone might weigh only 1.00 carats. So you see by avoiding the "Ideal Cut" proportions a cutter could get a larger weight and diameter diamond out of the same rough even though it would be less beautiful. Keppie, Kiger and a few other cutters were willing to focus on quality rather than quantity and embraced the new cut proportions.
Cut
Today many cutters recognize the "Ideal Cut" superior quality and value, but there are a large percentage of diamonds still being cut to retain the most weight from the rough. These stones usually have a very flat top in proportion to the rest of the stone and are called in the industry "Spread Cut". Spread cut because the diameter is "spread" out larger than the depth would allow if the cutter was focusing on beauty rather than stone size. The result is you can purchase a 1.25 carat spread cut diamond for the same or less price than a 1.00 carat "Ideal Cut" because they were cut from the same size rough. Since the cutter pays by weight, the larger lower quality diamond costs him less, so he can sell a 1.25 carat spread cut for less than a 1.25 carat "Ideal Cut".
Promise
I will not sell a spread cut diamond. I believe it is sacrificing quality for size and it is disrespectful to the stone to purposefully harm the potential beauty for dollars. There is no gain for the customer either. You may get more flash for the cash but it is inferior and for years to come, every time you show your ring and compare it to some ones properly proportioned and cut diamond you will see and feel the difference. If all we care about is big stones we can buy a simulated diamond like Cubic Zirconium that is almost as good as an ideal cut diamond and will cost pennies on the dollar compared to real diamond. You can rest assured that if you have a Greg Neeley Designs original it is of the highest quality in gems, metals, design, and craftsmanship
Thank You!
Greg Neeley