Pearl Street is in Bloom

Pearl Street is blooming...

We simply could not work in a more beautiful place than Boulder, Colorado.   All around town the trees are flowering and the beds on the mall are blooming with tulips.  Why not make an afternoon of it next time you drop in to have your jewelry serviced? We'd love to recommend our favorite spots for brunch, shopping, and happy hour... just give us a call!

Diamonds and Donuts; Jolie Designs visits J Albrecht.

On Thursday we welcomed Michael from Jolie Designs to the shop.  We sat down with a little coffee & donuts (Frasca Cafe's amazing maple glazed confections are really more like pure inspiration than breakfast food) and played.

Looking through the new Jolie collection we were excited to find many vintage styles with a decidedly modern point of view...one ring in particular showcased a delicate swirl of flush set diamonds across the crown, with traditional bead set diamonds trailing down the shank of the ring.  In other words, not just your standard diamond-millgrain-intense ring you see advertised in  "Stylish Lady Magazine."

Maybe it was the three cups of coffee, the donut afterglow, or perhaps Jolie's exquisite french baguette sapphires, but we suddenly got the urge to splurge.   Aside from the assortment of stylish diamond stacking bands we're known to carry, we've selected additional fancy diamond bands that will stack with the originals beautifully and hand picked many really lovely engagement settings (many with said french cut sapphire baguettes).   Along with rings, we culled some stunning pendants and several lever back earrings perfect for wearing everyday.   Look for all of these new sparlkies to hit our cases the end of May.   Here's a tiny preview of things to come...

You *need* these earrings.

Just finished... 14k white gold dangle earrings with cabochon cut rutilated quartz and bead set diamonds.

These look amazing with little black dress, jeans & black cashmere sweater, or potato sack. Your call.

Snag them before they end up in Laina's jewelry box.  (shhhhhh...)

$1650

Behind the Scenes: Cast to Finish

Take a look at the rough cast in this yellow gold ring, compare it to the finished piece and you get a little  taste of the labor involved in making fine jewelry.

Counting the Moments Bracelet

Just off the jewelers bench...

It was an exciting day when our client came to us with antique watch faces and asked for a bracelet design. Even more exciting though, was when it came off the bench (just in time for Valentines Day) looking absolutely charming.

We've designed heavy, modern, uniform 14k yellow gold links to contrast the delicate age and various shapes of the watch faces.   It was important to us that the piece have a modern romantic feeling, so we've sandblasted the gold and tucked two small diamonds into the clasp for a peekaboo of sparkle.


Hand made & weighing approximately 44grams.

Facebook...

You can now visit J ALBRECHT on facebook! 

A timeless ring...

We delivered this stunning ring to our tearfully delighted client Erin, just in time for Christmas. We're just posting the photos now after spending the last month reflecting on the many designs we delivered during the  holidays.

We've thought of this ring everyday since it left our shop.  It's truly an honor and a privilege to work with such beautiful, well cut stones.  For lack of a more subtle metaphor, it's kind of like a chef who is given a gorgeous cut of aged, grass fed, perfectly marbled beef and a basket of vine ripened, organic heirloom tomatoes.  Why fuss up high quality ingredients?  A good chef knows to use proper technique and knowledge of flavors to create a simple, expertly seasoned dish where the ingredients are allowed to shine and not be covered by thick sauces or unnecessary garnishes.   

And that's what we've done here.  This is a 2 carat, emerald cut sapphire.  We've accented the sapphire with 2, half carat emerald cut diamonds and then designed a simple, heavy (not hollow) platinum setting to showcase the stones.  We feel this is an example of  classic, quality, sturdy, timeless fine jewelry.  

We love to play, experiment and design unusual, unique jewelry... but quality materials, traditional workmanship, and perfect technique is the foundation for everything we do.