Norway has fjords, thousands of them. Sweden has some too, but not as big or dramatic. What Sweden does have is Sweden Princess Blue sapphires, not mined in Sweden, but a color associated with Sweden’s princess – in our own case, we acquired a big chunk of a large gem that had been owned by a princess of Sweden. It was a light pastel blue, a baby blue color.
The princess had five ladies-in-waiting. The princess tripped one day, fell and broke the large blue sapphire in her ring into 3 pieces. She gave the pieces to three of her ladies-in-waiting. 100 years later, an 80 year-old woman came into our store and said “I have something to sell, but first I have a story to tell and I want to find out if part of my story is true.” She said, “I had a great grandmother who was a lady-in-waiting…”
We checked the 5 carat broken piece and it tested natural blue sapphire. The 80 year-old woman said, “I’m cleaning out and settling my affairs, so I wanted to find out. What will you offer me for this?” We made an offer, she accepted. We cut a large pear-shape pastel blue sapphire and sold it very quickly.
This gem has the same shade of blue as the
original Sweden Princess blue gem.
Price: $1,714
About the Trade Wind Collection:
Where does inspiration come from? Where do the creative sparks for design begin? For Cross’ new Trade Wind Jewelry Collection, we find ourselves drawn into the story of Captain John Henry Drew, from Gardiner, Maine. Born in 1834, he grew up the son of a Ship’s Carver, and went to sea at the age of 15, eventually becoming Captain of a series of clipper ships, and traveling from New York to China and back home, when that voyage took more than seventeen months.
Instead of carving or knotting or other hobbies that were characteristic of sailors, this mostly self-educated man read books, memorized details from newspapers, and wrote about his journey—his literal and his inner journey. His hand-written and personally illustrated journals tell us of his longing for Maine, for his family, and for “making something of himself”. He is very much like you and me, and it makes his story that much more compelling. He savors apples from home, as tasting better than apples from anywhere else. He imagines the scene he might see looking in the window at home, where his family sits, and he chastises himself for not getting more done at home when he was there.
The jewelry in our Trade Wind Collection is made by his great-great-great grandson, Keith. This young man went to sea as well, at age 18. As part of his service to the US Navy, his travels took him to many of the same places his great-great-great grandfather’s clipper ships visited. Keith also had a hobby unconventional for sailors— he had a fascination for gems and he studied gemology. He studied so that when his service was completed, he could become a jeweler. As Keith traveled the world, he collected exquisite gems, and after leaving the service and returning home, he mastered the art of fine jewelry making.
It is now decades later. We met Keith for the first time in March, 2014. We were impressed with his jewelry, and as we talked further, discovered he had a clipper ship sea captain ancestor and became intrigued with the parallels of his journey in life with that of his sea captain forebear.
The parallels in the two stories are expressed in the jewelry itself—the exotic colors, the flow of the designs, the attention to detail which is something passed down in this family—whether it is to protect the ship, its cargo and its crew, or to create a design that will last and protect its valuable gems, giving the wearer the same pleasure we experience when a ship at full sail goes by. You can’t help but stop and exclaim, “Isn’t that beautiful?”
We were hooked by this story, and by the jewelry. We think you will be too. In fact, we’re posting pages from Captain Drew’s journals from the Voyage of the Franklin in 1868. Take a few minutes to join in the journey, and think of those you love most, and rejoice if they are right there with you.
Read the Captain’s
Clipper Ship Journal Entries
Read Keith’s Gem Expedition Dispatches
