Name: Returning Tide SparHawk Maine Tourmaline Ring
Style#: G4859
Precious Metal: 14K White Gold
Gem: SparHawk Maine Tourmaline = .86 carat (7x5mm oval)
Price: $1,675
AU 23
Ring Sizing & Delivery Time The majority of our rings are size 6.5 to start. Remarkably, this size fits 30% of all women perfectly. If you would like this ring made to a specific size, please allow three weeks for delivery. We will call or email you when it’s ready to ship.
If You Need the Ring Faster – simply select in the finger size selection box “No Sizing Yet, Ship Right Away”. We will ship the ring in its present size. You will have your new ring in a few days, boxed, bowed and ready for presentation.
After receiving your ring, if you find it needs additional adjustment, give us a call and we will mail you a special free set of ring sizers and a prepaid return label to send the ring back to us for final sizing. Read more about ring sizing.
Returning Tide Style
Our family has a summer cottage on a white sand beach in Maine. Four generations of our family have returned to the beach for nearly 100 years. Each year in June I prep the land and cottage for summer. I work hard. I work steady until the tide enters the tidal creek where our cottage is located, and then I sit and watch. It doesn’t matter what time of day the tide comes in, its arrival is a matter of importance I never tire of. There is something so compelling about the rising tide…the certainty, the predictability, its strength, the moon is pushing pulling the water to shore and although I can’t see the invisible force its power is obvious. I love to watch this surge of water that returns to flood the land twice a day. Water as it flows in and particularly around the edges of docks, creates flow lines. I see the flow lines in this ring, which we call the Returning Tide.
I’ve always dreamed of a gem find like this. To have this mine be so close to home, just 28 miles north of our store in the mountains of western Maine, is amazing. Gems so fine, so pure, with colors so vivid. It’s important someone documents this historic gem find here in Maine, because it’s a history-making discovery in the world of gems.
The video above is 1:43. It gives you a good idea of the excitement we feel for the gems we are discovering here in Maine.
Maine has been world-famous for the tourmaline gems mined here for over 200 years. The geology in our western mountains has yielded a treasure trove of world class gems. Cross Jewelers has been the Maine state leader, bringing fine Maine tourmaline jewelry to all of America for over 100 years.
We have over 200 pieces of Maine tourmaline jewelry from both the SparHawk mine and other Maine mines.
Two options for deeper Maine gem mine understanding:
A.) The 32-page written story of the 2013 gem mining season at the SparHawk mine.
b.) A collection of gem mining videos at the SparHawk mine.
A Maine Story
An American Gem
First discovered in 1820 and subsequent finds over the years, it put Maine on the world map as a source for high quality tourmaline gems. A major discovery in 1972 on Plumbago Mountain in Newry, Maine cemented Maine as a significant world source of fine tourmaline gemstones.
Cross recognized the historical significance of this find and began working closely with the miners of these magnificent gems. The close partnership continues today with the ongoing discoveries in Maine’s western mountains.
100% Natural
We’ve been to the mines. We know the miners. We know the gem cutters. We guarantee our tourmaline to be from Maine and 100% natural. Cross maintains the largest collection of fine Maine tourmaline jewelry in the world.
Window of Opportunity
Nearly fifty years has passed since the major 1972 tourmaline find in Newry, Maine where they found 3.5 million carats of tourmaline crystals. Over the years we bought more than we sold knowing that gem finds don’t last forever. There are now colors, sizes, and shapes that are extremely rare and in some cases no longer available. If you see something you love it’s best to act quickly. There’s no guarantee another like it exists.
Case in point: In 2007 there was a find of tourmaline in Newry, Maine called Eureka Blue. People loved the color. The gems sold quick, but the find was small and the mining only lasted a few seasons. By 2013 all the large Eureka gems had sold. We still get calls from people who are now ready to buy. What they want, however, simply does not exist.
Gem finds are rare, especially in North America. Maine tourmaline is a piece of Maine and American history, it’s a connection to place, an exquisite creation of nature. Today, there is a rare opportunity to own a bit of Maine/American pride and heritage, in choosing a piece of Maine tourmaline jewelry.
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 Journal Entries
Name: Returning Tide SparHawk Maine Tourmaline Ring
Style#: G4859
Precious Metal: 14K White Gold
Gem: SparHawk Maine Tourmaline = .86 carat (7x5mm oval)
Price: $1,675
AU 23
Ring Sizing & Delivery Time The majority of our rings are size 6.5 to start. Remarkably, this size fits 30% of all women perfectly. If you would like this ring made to a specific size, please allow three weeks for delivery. We will call or email you when it’s ready to ship.
If You Need the Ring Faster – simply select in the finger size selection box “No Sizing Yet, Ship Right Away”. We will ship the ring in its present size. You will have your new ring in a few days, boxed, bowed and ready for presentation.
After receiving your ring, if you find it needs additional adjustment, give us a call and we will mail you a special free set of ring sizers and a prepaid return label to send the ring back to us for final sizing. Read more about ring sizing.
1-800-433-2988 | Monday - Friday 9:30 am to 5:00 pm, EST
Orders Over $1,000 require a signature on delivery. You may choose free FedEx Overnight or US Post Office Express Mail.
Orders Under $1,000 no signature is required. You may choose FedEx 2-Day Service or US Post Office Priority Mail.
Rings that need to be sized take extra time (See our current sizing time). If ordering a ring, you may select, “No Sizing Yet, Ship Right Away”.
Curbside Pickup is also Available – please give us a call to place your order.
Shipping Details
Orders Over $1,000 – Ship Free by your choice of FedEx Overnight or US Post Office Express. A signature is required on delivery.
Orders Under $1,000– Ship Free by your choice of 2-Day FedEx or US Post Office Priority Mail. No signature required.
We design, craft, and create really nice jewelry with amazing gems. Our guarantee, she’ll love your gift. If for any reason she doesn’t… you know you’ve got 30-days for a refund or exchange.