Rubies are rare. The Gull is one of Keith’s most popular ring designs. Keith is the maker/designer of our Clipper Ship Trade Winds Collection. This year’s offering in Clipper Ship Trade Wind jewelry is unusual. Because of Thailand’s “No China” policy in 2022, Keith saw things at prices he’d never seen before. In this most recent collection, Keith is showing more rubies than in all the years we’ve worked with him. Is this likely to continue? No! This is a rare ruby occasion.
Right now, Keith is back in Southeast Asia for two months, once again sourcing and buying gems. He sent us an email regarding rubies. Keith said he was shocked at the current prices of rubies. Our price on this ring is fixed at 2022 pricing, when China was not allowed to compete. If you’re thinking ruby, consider this a forewarning. Ruby rings of this quality at this price will probably never be possible again. Don’t wait.
The Gull
Ruby & Diamond Ring
Gull’s nest on the sheer cliffs of Whitehead on Monhegan Island. Standing at the top of the highest point on the Maine coast, with an expanse of endless blue ocean beyond, gulls glide on updrafts. It’s a rare view on the coast of Maine to be standing above flying gulls.
The Gull Ring has a brilliant red ruby center and eight white diamonds on the outstretched wings. The ring feels as free as the gulls soaring above the cliffs. The Gull is one of our classic Trade Wind designs. When we find a just-right gem, it’s often a candidate for the Gull. You’ll love the understated simplicity of any gem we set into our Gull ring.
This Gem is Rare, Rare, Rare
This is a bright, beautiful red ruby set into one of our most popular ring designs at a price that will certainly never be possible again. If you love ruby…don’t wait. An opportunity like this one may never come again.
Why We Love This Gull Ring
First: It’s super comfortable. It’s totally smooth— no prongs to catch. The gems are locked in solid, safe, and secure.
Second: Ruby is the second hardest gem to diamond, making this ring super practical to wear.
Third: It looks awesome on the hand. Red is a powerful color. It will catch your eye throughout the day. It will draw the attention of friends and family because of its strength and power.
Adopting one of these rings and wearing it for a lifetime will become one of your identifying signatures. You’re likely to have daughters and granddaughters hoping they may be lucky someday to inherit.
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
