Somewhere at the edge of an August beach of your childhood, a tide pool shimmers in the summer heat, its cool, clear water surrounding your ankles. Beneath its surface, starfish, sea urchins, and tiny crabs dream mysteries of the deep.
As a kid, I spent my summers on a white-sand beach on the coast of Maine. There was a tidal river with saltwater marshes at one end of the beach and cliffs, rocks, and tide pools at the other end of the beach, with a quarter mile of white beach sand between. From my youth, I have walked the tideline many hundreds of times feeling the pulse and flow of rise and fall, wind and waves, and spent hundreds of hours in the tide pools at the cliffs.
Tide pools were bathtub to swimming pool-size, walkable, wadable, sometimes swimmable, real-world aquariums with starfish, sea urchins, limpets and lady slippers, kelp and seaweed, fish, crabs, and baby lobsters. They were places of endless fascination. We often stayed so long we would be there as the tide came in and flooded into our water world with cold, fresh Atlantic salt water.
The Tide’s Edge Ring is the advancing edge of the tideline as it sweeps in across sand beach and rock-lined shoreside pools. We place a colored gem in the center with two accent diamonds on either side. Our two favorite gems are blue sapphire and green Maine tourmaline.
Why We Love This Ring
We say this often: Goldilocks perfect. This ring is not too big, or too small. This gem is a 6x4mm oval SparHawk Maine Tourmaline. The green shows well. The brilliance is awesome.
The Magic of This Design
Small, high-quality white diamonds sit on the east and west ends of the green tourmaline. Though small, these diamonds add a spark of white brilliance that catches and holds the eye. The ring is all yellow gold, so it has a golden glow. It sits low on the hand, so it is both comfortable and practical. It almost goes without saying that it’s pretty. It’s beautiful on the hand.
Maine Tourmaline, A Maine Story
An American Gem
First discovered in 1820 and in subsequent finds over the years, these early discoveries 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 established 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 go to Maine’s gem mines. We know the miners. We know the gem cutters. We guarantee our tourmaline to be from Maine and is 100% natural. Cross maintains the largest collection of fine Maine tourmaline jewelry in the world.
Window of Opportunity
Fifty years have 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 gem like this one 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 quickly, but the find was small and the mining only lasted a few seasons. Within three years of the discovery, all the large Eureka gems had sold. We still get calls from people who are now ready to buy. What they want, however, simply no longer exists from that find in 2007.
Gem finds are rare, especially in North America. Maine tourmaline is a piece of Maine and American history, it’s a connection to a place we all love, an exquisite creation of nature. Today, there is a rare opportunity to own a bit of Maine/American pride and heritage, and history in choosing a piece of Maine tourmaline jewelry.
