Tide’s Edge Ring
As a kid I lived at the ocean during summers. The following are thoughts about the hundreds of hours spent at the tide’s edge.
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 tide line 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 bath tub to swimming pool-size, walkable, wadeable, sometimes swimmable, real world aquariums with starfish, sea urchins, limpets and lady slipper shells, 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 saltwater.
The Tide’s Edge Ring is the advancing edge of the tide line as it sweeps in across sand beach and rock lined shore side pools. We place a colored gem in the center with two accent diamonds on either side.
Tourmaline: A Maine Story, An American Gem
First discovered in 1820, subsequent finds over the years 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 historic 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.
Rarity
Art & Colored Gemstones
If you fell in love with a painting from an artist and wanted to buy two, you could purchase prints and they would be identical. If you wanted two originals, the artist may accommodate your request, but there would be differences – brush-stroke, gesture, placement, or slight color variations.
When it comes to natural colored gemstones, we are limited by what nature has provided. Some colored gemstones, such as blue topaz and citrine, there is sufficient supply and you can get close to the concept of “prints” that you find in the art world.
When it comes to Maine tourmaline there are no “prints”. There is a limited supply of gems and each gemstone is a singular work of nature. Depending on a Maine tourmaline’s size, shape or color, there may not be another one like it.
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 have passed since the major 1972 tourmaline find in Newry, Maine. They found 3.5 million carats of tourmaline crystals there. Over the years, collected wisely, 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 quickly, 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 hoping 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, and 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.
Real Pricing
Shop with Confidence
Since 1908, Cross Jewelers has maintained a guiding philosophy of our founder William Cross, to use the very best gems and precious metals in order to create fine, well-made jewelry. William also believed in putting the best, most conservative price on everything he created. We continue that tradition today.
Providing that the markets remain stable, the price you see today is the price you’ll see next week or next month. In over 100 years we’ve never had a sale. All our prices are real, so you can shop online with confidence.
