New Man’s Black Onyx and Lab Opal Ring Added to Our Men’s Ring Line

Bold black onyx and lab opal ring in sterling silver by Hileman Silver Jewelry.

We just added this handsome new man’s lab opal ring to our men’s ring line.  The ring features four pieces of black onyx and a center piece of lab created opal precisely inlaid in sterling silver.  The lab opal fires blues and greens with flashes of orange from some angles.  This ring design is fairly wide, measuring about 10mm wide at the top with a slight taper toward the bottom.  The ring has a nice weight and is designed to allow the silver to be refinished many times if needed.  The metal is sterling silver but the ring can be custom made in white or yellow gold, 316L stainless steel or platinum for an additional charge.  Because all of our rings are made to order in your specific ring size, you also have the option to make changes to the inlay stones used, the inlay pattern or the metal used.  We have other opal color choices available for the lab opal center stone or other stone choices if lab opal is not for you.  Your new ring will take 4 to 6 weeks to create so please plan ahead if you have a specific date for delivery.  This bold ring is now available at HilemanSilverJewelry.com so head over and take a closer look at this stunning new design.

Thank you!

John Hileman

Hileman Silver Jewelry

www.HilemanSilverJewelry.com

www.LabOpalJewelry.com

Advertisement

Wedding Season is Here!

Dinosaur bone wedding ring set with black diamond accents.

Wedding season is here and this is typically our busiest time of the year for making wedding rings for our customers.  If you are searching for a unique symbol of your love and commitment, our handmade inlay wedding rings are a great choice.  All of our rings are created by hand in our Arizona jewelry studio using only the finest materials and craftsmanship.  We offer a wide range of inlay stone choices including turquoise, dinosaur bone, black onyx and lab created opal and many other colorful stones with or without colorful gemstones to accent the inlay.  Take a minute to browse through our website www.HilemanSilverJewelry.com and check out our wedding ring designs and keep in mind that any of the ring designs you see on our site can be made in sterling silver, yellow or white gold, stainless steel or platinum.  Many of our customers choose our dinosaur bone bands as their wedding rings with our turquoise wedding rings being a close second.  We have a variety of dinosaur bone colors to choose from ranging from grays to reds.  What could be more unique than a dinosaur bone wedding ring!  Our wedding ring designs are made to order in your specific ring size, inlay stone choice and metal selection so we will need 4 to 6 weeks of lead time to get your rings completed in time.  All of our rings are available in his and hers, hers and hers, and his and his wedding sets.  If by chance you don’t see exactly the ring you are looking for, contact us about making the custom wedding ring of your dreams.

New Lab Created Opal Wedding Ring Set

This new lab created opal wedding ring set is stunning.  We inlaid the wedding set with some of the new lab opal we just received.  This new lab opal has bright green flashes of color on a dark blue base color.  The colors and flash of the lab opal mimic those of the best Lightning Ridge Australian opal at a much more affordable price.  Both rings in the set are a comfortable thickness and width.  The man’s band is 6.5mm wide at the top and the woman’s band is slightly narrower at 5.5mm wide.  Both the man’s wedding ring and the woman’s are available for purchase separately if you don’t need a set.  You can also purchase the set in hers and hers or his and his combinations.  The green lab opal in these rings is very flashy and bold.  We also have several other lab opal color options that are variations of blue-green and some options that are multicolor.

Green lab created opal wedding ring set in sterling silver by Hileman Silver Jewelry.

The high quality lab created opal we use in our rings has the same chemical composition as natural opal with the exception of water content. Natural Australian opal contains about 4% water and lab created opal contains no water. Instead, the water is replaced with resin

in lab created opal. The resin gives the synthetic opal more durability and helps to resist cracking. Laboratory grown opal gives you all the fire and colors of top grade natural opal at a much more affordable price with increased durability.

His and hers lab created opal wedding ring set.

This set is available for purchase in our Hileman Etsy shop or our new Lab Opal Jewelry website.  Please allow us 4 to 6 weeks to make your rings in your exact sizes.  See more lab opal colors on our Hileman Flickr page or on our lab opal Pinterest board.  If you are interested in natural Australian opal take a look at our Australian opal jewelry website featuring only the finest Australian opal inlaid in our bold 14 karat gold designs.

Cobalt Chrome Wedding Rings

Cobalt chrome is one of  newest alternative metals to hit the jewelry market.  Cobalt chrome is the perfect combination of color, strength and weight for a wedding ring.  It’s color is very white and is  comparable to that of platinum at a much more affordable price.  Cobalt chrome is very strong but at the same time malleable enough to be practical for most jewelry styles.  It won’t shatter or crack like some of the other alternative metal choices.  Cobalt chrome is 4 times harder than platinum, 5 times harder than gold and 7 times harder than silver.   It has a nice weight, similar to that of white gold.  Cobalt chrome rings are not featherweight like titanium and not super heavy like tungsten rings.  The other advantages of cobalt chrome rings over titanium and tungsten rings are its pleasing white color and the ability to size the ring slightly if needed.

We are excited to offer cobalt chrome as an upgraded metal choice for our wedding rings.  It’s durability makes it a great choice for our wedding rings and sets.  Because of the extreme hardness of this new metal, we will have to charge more for cobalt chrome rings than our sterling silver rings  to cover the additional metal working time and extra wear and tear on our tools and equipment.

Tan dinosaur bone ring in cobalt chrome.

Here is one of our first rings made in cobalt chrome.  The ring is inlaid with tan dinosaur bone with no dividers between the sections of dinosaur bone, giving it the appearance of one continuous piece of dinosaur bone across the top of the ring.  As you can see, the cobalt chrome has a nice bright white color similar to platinum or rhodium plated white gold.  To see more photos of this dinosaur bone ring in cobalt chrome visit our Etsy shop at Etsy.com/shop/thehilemancollection.  Most of our ring designs will be available in this great new metal choice.  Please contact us for details or questions.

 

www.HilemanSilverJewelry.com

info@HilemanSilverJewelry.com

 

 

2012 Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Winner!!

We won the Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Award for Jewelry!  Read the press release below.

{Anthem,AZ} – January 23, 2012 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding Marketplace, is excited to announce Hileman Silver Jewelry has been selected to receive the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2012 for Jewelry!
The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top local wedding vendors from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism within the wedding industry. While many industry awards are selected by the organization, Hileman Silver Jewelry was selected based on its stellar reviews from past newlywed clients.
Hileman Silver Jewelry is recognized as part of the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire local vendor community, comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout the United States and Canada. The Bride’s Choice Award recognizes  the best local wedding vendors across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their overall professional achievements throughout the past year.
“WeddingWire is thrilled to honor the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Since the launch of the Bride’s Choice Awards™ program four years ago, thousands of outstanding wedding professionals have been recognized by the bridal community for their supreme service and dedication to the wedding industry. It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Hileman Silver Jewelry for their continued professionalism and commitment to enriching the wedding planning experience for engaged couples.”
We are happy to announce that Hileman Silver Jewelry is one of the very best Jewelers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. Thanks to their positive feedback we were able  to receive the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ for 2012.
For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/hileman-silver-jewelry-anthem/c5ecda4fb1fb047a.html.   To learn more about the Bride’s Choice Awards™, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.
About WeddingWire, Inc. WeddingWire™, the nation’s leading marketplace serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 reviewed wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers. WeddingWire also offers a comprehensive suite of online planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire is the only all-in-one marketing platform for businesses online and on-the-go. WeddingWire offers one simple solution to build a professional network, improve search visibility, manage social media and reach mobile consumers. Businesses that advertise with WeddingWire appear on WeddingWire.com, ProjectWedding.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), Brides.com and Weddingbee.com.
###

See our sterling silver wedding rings, his and hers wedding ring sets and our engagement ring designs at shop.HilemanSilverJewelry.com!

Thank you!

John Hileman

www.HilemanSilverJewelry.com

www.TheHilemanCollection.com

www.TheHilemanCollection.com/v1

Hileman Silver Jewelry receives Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Award

Hileman Silver Jewelry receives Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Award

Sterling silver opal and white sapphire wedding set Phoenix, AZ – February 2, 2011 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce Hileman Silver Jewelry has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for Wedding Ring Designers! Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.  Hileman Silver Jewelry stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year. “WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud Hileman Silver Jewelry for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.” We are happy to announce that Hileman Silver Jewelry is among the very best Wedding Ring Designers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011. For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at www.weddingwire.com/hilemansilverjewelry.  For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com. About WeddingWire, Inc. WeddingWire.com, the nation’s leading technology company serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 local wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives local businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. Businesses that join the WeddingWire Network appear on WeddingWire.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), ProjectWedding.com and Weddingbee.com (both part of eHarmony), and Celebrations.com (part of the 1-800-Flowers family of brands, NASDAQ: FLWS). Thank you to all of our customers for taking the time to leave valuable positive feedback on your recent purchases.  Without it, this recognition would not be possible.   Mark and John Hileman www.TheHilemanCollection.com www.HilemanSilverJewelry.com

Australian Opal Wedding Ring Set With Diamonds

Australian opal and diamond wedding ring set in 14k gold

We just completed this Australian opal his and her wedding ring set. The opal is set in 14k gold and accented by sparkling white diamonds.  Beautiful blue-green Australian opal inlay surrounds two round brilliant cut round diamonds in each of these unique inlay wedding bands.  If you are looking for non-traditional wedding rings, then these opal rings are perfect for you.

His handcrafted wedding ring has 6 pieces of Australian opal inlay accented by 2 channel set diamonds totaling .15 carats.  The channel set diamonds are VS clarity and G color.  His ring is 6mm wide and is a size 10 1/2.  The ring is available in other ring sizes or 14k white gold by special order in 3 to 4 weeks.  It is hand signed “MMH” by Mark McBride Hileman on the inside of the ring.

Her handmade 14k gold and diamond ring band is also inlaid with 6 pieces of Australian opal.  The Australian opal inlay in her ring is a perfect match to the opal in his ring.  Her opal inlay ring features two brilliant round diamonds totaling .10cts.  The channel set diamonds are VS clarity and G color.  The opal inlay band measures 5.5mm wide at the top and is a size 6 1/4. It is available in other sizes and 14k white gold by special order in 2 to 3 weeks. The ring is hand signed “MMH” on the inside by Mark McBride Hileman and stamped 14k gold.  Either ring may be purchased separately or the set may be composed of  his and his or hers and hers by special request.  For more information about this opal wedding set or to purchase the rings, please visit our Etsy shop or contact us.

If gold is outside of your budget, take a look at this similar his and hers wedding set in sterling silver with white sapphires and Australian opal inlay.

You could almost call these opal rings one of a kind pieces because opal forms under such unique conditions, it is nearly impossible to find two opals exactly the same- even from the same opal mine.  Opal is the only gemstone known to man to have the natural ability to diffract light.  An opal’s color is created when the voids between the particles split light entering the stone.  The size and alignment of the spheres and voids, as well as the light source, determines the colors produced.  To view an opal’s color play at its best, the light source must be coming over your shoulder.  An opal’s color can cover the full spectrum of the rainbow. The opal in this wedding ring set is high quality genuine Australian opal, not lab grown synthetic opal.

Check out more of our 14k gold Australian opal inlay jewelry at www.AustralianOpalJewelry.com or our sterling silver opal inlay jewelry at www.HilemanSilverJewelry.com.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates on sales and new designs!

ArtFire Member Curated Collections

There are many tools available to promote your craft on the internet.  A great tool that is available to members of ArtFire is the member curated collection.  These collections are composed of items available for sale on ArtFire from the collection creator and other artisans on ArtFire.  Member curated collections are excellent sources of sales and traffic for all members featured in the collection.

Here are some of the ArtFire Collections I have created.  Please click on the items and explore the artisans’ shops. 

Handmade Wedding …

Curated By: HilemanSilver…

ArtFire.com

Handmade Jewelry

Dino-mite! All t…

Curated By: HilemanSilver…

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Paintings

Beautiful handmad…

Curated By: HilemanSilver…

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Paintings

Enjoy!  Thank you for supporting handmade artists!

Hileman Silver Jewelry

White Sapphire Jewelry- An Affordable Diamond Alternative

Most people think of sapphires as being blue, yellow, pink or maybe even orange, but very few people are aware of white sapphire.   A sapphire’s color is determined by the presence of trace amounts of other elements such as chromium, iron and titanium when the crystal was formed.  White sapphires are a pure form of corundum which is not commonly found in nature.  Large white sapphires of high quality are a rare find and are highly prized by collectors.  The best white sapphires are found in Kashmir, followed by stones from Burma and Sri Lanka.    

 

White sapphires make a great alternative to diamonds!

White sapphires are often substituted for diamonds because of their great durability and affordability.  White sapphire is a 9 on the Moh’s hardness scale, exceeded only by diamond at 10.   The durability of the white sapphire makes it a great gemstone for jewelry whether used as a large center stone or smaller accent stones.  When properly cut and polished, a white sapphire’s sparkle can approach that of a diamond at a much more affordable price.   If you are looking for a natural white stone to mimic a diamond, be conflict free and extremely durable with great affordability, then white sapphire is a great option.

White sapphire jewelry examples

We have been using white sapphire in our jewelry for years with great success.  Many of our customers have chosen our white sapphire and Australian opal rings as their wedding rings.  Here are some photos of some of our jewelry designs featuring white sapphires in sterling silver.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

To see more photos, pricing information and read more about Hileman Jewelry please visit our websites Hileman Silver Jewelry and The Hileman Collection.  If you are interested in using white sapphire in your wedding rings please check out our wedding rings featuring white sapphire.   I think you will agree that white sapphires make a beautiful and affordable alternative to expensive diamonds.

.

White sapphire jewelry photos on Flickr.com.

.

Dinosaur Bone Jewelry

If you are anything like me, you probably are not familiar with gem dinosaur bone or dinosaur bone jewelry .  My experience with dinosaur bone began last year when I discovered it on Ebay.  We decided to try inlaying dinosaur bone in our sterling silver jewelry and it was a big hit.  The dinosaur bone we use in our jewelry is usually referred to as “gembone”.  It is actually not bone but is a combination of minerals that replaced the dinosaur bone over time.  Dinosaur bone is found in a rainbow of colors with the webbing color and cell size varying greatly from piece to piece.  The varying cell size and colors create some truly unique patterns and virtually one of a kind pieces of jewelry.  The fossilized dinosaur bone can be composed of many different minerals including agate, jasper and calcite.  The dinosaur bone color is determined by the combination of minerals present when the fossilized bone formed.  Some colors are more rare than others with multicolor cells  in a nice pattern being the most sought after.  High quality dinosaur bone has a hardness of 6-7 on the Moh’s scale and takes a great polish for jewelry.  Top grade gem dinosaur bone is eventually going to become impossible to get because, as you might have guessed, they aren’t making it any more.  Now would be a great time to start your collection of dinosaur bone jewelry.  We have many ring and pendant designs that feature dinosaur bone in several different color combinations.  Visit our website and enter dinosaur bone in the quick search box and check out the jewelry available.  http://www.shop.hilemansilverjewelry.com/main.sc   

I also have posted a collection of photos of some of our pendants, rings and wedding ring sets inlaid with dinosaur bone on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/hilemanjewelry/sets/72157624623420277/ .