A Cottage by the Sea SparHawk Maine Tourmaline & Diamond Ring

If you had told the kid who spent his summers on a white sand Maine beach where he would be 60 years later writing about this ring called The Cottage by the Sea, he wouldn’t have believed you. The beach is Higgins, 22 minutes away from Cross’ location in downtown Portland where the beach sand is almost pure white fine powdered crystal quartz. Our beach with its white sand is rare. In 1958 our cottage was at the lower end of the beach, tucked within the sand dunes with a green marsh and tidal river out back and open ocean and blue waves out front With pure white sand and blue ocean water it was a movie-like setting.

One of my grandfathers bought the property in 1944 for $150. I mention the price because I always get a nearly identical response every time I tell someone. They say, “Should you ever decide to sell, I’ll double the price your family paid for it!” I say, “I’ll keep your offer in mind,” and they always smile.

Ocean
in the Language of Gold and Gems

The ring says ocean in so many ways. First, it has two grand gold waves sweeping up from the outer gold surround, washing ashore on the sides of the center gem, locking and holding the center gem in place. Four fairly good sizes natural Earth mined diamonds sit at the top and bottom of the center gem. They are frothy white, high tide, sparkly light on the water brilliant. I’ve heard the ocean under a morning sun described as light as it glints white, twinkling off of wave tops. Running down the sides of the ring are three rivulets in gold which I see as the tide flows into our tidal creek. The rivulets of gold flow all around the bottom of the ring. Unusual, yes, but it’s part of the magic of this ring. When you buy this ring, we will size it for you because we understand the importance of the rivulets. Don’t let anyone size the ring except us. Starting size is 6 1/2. We can make it larger or smaller. Sizing is free.

The Cottage by the Sea
SparHawk Maine Tourmaline
& Diamond Ring

I’ve saved the best for last. The gem in the center is a Maine Tourmaline. Its color is SparHawk mint green teal, the color of our saltwater marsh in the spring. This new tourmaline was discovered at the Havey mine, just 28 miles north of our store. The gem was cut by Sean Sweeney, a Maine gem cutter, now deceased. Sean was the World’s best gem cutter of tourmaline and this was one of his signature gem ovals. The gem is breathtakingly brilliant. Sean brought a level of the connoisseur’s art of gem cutting to his gems where he considered every facet and how it would catch and reflect the light. For jewelers with a really sharp eye, each Sean Sweeney gem is a perfectly written symphony, well conducted, and magnificently played. This gem is ready to perform every day on your hand for decades to come.