Winter Solstice, Ruby & Diamond Ring

At 7:11 am December 21, 2023, the sun rose out of the Atlantic in Portland, Maine. The sun was a ruby red color. December 21st was the shortest day of the year. It was the winter solstice. At 10:27 that evening, the sun ended its retreat to the south and began its return north… with spring only 90 days away.

Stonehenge Solstice Calendar

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors marked these moments in time with stone temples all over the world. They knew these celestial events were significant and honored them in the most dramatic ways possible.

Winter Solstice
Ruby & Diamond Ring

Our Winter Solstice Ruby and Diamond Ring is rare because a nice ruby is the rarest of all gems. We make fewer than a dozen ruby rings each year. Our Winter Solstice Ruby and Diamond Ring may be the only one we ever make because nice rubies are so rare.

The ruby is unusually long, and at 1.02 carats, it is well-cut. It is a bright, lively red color. It has two crisp white diamonds on its left and right sides and has four tiny diamonds trailing out each of the east and west wings. Set with a low profile in 18K yellow gold, it will be a ring to love forever.

Why We Love This Ring

We love it for its low profile, super smooth feel, its truly comfortable design, and the ruby looks awesome. All gems are half-halo-set or channel-set, locked in solid, safe, and secure.

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