The mineral Apatite is one of a few minerals that are produced and used by biological and micro-environmental systems. The primary use of apatite is in the manafacture of fertilizer -- it is a naturally occuring source of phosphorus.
Putting that aside, Apatite is not frequently used as a gemstone. When they are used for gemstones, such as this ring, they mine for it in places like Brazil, Burma, India, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka and even the United States.
We love this unique ring that has a bright green Apatite stone in the center, left in a more natural state. Along each side of the stone are equally rough Rubies. The entire ring is made by hand from a master jeweler in Turkey, and you can see the workmanship as the bezel had to be shaped to fit this uneven stone.
This line of jewelry we found is great because it uses only high karat gold, but coats the gold over hand-made sterling silver (this process being called 'vermeil'), so it keeps the jewelery affordable. This ring is 24k gold over sterling.
For each piece, the same jeweler hand-hammers the band and hand-sets the stones, so each piece is truly one of a kind.
DIMENSIONS: see image in gallery for ring on ring-sizer
PLEASE MAKE NOTE OF MEASUREMENTS, AND E-MAIL OR CALL IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT SIZE OR CONDITION.
