Cyprus has the most beautiful jewelry
Our Cypriot gemstone jewelry is based on the natural beauty of our homeland, the island of Cyprus. In which the stunning coastlines and rich culture heavily influence our designs and are reflected in the beautiful jewelry we make.
Colorful gemstone jewelry is Politia's signature style, with gems such as emeralds and sapphires among our favourites to create memorable and long-lasting pieces. All our gemstones are picked to our strict standards to ensure the best quality which will last a lifetime. This is testified by our many returning customers. Gemstones are a wonderful addition to any piece of jewelry creating a focal point and adding something unique to each item. This makes them a perfect gift for yourself or a loved one. Available in a wide range of colors and gem types our jewelry has something for everyone. This can be a colorful pendant necklace with fancy colored sapphires, an emerald and diamond engagement ring, or our special Cypriot jewelry such as Byzantine rings.
A brief history of Cyprus jewelry
It is believed by some modern historians that the art of jewelry-making originated in Cyprus. Necklaces and earrings made from sea shells and precious metals have been found dating back to the early bronze age. Therefore the art of jewelry making has a big part in the history of the Cypriot culture and we want to captiure and continue that in our modern jewelry designs.
Poltia Jewelry Expertise
The women of our family have studied and created jewelry for three generations with Chrysanthi now leading today's designs. Our qualifications in GIA Colored Stone, Gem Identification, Color Stone Grading, and Diamond Certification have been achieved through study at GIA's London Campus. This enables us to ensure we are only delivering you with the finest products for you to love and cherish.
How we pick the perfect gemstone
The 4Cs are a grading system created by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). This is used to grade gemstones, especially diamonds, and understanding the 4Cs helps make the perfect choice and recognise what determines the ideal gemstones. The 4Cs are categorised into cut, color, clarity, and carat. These factors determine the value of the gemstone and therefore the price.
Cut
The cut of a gemstone doesn’t refer to the shape that the stone is cut but in fact how symmetrical it is and how well it refracts the light through the gem to produce a sparkle. The ideal cut for a gemstone can be different for each type of gem depending on its properties and what works best for each one.
Color
Gemstones are available in every color of the rainbow with different shades and even clear gems. Although these colored gemstones are obtainable in every color, they are sometimes rarer or more popular in certain gemstones. An example of this is sapphires being preferred in a deep blue hue. This preference and rarity of certain colors can make them more valuable and consequently more expensive.
Clarity
The clarity of a gemstone refers to the quality of the stone in terms of imperfections such as blemishes (surface flaws) and inclusions (internal defects). Inclusions in a gemstone are natural due to the process in which they are made in the ground which makes it very rare to find them without any. Some gemstones naturally have fewer inclusions and can be seen as ‘eye clean’ while others gemstones are mostly included with very rare exceptions.
The term eye clean means to have no visible inclusions. These imperfections can only be seen by a trained professional under magnification. A good example of this is slightly included (SI) gemstones and very slightly included (VS) which you’re not able to see the inclusions with the naked eye. The clarity of each individual gemstone is graded on a scale of included (I gemstones) to flawless (FL) specifying how it falls into each bracket and how valuable it will then be.
Carat
The carat of a gemstone is another way of describing the weight. The carat of the gem chosen is dependent on the budget but also on how you would like the piece of jewelry to look. It could be decided that one large gemstone, one smaller gemstone, or even multiple gemstones of matching or different sizes, shapes, and colors are chosen. This can be because some gemstones are rarer to find in larger sizes causing their per-carat price to increase when looking at the larger gems. This is why it is sometimes more beneficial to choose multiple smaller gemstones to fit in with a budget.
Colorful Cyprus jewelry
We sell a wide range of gemstone jewelry sometimes combining different types and colors of gems within individual pieces. Many of our jewelry pieces are also designed so that they can be worn together to create colorful combinations through layering. We especially enjoy working with 'fancy' gemstones, the more unusual colors of popular gemstones.
Sapphire
Sapphires are a beautiful gemstone available in an array of colours with the most common being blue. With a Mohs grade of 9 they are very hard wearing and perfect for everyday wear.
Sapphires are mostly associated with Sri Lanka for having a big part in their culture and being one the largest countries producing sapphires. Growing in popularity after the 1500s, sapphires then started being worn in many European countries. This popularity in Europe was mainly due to the gem being worn by royal families making the gemstone a sign of wealth. Further back in history sapphire was thought to be symbolic of love and commitment which was driven by Pope Innocent III. This is due to his belief that the color of the gemstone would fade if it were worn by an unfaithful or impure person.
This precious gemstone has been symbolic of many different things throughout history and across many different cultures. For instance, ancient cultures believed that it had calming and hypnotising powers whereas the modern belief is that the gemstone symbolises truth, loyalty, and honesty.
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Emerald
Emeralds are a naturally occurring gemstone that are green in color with the preferred emeralds being a vivid and consistent green. Emeralds are currently mined in Columbia, Brazil and Zambia with the best emeralds coming from Columbia. This gemstone is a very popular focal point for many pieces of jewelry. Emerald is perfect for someone who wants their jewellery to be distinct and reflects their unique taste as in our Byzantine Jewelry and especially our Byzantine rings.
Emerald was originally mined in Egypt as early as 330 BC however, it is estimated that some are 2.97 billion years old. Cleopatra was known to have a passion for emeralds and even claimed ownership of all the emerald mines during her reign. In modern times, emerald has become the symbol of wealth, style and beauty making them a statement piece to have in your jewelry with people such as Queen Elizabeth II wearing them. This vibrant gemstone marks some big milestones such as being the official gemstone for the 55th wedding anniversary (also known as the ‘emerald anniversary’). It is also the birthstone for the month of May and is symbolic of love, springtime and new beginnings in life.
It is very common for natural emeralds to have inclusions which are visible to the naked eye and emeralds without inclusions are extremely rare. This makes them highly collectable and very desirable. Emeralds also have a higher price per-carat the bigger they get. This is because larger emeralds with less inclusions are harder to find. Due to the larger expense with bigger emeralds it is common to make a piece of jewelry with multiple smaller gemstones.
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Tourmaline
The main source of tourmaline is Brazil however it can also be found in many other countries across the world making it a common gemstone. Tourmaline is thought to represent wisdom, voice, insight, and creativity. Tourmaline is also the newer birthstone for the month of October which symbolises compassion and unconditional love for the people born in that month.
The name, Tourmaline, comes from the Sinhalese word toramalli, which means stone with mixed colors. This is extremely representative of the many colors that tourmaline is available in. Tourmaline is available in every color of the rainbow. There is even bi-color or multi-color tourmaline with multiple colors in one gemstone like rare watermelon tourmaline. Due to the huge variety in colors, tourmaline is easier judged by its tone and saturation.
The tone describes the darkness of the gemstone and how it appears to the eye. Tourmaline is generally preferred in a medium tone, not too light and not too dark. Saturation is the most important color factor when valuing tourmaline. This means that the more intense and saturated the gemstone is, the more valuable it is.
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Tanzanite
Tanzanite is the blue to violet form of zoisite found in Tanziania and it is unlikely to be found anywhere else making it a very rare gemstone. The scarcity of tanzanite is likely to rocket in coming years as the gem is becoming less available and more popular in the Chinese market making it known as a ‘one generation gemstone’.
It has an average hardness of 6.5 on the Mohs scale making it a great choice for any type of jewelry. Tanzanite has a much higher clarity than other gemstones such as sapphire, emerald, ruby, and more which makes it a cheaper option for the desired clarity.
Tanzanite was only discovered in 1967. The legend states that it was only found after a bush fire that heated the surface gems turning them blue. When the tribesmen were passing through, they spotted it sparkling in the ground thinking it was sapphire. It then became a very popular gemstone in a short amount of time even challenging ruby, emerald, and sapphire for sales. It was believed to help treat the eye and throat as well as the immune system and have a calming and soothing effect.
Tanzanite is available in colors such as brownish red, blue, purple, violet, green, pink, and yellow with the most popular color being deep blues which can sometimes be confused with sapphire or amethyst due to the similarity. This similar color to sapphire makes it the second most desirable for blue-violet gems but at a much lower price. This gemstone, especially the purple-toned gems, is believed to represent heart and intellect combined with intuition and purity. They are used as symbols of dignity and truth.
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Special Cyprus Designs
Among our jewelry collections there are several pieces with very special Cypriot significance. Our Virgin Mary pendant is a current favorite and our byzantine jewelry makes a real statement in yellow gold and colored gemstones. Love Cyprus, love our jewelry xx
