Beautiful Custom Necklace Designs by DeSantis Jewelry

Here at DeSantis Jewelry, we strive to make each and every necklace one of a kind and adjustable so there is a necklace for everyone.  Like most of our jewelry, its all about the gemstones and the design that goes with it.  In our necklaces the loops are all hand soldered and handmade to give a personal touch to each piece.  There are many options for attaching necklaces such as lobster claw attachments, toggles and loops, and sometimes a handmade hook that perfectly connects to a larger loop.  

Gold - 14, 18, 22, and 24 Karat Color Golds

Looking at the history of gold, you quickly discover it was one of the first precious commodities humans came to appreciate. This high esteem hasn't been eroded through history. Across the world the metal is a symbol of wealth, class and distinction. Its luster and ductility make it ideal for crafting fine pieces of jewelry. Its scarcity has made it a centerpiece of countless wars across the globe.

Our ancient ancestors had great taste picking out this precious metal. Gold's ductility makes it a perfect medium for forming fine art and jewelry. A single ounce of gold can stretch out to 300 square feet allowing it to be formed into very intricate shapes. However, this malleability and ductility comes at a price.

Because it is so soft and maneuverable, gold must be alloyed with other metals to give it strength. This brings us to the issues of karats and color. Before we deal with math, we'll go through the different colors gold takes as it is alloyed with other metals.

As you'd probably guess, adding silver, palladium or nickel to gold lightens the color creating white gold and light shades of greenish gold. Copper has the opposite effect. The addition of copper provides added weight and strength and a reddish coloring. The most common practice in the United States is to use a combination of copper and silver with gold to maintain a even yellow gold color as the strength and durability is increased. Aluminum creates a purplish color. Indium and gold creates a blue color. Using only silver creates green gold.

This brings us to the karat measurement. Like any cool system of measurement, it is based upon a convoluted formula that brings anxiety to any person fearful of math. But it's not that bad! Karats are a measurement of the percentage or purity of the gold. 100% pure gold is 24 karat gold. That is our baseline. Thus, an 18 karat gold ring is 75% gold, 25% alloy. And a 14 karat bracelet would be made up of 58.5% gold and 42.5% alloy.

So is the 24k ring always better than the 18k ring? We must answer with an emphatic no! While purity is always good, a ring made of soft pure gold will not stand the test of time like an 18k ring will. Many fine jewelry designers use 14 karat gold especially when it comes to holding preciouse gemstones such as diamonds, sapphires, and opal because of its ablity to hold up under various conditions presented by the wearer. As we just discussed, there is a wide variety of colors to chose from with alloyed gold.

Now when your special someone discretely drops hints about what he or she would love to see under the Christmas tree, you'll know what you're investing in and how to pick out the perfect gift. We will follow this discution in the future as we look at the stones that pair best with certain colors of gold, as well as other metals.

Custom Memorial Pendants

We love making pendants in our shop. The pendant presents the perfect opportunity to form a piece of art that will be comfortable to wear for generations to come. Like all our jewelry, we guarantee our urn pendants against any workmanship defects for the lifetime of the piece. With a small loop to connect it to a 14kt gold or sterling silver chain, the piece is free to take any form desired.



This freedom allows us to create urn pendants perfect for preserving the memory of a loved-one. In a discrete, but beautifully ornate capsule of gold or silver, a memory is carried with you and safely preserved. We keep the urn pendant's design simple which allows the pendant to be paired with many other items of jewelry. The machining of the threaded bail ensures the pendant will never open unless you intentionally remove the lid.



Every urn pendant is fully customizable to include specific birth stones, personal symbols or any image representative of the loved-one. Our tradition is to work with you to create artwork that you will embrace and will earn compliments every time you wear it out. We work with our clients through the process to put your dream into a fine piece of jewelry. Please email us or call us at 505-268-8073 so we can begin creating a special urn to preserve your cherished memory.

Raw Peridot Rings

Peridot is the term used to describe gem-quality olivine. Olivine is a somewhat abundant mineral but gem-quality peridot is rather rare. Peridot is one of the only gems that is found in only one color, usually an olive green. The color of peridot is determined by the iron content of the gem and the highest valued peridot usually is distinguished by a dark green color. Peridot is also one of the only gemstones found in meteorites. The United States is currently one of the biggest suppliers of peridot with much of its deposits found in Arizona. Peridot jewelry can be worn to symbolize the birth month of August. It is believed that this gemstone brings the wearer success, peace, and goodluck.

Topaz, Birthstone for November

Topaz is a silicate of aluminum containing fluorine and hydroxyl. Topaz was first extracted in earlier times on an island known then as Topazos or St. John which is now called Ziberget. Back when topaz was first being mined, it was mainly referred to as a gemstone, olivine. Without the knowledge of chemistry and mineralogy, yellowish or yellow stone which were undistinguishable were also given the name topaz. Topaz is often found in short to long prismatic crystals. It is often white, semi opaque, milky, or a dirty yellow. Topaz may also be transparent, colorless, honey colored, golden brown, or blue and much more rarely, pink or reddish. Mostly used in jewelry as gemstones are the transparent, colored crystals which have good luster.




Blue topaz has a definite, uniform sky-blue color and usually without any overtones. Much blue topaz on the market carries a slight gray or even a greenish tinge, giving it a lifeless appearance. Gemstones of several carats or even several tens of carats are much more common. Blue topaz sometimes has the resemblance of the gemstone aquamarine. Although with close examination, the two can be distinguished apart by aquamarine having more of a brilliant bluish green or even a greenish blue. Blue topaz is usually more of a definite blue, and if anything with a grayish tone.




Enjoy topaz jewelry or give it as a gift. Topaz is the the birthstone for those born in the month of November. Those of you who were born in November will never have enough topaz rings.

Natural Stone Inlay Article Published

A new article regarding DeSantis Jewelry's natural stone inlay process was recently published on the website, articledashboard.com. The article describes the lengthy process of natural stone inlay which is incorporated in much of the jewelry offered by DeSantis Jewelry Artisans. You may view this article at DeSantis Jewelry's website or at article dashboard's website.

Opal, Opal Jewelry

Opal is a mineraloid gel which is deposited at relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, and basalt.

The water content is usually between three and ten percent, but can be as high as 20%. Opal ranges from clear through white, gray, red, orange, yellow, green, shore, blue, magenta, rose, pink, slate, olive, brown, and black. Of these hues, the reds against black are the most rare and dear, whereas white and greens are the most common; these are a function of growth size into the red and infrared wavelengths. Common opal is truly amorphous, but precious opal does have a structural element. The word opal comes from the Latin opalus, by Greek opallios, and is from the same root as Sanskrit upala[s] for "stone", originally a millstone with upara[s] for slab. Opals are also Australia's national gemstone.

Opal is one of the mineraloids that can form or replace fossils. The resulting fossils, though not of any extra scientific interest, appeal to collectors.

Unlike other gemstones opal does not have a crystal structure, and the texture consists of amorphous silicon dioxide having submicroscopic silica spheres. Depending on the size and how these silica spheres are arranged together determines how they diffract light. These silica spheres have diameters that range from 0.15 to 0.30 microns (one thousandth of a millimeter ) which is a little smaller than the wavelength of visible light which ranges from 0.4 to 0.7 microns in diameter. In order for opal to be considered precious opal the silica spheres must be uniform in diameter and arranged in neat rows. A precious opal that has flashes of red will also contain all the other colors of the spectrum as the opal is seen by all other angles. It is interesting to know that this structural color of opal is produced by light, conveyed by the eye and is then understood by our minds.

Black Opal is that naturally occurring one piece or solid opal, which is jet black to dark grayish-blue or deep brown in color, and absorbs most white light impinging on it and reflects only a minimum. As a consequence, all optical diffraction effects are much more brilliant because of the sharp tonal contract.

Black Opal, a gemstone which has had an important effect overseas as a product of Australian, requires this precise meaning so that the quality of this gem can be meaningfully established. Sometimes off-colored white opal has been passed off to a visitor as being black opal!