Every year we race to and then through the holiday season, only to be confronted with yet another cause célèbre - Valentine's Day, the day we all love to hate.

Yes it is contrived, superficial, and corporately sponsored. Yes it is filled with garish colours and textures; frills and bows and velvets. Valentine's day, some could argue, is a box of chocolates filled with questionable and indistinguishable cream fillings.

But it is also the day that forces us to pause and to think about those people most treasured in our lives, those people who keep us happy and for the most part sane. It is a day above all others to remember those we sometimes take for granted.
And while we may all cringe at the mention of the notorious V-day, it is for that reason that we all dive into Valentine's Day head first.

So when was the last time you wrote a love letter to the apple of your eye? A little note, poem, or sentence that says all those things we are often to busy to mention as often as we should. If making your love swoon isn't enough of an incentive, perhaps we can sweeten the pink and red pot.

From today until midnight February 11th, send us your love letters telling us why your loved one deserves a diamond, and they just might get one. The winning entry will be announced February 13th, 2012.

Submit letters to www.18karat.ca/loveletters.html

Over the last couple of years I think we have all come to notice the rise in interest in crafting of all kinds - be it knitting, pottery and winemaking. People want to use their hands to create the things they love.

Whether this is a way for us to push against our technology obsessed culture or a desire to reach back to a time when all things where crafted by hand by local artisans, more and more people want to take the time to learn how to do things themselves.

Well jewellery lovers, we have just the thing for you - weekend jewellery workshops.

Over the course of a single Saturday you will learn how to cut, saw, solder, print, and polish your very own sterling silver pendant, earring, band, or all three!

Classes are small, with a maximum of 5 people, and are run by our Master Goldsmith Dino Giannetti - a goldsmith who at one time (many moons ago) apprenticed in some of the most renowned Italian workshops. He has since been creating fine jewellery in our downtown shop for over 40 years.

What better way to learn!?

Classes begin January 21st, from 11 - 4pm.

Cost: $150 + HST and include all tools and materials necessary.

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From now until February 6th 18Karat is GIVING AWAY 2 places in an upcoming workshop.

Visit our Facebook page to enter!

Just in time for the Holidays -

18Karat is excited to introduce a Canadian designer new to our shop - Keith Jack!

All of his items are handmade from sterling silver, 18k yellow gold, and 24k gold gilding - every item possess a lovely attention to detail both back and front.

Here are a few of our favorite pieces:

From the Tree of Life Collection - a beautiful sterling silver and 18k yellow gold accented framed tree pendant with an 18 inch sterling silver chain.

From the Tree of Life Collection - sterling silver and 18k yellow gold accented tree-shaped drop earrings.

From the Window to the Soul Collection - a sterling silver and 24k gilded pierced pendant on an 18 inch sterling silver chain.

From the Window to the Soul Collection - sterling silver and 24k gilded pierced drop earrings with french-back closures.

From the Tree of Life Collection - a striking sterling silver and 18k yellow gold accented framed tree pendant with an 18 inch sterling silver chain.

Handmade jewellery from a Canadian artist couldn't make for a more perfect gift this Holiday Season - from now until December 23rd all Keith Jack jewellery is 25% off!

You have heard us say it before - jewellery is special in the way that it carries our stories and shares our history. It commemorates our past and our future and some of our most major milestones. It reminds us of important people and places.

But sometime the best gifts are the ones we give ourselves.

That is why this August, 18Karat will be giving away a $150 Gift Card to one lucky winner of our Facebook Giveaway.

Use this gift card to purchase a beautiful ring, pendent, bracelet, or earrings handcrafted by our Master Goldsmith Dino Giannetti.

Visit our Facebook page and view the gift card terms and conditions here.

Ammolite is undeniably the Canadian gemstone and one of the rarest gemstones on the planet. As rare as red diamonds, ammolite is only found along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Ammolite has characteristics similar to opals, but they are actually the fossilized shells of Ammonites - extinct marine invertebrates closely related to present day octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish. The stones themselves are composed of aragonite, the same mineral that makes up a pearls nacre.


Ammolite is a very fragile material, prone to flaking and disintegrating. To prevent this, ammolite is impregnated with a clear epoxy or synthetic resin that coats the stone, protecting it from damage - similar to the treatment opals undergo.

We just picked up these stunning, and very large ammolites - now we have to figure out what to do with them!

(the cast of season 6 of Dynasty)

Love it or hate it - the 80's was a decade that aimed at discovering, promoting, and setting apart the individual. Soap operas such as Dynasty and Dallas made conspicuous consumption fashionable - bulky gold necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings along with flashy diamonds and pearls became acceptable accessories both during the day as well as at night.

Perhaps the most iconic trend of the 80's was the angular and tailored silhouette of the power suit - thanks in large part rise of shoulder pads. Where as in the 1970's close fitting tops were paired with flared and wide-legged jeans and trousers, the 80's was the exact opposite - skinny legs with wide and often shimmering tops.

This trend gave rise to the much reviled Yuppie movement - as younger people began to rise the corporate ladder their need to demonstrate their new found success became front and center. Designer fashions and fine gold jewellery were an important way to tell the world that you had arrived and that everything - wealth, success, and power - were all at your fingertips.(Large gemstones and even bigger hair)

For the first time in over a decade 'dressing up' and occasion-wear became fashionable again - with those who could not afford diamond and gemstone brooches, earrings, necklaces, and rings pushing a resurgence in costume jewellery - complete with all the diamante jeweller's glue could hold.

At the opposite end of the spectrum was the punk movement which had by 80's more or less reached the mainstream. Born in the 1970's early punk was motivated by anti-materialism and a revolt againts the perceived excess and pretension of mainstream society, especially mainstream music. Dirty, torn, second-hand clothing were punks' answer to the glam-rock that dotted the 70's music scene. By the 1980's fashion designers like Vivian Westwood and Malcom McLaren were producing punk-inspired styles, featuring ripped fishnet stockings, offensive t-shirts, spikes, and BDSM-inspired collars. It wasn't long before punk trends were found in glamorous fashion magazines and other media.

(Adam Ant - voted one of the sexiest men of the 80's by MTV)

But the trend that begs the title for most unique of 1980 must be the New Romantics - epitomized by characters like Adam Ant and Boy George. The New Romantics adopted fictional and factual themes from history and Hollywood - including billowing silken fabric and lace - to create a look that epitomized the dramatic, the flamboyant, and the ever-so-slightly narcissistic. The New Romantics movement peaked in the mid-80's with new-wave bands such as Duran Duran spreading the trend through MTV.

1980's Crystalline Ring by Dino Giannetti - available in sterling silver with a square-cut blue topaz at 18Karat.

This ring immediately reminded me of the geometric-trapezoidal forms that were so popular in the 1980's - for me it recalls the magical landscapes found in those fantastical 80's movies like The Dark Crystal or The Labyrinth. David Bowie!

Just like the 1960's - the decade to follow was an amalgamation of contrasting styles and aesthetics. The androgynous hippie born in the late 60's, with their bell-bottoms and long hair, continued throughout the 70's.

Nature themes and ethnic influences were at the forefront, with fashion and jewellery heavily influenced by Indian, Egyptian, Asian, and Native American styles. Wood, leather, pukka shells, turquoise, and opals were popular for their rough, raw, and organic forms.

The 70's also gave rise to the glam rock and punk movements that would only gain strength throughout the 80's - including ripped jeans, torn shirts, and safety-pin jewellery. But my favorite movement from the 70's would have to be the art nouveau revival that seemed to sweep across the decade almost unconsciously. It was not so much a movement that cherished the past as being a better time (as we so eagerly do today) but a revolt against the often grim and soul-less modular expressions of 60's art and architecture. Flat geometric shapes gave rise to a wave of the 'psychadellic' that was popular with graphic artists and designers - particularly when it came to album covers, band posters, advertisements and film.

(poster by Bonnie MacLean for The Yardbirds)

I love the contrast between the rigid and controlled aesthetic of the 1960's and the "oddly disturbing, writhing forms, and almost erotic character" of art nouveau, (check out this great article from Time Magazine about the revival, when it was just beginning).

(Art Nouveau ring by Dino Giannetti - available in sterling silver at 18Karat)

This ring was hand-carved out of wax by Dino in the 1970's - it's remarkable the amount of detail that remains from the casting. The band consists of a woman and a small child lost in a wave of billowing silk - to form of the woman's body creates the band itself.

(Woodgrain Ring by Dino Giannetti - available in sterling silver at 18Karat)

After finding this wax, I couldn't help but to have it cast. Being a child of the 80's, wood-paneling was a ghost from the past that only reared its head when visiting your grandparents basement. But somehow, as a piece of jewellery, I find it to be very compelling - especially the contrast between the rings grain and smooth skin.