Moon Honey Jewelry

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Moon Honey Jewelry Melise ☆ Jewelry Historian, Tiara Enthusiast,
Goldsmith trained in ancient techniques 💝
Author of Birthstone Stories 💎

09/15/2026

Today I've got a small, but exceptional collection of treasures, including yet *another* pair of Victorian era earrings that people just love to mistakenly label as mourning jewelry, the yellow rose cut and old European cut diamond that I shared in an unboxing video last week, and the largest and most perfect 19th century cut steel pin I've ever seen!

The earrings are definitely spectacular- despite so many antique sellers insisting this is mourning jewelry, it's simply too shiny, bright, and frivolous to have been acceptable. They are, however, just *so* unbelievably Victorian. When I picture grand Victorian era jewelry, I picture something like this. Swinging, dangling, feminine and dramatic, they're made of cut onyx (actually dyed chalcedony, which was and still is commonly sold as black onyx) and luminous little seed pearls set in 14k yellow gold. They have their original, substantial hooks, and are in absolutely perfect condition. They are so dreamy!

Then we've got the diamond ring so many people have been waiting for. 3 diamonds, 2 colors, 2 cuts- triangular rose cut diamonds in a color I would call "jonquil" surround a bright, beautiful old European cut diamond, all set in 18k gold (white gold settings for the yellow diamonds, yellow gold setting for the center diamond). It's both a timeless classic, and a little bit whimsical and strange.

Last up, the most perfect and enormous 19th century cut steel brooch I've ever seen. Cut steel, being steel, doesn't really stand the test of time very well. It darkens. It rusts. The little individually riveted steel studs have a terrible tendency to fall off. This gigantic wheat sheaf brooch, however, is shiny, bright, and completely intact. It's such a stellar example of high quality late Georgian/early Victorian era cut steel jewelry that it's almost got me looking forward to the kind of weather where you can wear a nice big shawl to pin it to!

Direct link to my site is down in the comments ⬇️

09/09/2026

I have always loved getting mail, though the novelty of a letter wears off once you become an adult and 90% of them are bills and spam. Packages, though? Still thrilling every single time! Fortunately for me, selling antique jewelry means I get a *lot* of packages. Usually I am ripping them open before I've even walked through the door, but today, I decided to share the excitement of opening a really good package.

So what's inside? The most wonderful, early 20th century diamond ring! Set with two triangular rose cuts flanking a phenomenal old European cut, all set in 18k gold, this ring is elegant, a bit whimsical, and a wonderful timeline of diamond cuts. I've never seen another one quite like it! It will be available as part of my upcoming drop, at the end of this week.

08/31/2026

We are ending August with a look at one of my favorite gems, the third of this month's birthstones, and a master of disguise- spinel! Added to the official birthstone list in 2016, it's a relative newcomer to the world of birthstones, but it has a long and fascinating history.

While spinel comes in just about every single color, it's the pink and red ones that have the most interesting story. Historically known as "balas rubies," they were, as the name suggests, mistaken for rubies for centuries (well, in Europe, at least). Many of the world's largest "rubies" are, in fact, red spinel.

This fact wasn't discovered until 1783 (again, in Europe, at least) when it was determined that spinel and ruby are two completely different gems. Other parts of the world, however, already knew this- 11th century writings make it clear that the difference between the stones was understood, and that there were ways to tell them apart based on their specific gravity.

Now, spinel has a devoted following of gem and jewelry lovers, with some stones fetching absolutely dizzying prices! Take, for example, the Hope spinel, which was sold by Bonhams auction house for just about $1.5 million!!!

08/30/2026

As soon as I finished editing this video, I realized I forgot to talk about the pink coral dogbone necklace! I was so intent on debunking the mourning jewelry myth that it slipped my mind.

This new collection includes a pair of earrings that represent one of my biggest annoyances with antique jewelry- the misunderstanding (and sometimes intentionally dishonest misrepresentation) that all black jewelry from the 1800s simply must be mourning jewelry! Sure, mourning jewelry was popular, but so was the color black. So much of what gets sold as "mourning" jewelry was just jewelry that happened to be black, because black was fashionable. These adorable "French Jet" (pressed glass, neither French nor jet), vulcanite and true jet earrings were most likely just fashion jewelry- maybe for half-mourning, when restrictions were looser for what a woman could wear, but definitely not for the initial mourning period. They are convertible, with the drops being removable so that the sweet French jet flowers could be worn on their own.

Along with the not-mourning earrings, there's a pair of antique Mediterranean coral earrings that are a marriage of Victorian era drops and mid 20th century hooks (a testament to the timelessness of this style!), a pair of sweet, dainty antique seed pearl necklaces, and some more stunning Bohemian garnets- a gorgeous flower necklace with unusual open-back settings, and the most vibrant cherry red teardrop earrings!

Check the comments for a direct link to my site.

08/29/2026

I don't think there is any other gem that gets the same strong reaction as peridot. It seems impossible to be neutral about this August birthstone, and people either love it or hate it. I, for one, love it- one of my first "serious" jewelry purchases, at the age of 16, was a marcasite and peridot ring that cost me $45, a princely sum for a teenager with a summer job in 2003. While peridot may not be everyone's cup of tea, it has a long history of being highly prized, slightly mysterious, and even extraterrestrial!

The gem variety of the mineral olivine, it's pretty fitting that peridot comes in many shades of green, some very much reminiscent of olives, some more along the lines of chartreuse. Historically, it was often mistaken for emerald, and has even been nicknamed "evening emerald," because the stone's color stays bright, even at night. Initially sourced from a single, highly guarded mine located on an Egyptian island now known as Zabargad (or St. John's Island), it is actually still mined on this same island today, though other sources include Arizona, Pakistan, Myanmar, China, Vietnam, and Tanzania.

08/23/2026

Let's just say, smelling like a Victorian era barnyard has turned this project into an *immersive experience* 😭 Super fun fact- the smell will transfer to your hair, and will require multiple washes to get rid of.

If you're curious about where this is going, stay tuned for the long-format video about my antique seed pearl liberation efforts! I've been documenting this entire process, as I "harvest" thousands of tiny pearls from broken jewelry components, some of them dating back to the late 1700s.

Can't wait to read all of the comments from people who have had the misfortune of sitting on old, musty horsehair stuffed chairs!

08/22/2026

August is yet another month with three birthstones, but the orignal birthstone is one that many people don't know about- sardonyx! Often referred to by the generic name of "hardstone" today, it's been one of the top choices for carved cameos for thousands of years.

This is because of its unique bands of color- sardonyx has, as the name suggests, alternating layers of sard and onyx (and it will surprise many of you to learn that onyx is not always black!). As a type of chalcedony, which is itself a type of quartz, sardonyx is the perfect material for carving intricate and beautiful cameos. Even if you haven't heard of it by name, you've almost certainly seen it. It's the material used for the classic red and white, or red and orange, cameo.

The ancient Greeks and Romans carved absolutely breathtaking, incredibly intricate cameos of sardonyx, sometimes incorporating 3 or 4 layers of color, but they weren't the only ones who understood how to manipulate this stone to create beautiful miniature works of art. There are about 50 surviving sardonyx carvings from the ancient Sasanian empire of Persia, the ancient Egyptians carved sardonyx into scarabs, and in later centuries, in Mughal India (where the finest sardonyx was sourced, even in ancient times) detailed miniatures would be carved out of the stone, as well.

08/08/2026

Continuing the gemstone color debate (how pale can a ruby be before it loses its ruby status?), I've got a delicious berry-hued Georgian era ring, along with a small handful of beautiful treasures, for this week's drop. In fact, many of the pieces I've added to my site today remind me of tasty food- the Bohemian garnets are the color of ripe summer cherries, the coral necklaces look like peaches and tomatoes.

For this little collection, I've got a small but stellar assortment of beautiful jewels, all absolutely classic, timeless pieces. There's an ethereal, late 1800s graduated seed pearl necklace, a pair of c. 1890s, exquisitely carved lava Bacchante cameo earrings (check out the ivy leaves in their hair), the sweetest late Georgian era 5-stone ruby ring (from a time when most pink sapphires were also considered rubies), a dainty, late Victorian Bohemian garnet swag necklace set with the most vibrant, cherry red stones, and a pair of Victorian graduated Mediterranean coral necklaces in two tasty colors, and lengths.

(For the record, I consider the stones in the Georgian ring to be rubies, out of respect for their historical context, and out of my deep love and appreciation for my July birthstone 😄)

Check the comments for a direct link to all of these gorgeous pieces!

Edit- after doing more research, I learned that NY state does not have the usual "antique exemption" for objects made fr...
08/07/2026

Edit- after doing more research, I learned that NY state does not have the usual "antique exemption" for objects made from endangered materials, so until I obtain more info/a permit from the State Department of Environmental Conservation, I won't be selling the tortoiseshell piqué earrings.

I'm hard at work, getting the next collection ready and on my site! This small but stellar assortment of beautiful jewels will be available tomorrow, 08/08 (7 PM Eastern time), and consists of some absolutely classic, timeless pieces. There's an ethereal, late 1800s graduated seed pearl necklace, a pair of c. 1890s, exquisitely carved lava Bacchante cameo earrings (check out the ivy leaves in their hair), the sweetest late Georgian era 5-stone ruby ring (from a time when most pink sapphires were also considered rubies), an immaculate pair of mid Victorian tortoiseshell Piqué d'or earrings with gold and silver inlay, and a dainty, late Victorian Bohemian garnet swag necklace set with the most vibrant, cherry red stones.

The sweet, feminine, barely-there pearl necklace is already available, while the rest will be available tomorrow. Check the comments for a direct link!

07/31/2026

July is just about over, but we can't end the month without talking about its one and only birthstone- Ruby! This vibrant, red (or pink?) variety of corundum has been highly prized, and in demand, for over two thousand years, is incredibly rare, and is tied with alexandrite for most expensive birthstone. Most true gem quality rubies weigh less than 5 carats, and even the best one carat rubies can fetch upwards of $30,000.

Of course, such a valuable stone is going to have its fair share of controversies, especially when it comes down to what color a ruby should be. Since sapphires and rubies are both varieties of corundum, and both pink sapphires and rubies get their color from chromium, we end up with a bit of a tricky situation- how pink, and how pale, can a ruby be? It turns out there's no straightforward answer, with different cultures and time periods having different opinions about where a pink sapphire becomes a ruby. In many Asian countries, a paler, pinker corundum is considered a ruby, while the same stone would be labeled a pink sapphire in European countries, the UK, or the US. Similarly, up until the 20th century, most pink sapphires would have been considered rubies as well. Many antique ruby rings are set with stones that we might be tempted to classify as a pink sapphire today.

While it's pretty certain that rubies have been used in jewelry for thousands of years, the earliest example we have of cut rubies used as gems isn't actually jewelry at all! It's in the form of a beautiful little carved alabaster figurine of Ishtar-Aphrodite (a syncretic blend of both Mesopotamian and Greek religions), with cut rubies set into her eyes and belly button. This little figurine dates to between 200 BCE and 100 CE, and was found in a tomb in modern day Iraq, close to Babylon. It is held at the Louvre museum.

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