The Mark Schneider Fine Jewelry Blog

When most people picture an engagement ring, they probably picture a center stone sitting in a simple prong setting above a fairly simple band. That classic shank design has been around forever for a reason: it is clean, familiar, and...

If you’ve been shopping for an engagement ring, you’ve probably heard the word “halo” thrown around quite a bit. A halo setting is one of those classic jewelry designs that has been popular for years, and for good reason: surrounding...

When you’re shopping for a diamond, there’s a lot to think about. Cut, color, clarity, carat weight, shape, proportions, certification…the list can start to feel like you need a degree in gemology just to figure out what you’re looking at....

When you’re shopping for a diamond or another gemstone, you’ll probably hear a lot about the 4Cs: cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. Those four characteristics are important, but there are also smaller details that can have a surprisingly big...

When you start shopping for an engagement ring, one of the first decisions you’ll face is whether to design something custom or choose a ready made design. A common assumption is that custom automatically means more expensive. After all, custom...

When shopping for jewelry, most people judge a piece by what they can see right away, like how much it sparkles, color saturation, apparent stone size, and whether the design feels right. Does it flatter your hand or neckline? Does...

When most people shop for jewelry, they focus on the obvious things: sparkle, color, size, and overall style. Does the diamond sparkle in the light? Does it look good on the hand or around the neck? Does it fit the...

If you’ve ever shopped for fine jewelry or looked into having something custom made, you’ve probably heard the terms cast jewelry and hand-fabricated jewelry. They’re often presented as complete opposites, with one framed as clearly better than the other. In...

Jewelry has always been a unique blend of art and science, and a bit of engineering. It combines imagination with highly technical processes like metal casting, stone cutting, and detailed finishing. For centuries, jewelers created everything by hand, from the...

Jewelry has always been one of the most intimate art forms. It’s something we wear against our skin, something tied to identity, beliefs, memory, and emotion. Even today, when fashion trends shift faster than ever, there are certain pieces we...

When it comes to buying a diamond, size is often the focus. We’re taught that “bigger” equals “better,” and carat weight usually becomes the deciding factor, especially when budget and bragging rights come into play. But here’s the truth: a...

Jewelry is deeply personal. It marks milestones, celebrates relationships, and gets passed down through generations. When you’re adding a meaningful piece to your collection, like an engagement ring or a push present, you may wonder whether to buy something new,...