Starting tomorrow, you can buy tickets for our annual Festival of Trees Raffle. Tickets are $10 and available in the Museum Gift Shop. All money raised goes to directly into our budget for programs and operations here at the museum.
This year's item, valued at $6,500, is an amazing piece designed by Sherry Weber titled “Tinsel and Trees Necklace”. This one-of-a kind piece features Green Amethyst, Lemon Citrine, Peridot and Silver Topaz hanging from a hand made, 14kt gold chain. All gemstones were cut for maximum brilliance, and they dance and flirt with every movement.
Award winning jewelry designer Sherry Weber discovered a love of art as a child while attending summer programs at Philbrook Museum in Tulsa. She is rapidly gaining recognition for her innovative use of colored gems and hand crafted gold components to create a signature style that is feminine, elegant and undeniably unique. As the daughter of iconic Tulsa jeweler, Bruce G. Weber, Sherry was surrounded by distinctive jewels and elegant design. Although she was always enchanted by magnificent pieces of jewelry, it was colored gems that truly captured her imagination.
After collecting stones for years, Weber took GIA Diamond and Colored Stone courses and soon built a thriving business as a gem dealer specializing in rare and collectible colored gems. She has developed a worldwide network of miners and cutters that provide the custom cut gems that are the hallmark of her designs. Moving beyond the traditional emerald, rubies and sapphires that have dominated the colored stone market, Weber defies convention by using an array of gemstones that are emerging in prominence among serious gem collectors. Her work routinely features stones in the tourmaline, garnet, quartz, beryl and spinel families.
“A gem changes hands on the average of seven times from the mine to the retail customer”, explains Weber. “Throughout the process, the price increases, treatments may be added, changes may be made to the cut. By buying rough material from the mine and having it cut, I am in control of the process from the inception. I know the history of the gem and I am able to provide it at a much more competitive price than most designers.”
Weber believes that a beautiful gem demands to be the star of well designed piece of jewelry. After seeing many of the stones that she sold eclipsed by overworked settings, Weber began providing custom designs for her clients. “I love the process of collaborating with a client to create the perfect juxtaposition of a woman and a gem. There are no two gems alike. They are as distinctive as our fingerprints. A piece of jewelry works the best when it enhances the uniqueness of the gem and the woman who wears it. Both should be unforgettable.” says Weber.
