David Jerome 18 Karat White Gold Opal and Diamond Ring

The David Jerome Jewelry Collection refers to a collection of jewelry, diamonds and other gemstones amassed by world-renowned jeweler and gemologist David Jerome. Jerome has traveled to the most remote parts of the world for more than 45 years to amass his extraordinary private collection. 

The British-born Jerome was raised in London and was initially a hair stylist, a trade that his father suggested he pursue. He worked at a salon on Oxford Street in London and worked extensively with coloring products for hair. Jerome later established an American cosmetics and hair care products manufacturing company called Jerome Russell with his brother, which saw him working more deeply with color, creating spray-on hair color thickeners for the consumer market as well as other products. The company was sold to American International Industries. Since then, he has embraced his lifelong love of gemology and jewelry design. 

Jerome has traveled all over the world in search of gems — to Africa, China, Thailand, Sri Lanka and more — but cites Tanzania as having been the first place he felt compelled to go owing to his hobby. His father worked in a range of London-based markets when he was a child and would frequently buy pieces of gold as well as loose stones from customers. When Jerome encountered tanzanite, he insisted that he had to journey to Tanzania, to its ethically operated mines. The collector continues to go straight to the source rather than to wholesalers for his supply. 

Tanzanite — which, as its name implies, is found only in Tanzania — is beloved for its rich hue, ranging from blue to violet. Unheated examples of this stone have found a place in Jerome’s exquisite cocktail rings and necklaces more than 90 percent of his stones are untreated or unheated. The jeweler has created thousands of designs over the years and has also cited his admiration for aquamarine, which is perhaps the gemstone that best embodies the glimmering blue of the ocean. Presumably, Jerome has been to the mines of Zambia, Nigeria, Mozambique and elsewhere that house rich deposits of this stone, which appears frequently in his cluster rings. (His stones are typically set in platinum or 18K gold.)

In 2015, Jerome worked with John Pye Luxury Assets to bring a collection of nearly 700 precious colored natural gemstones to auction that was valued at nearly 10 million dollars.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of David Jerome jewelry.