The Blue Lotus
4.54ct unheated cornflower blue Ceylon sapphire
Custom Engagement Rings in Canberra
One day your grandkids will ask about her ring.
Most engagement rings are built around a stone anyone can buy. A diamond picked off a spreadsheet, a lab diamond worth a few hundred dollars, or a cheap commercial-grade gemstone.
Picture your wife clinking champagne glasses with her married friends. They’re all wearing the same oval lab diamond. She’s wearing a rich, colourful gemstone. She’s going to feel so special and unique.
I travel to the end of the world to hunt down rare, vividly coloured gemstones you’ll never find in a shop window. Unheated Ceylon sapphires. Vivid green Zambian emeralds. Mogok spinels. Then we design the ring around the gem. So the person you love wears something nobody else on earth has.
Why does every engagement ring look the same?
You’ve done the rounds of the shops. Same oval white diamonds. Same halo settings. Thin, flimsy bands. Same sustainability sales pitch. You walked out knowing less than when you walked in.
The stone worth giving isn’t sitting in a glass cabinet. The best ones rarely reach a shop at all.
You want a ring as one-of-a-kind as the person who’ll wear it. A design drawn from the essence of your relationship, and what it means to be together. That doesn’t come off a shelf. It has to be custom made.
And you want to know every dollar went into real quality.
The engagement ring market has flipped
Cheap lab diamonds have taken over. Seventy percent of the bridal market is now lab-grown synthetic diamonds. They look nice, but they’re everywhere now, and they’ll never carry the story of something the earth spent millions of years making. And I’d hate to think what your grandkids will say when they find out grandma was proposed to with a synthetic diamond.
So more and more people are turning to natural coloured gemstones. Sapphire, emerald, ruby, spinel, and a whole sea of other fascinating colours. From where I sit, demand for top-quality gemstones has roughly tripled.
I see it every time I buy. Last year I bought a 5.6 carat vivid royal blue sapphire. When I went back in April for the same quality, the price had doubled. Worse, the dealers won’t even show you their best stones anymore. They hold those back.
Why fine gem prices have surged
Two very different kinds of gemstone
Commercial gems are mined by the tonne, usually heated or treated to lift their colour, and they fill shop windows all over the world.
Rare, vivid gems come from the finest sources, in the finest colours, and many have never been treated at all. There are very few of them, and the people who own them treasure them for generations.
Dealers and collectors keep their best stones in the safe, and they only bring them out for buyers they trust. They want to know their stone will be set in a beautiful piece and go to a good home. Earning that trust takes years of buying, travelling and keeping my word.
Money alone won’t get you near those stones. They only change hands through trusted relationships. It’s all about access.
That’s my job. I’ll literally travel to the end of the world to find your perfect gemstone.
Meet Josh, your rare gemstone hunter
I’m Josh Mulrine. I’ve had a lifelong passion for collecting crystals and gems, and I travel to the end of the world to gain access to the finest, rarest, most vivid gems on the planet. My favourite? Star sapphires.
I also run a film and video production company. That’s where I developed my eye for colour. I’ve spent over a decade colour grading film: thousands of hours obsessing over minor colour variations. Put that together with a lifelong obsession with crystals, and I can instantly pick the best stone off a tray of sapphires, every time.
It’s critical that you know your stone is exactly what it’s being sold as. So I work with gemmologists, and every centre stone comes with a report from a globally reputable gem lab.
Associate member of the Auctioneers and Valuers Association of Australia.
Diamonds have GIA. Coloured gemstones have GRS. I travelled to Ethiopia with a GRS field gemmologist to film the most exciting gem discovery of the past decade: Ethiopian Paraiba tourmaline.
I recently posted a very rare 3.58 carat Neon Jedi spinel from Mogok on Instagram. The son of one of the world’s most famous spinel dealers messaged me to buy it. I told him no. I’d rather make it into a beautiful ring for a client here in Australia.
How it works
Tell me what you’re dreaming of.
Send me your ideas through the design brief, or give me a call. We’ll talk colour, shape, style and budget.
I go hunting.
A $999 gem hunting deposit starts the hunt. It comes off your final invoice, and you get it back if I can’t find your stone within 90 days. I’ll often turn down 30 or 40 stones before I find the one, and I’ll show you why each one missed the mark.
We design it, I have it made, and it’s delivered.
While I hunt, we shape the design together, so the ring becomes an expression of the person wearing it. My jewellery designer brings it to life in a 3D computer drawing (CAD), and we refine it until we’re both 100% happy. Then it’s made and securely shipped to you, usually two to three months from our first chat.
Make her the happiest woman in the world
Work with me to design a custom engagement ring around her, set with a rare stone nobody else on earth has. Here are three, so you can picture yours.
5.6 Carat Vivid Royal Blue Ceylon Sapphire
Cushion cut · White gold
A trio of diamonds on each shoulder
This blue sapphire roars with colour. Royal blue is the top colour a sapphire can reach, and the lab added one more word to the certificate: vivid. Nine weeks and 25 rejected stones to find it.
1.95 Carat Vivid Green Zambian Emerald
Emerald cut · White gold
Emerald-cut diamond shoulders
Near flawless, which almost never happens with an emerald. When the ring arrived, my client threw his romantic proposal plans out the window and proposed on the spot, in the kitchen. Of course, she said yes.
The Konnected Sapphire:
7.2 Carat Intense Cornflower Blue Ceylon Sapphire
Emerald cut · Platinum
Trapezoid diamond shoulders
“To have a deeper connection with my partner and unite our souls before our wedding.” That was my client’s brief. The platinum band carries a private inscription.
Choosing your stone
I love the thrill of the hunt, and I love a challenge. If I don’t have your stone in stock, I’ll find it for you. And I never compromise on quality. I’m the John West of gemstones.
Timeless classics
Sapphire
They say sapphire is the stone of truth and communication. Perfect for the woman you’ll raise a family with. Sri Lanka, once called Ceylon, gives us some of the brightest blues on earth, from rich royal blue to bright cornflower. See our sapphire engagement rings.
Emerald
Emerald is known as the stone of harmony, good luck and good fortune. Look closely and you’ll find a tiny garden inside. The French call it jardin. A clean, vivid green emerald is a rare and beautiful thing. See our emerald engagement rings.
Diamond
Diamonds have always been a girl’s best friend. Big, bright and glistening. If she wants a diamond, I’ll find her one that meets my standard: D to F colour, VVS2 clarity or better, triple excellent cut, and no fluorescence.
Rare treasures
Alexandrite
Green in the sunshine. Purplish red by candlelight. Alexandrite changes colour with the light, so her ring looks different indoors and out, on sunny days and grey ones. A ring with real personality and many moods, for a woman who’s full of surprises. A fine Russian alexandrite is irreplaceable.
Spessartite Garnet
The finest spessartite garnets glow a vivid orange the trade calls Fanta. Orange is a beautiful colour for a creative, artistic woman. And if she’s a redhead… we can end the search here.
Spinel
The fastest-rising star in the gem world. The big four were always diamond, sapphire, emerald and ruby. With its incredible colour and fast-growing demand, spinel has earned its place beside them. The finest glow an electric neon. It’s an energetic stone, and she’ll get compliments everywhere she goes.
What does a custom engagement ring cost?
Working with a private jeweller like me starts from $25,000. The stone sets the price, and the rarest stones cost the most.
The bigger your budget, the rarer the stone I can hunt down, and the more extraordinary the ring I can create for you. Get it right, and one day the grandkids will be fighting over her ring.
I’d love to chat and help bring your vision to life.
Custom engagement rings
From $25,000
A $999 gem hunting deposit starts the hunt. It comes off your final invoice.
What my clients say
“Josh’s expertise helped me find a near-flawless Zambian emerald, far exceeding my expectations and unmatched in Melbourne for quality and price.”
“Josh helped me create a stunning 7.2ct sapphire ring… an amazing experience from start to finish.”
“I had such a fun, easy process designing my emerald set with Vivid.”
“People can’t stop gushing over my Kunzite pendant. Its sparkle, infinity design, and angel wings symbolise love and empowerment.”
“Josh is a pleasure to deal with. I sent him on a mission & a half & he delivered in spades. Communication was easy & effortless. Stoked to have this connection in this industry. Happy to do business again soon.”
Engagement rings for Canberra, and the rest of Australia
While I’m based in Yarralumla, in Canberra, most of my clients are right across Australia. I meet by appointment, in person or over a video call.
If everything you’ve heard so far sounds good, let’s connect. My passion for gemstones is contagious. I’d be honoured to be part of such a special milestone in your life.
Start the hunt
Engagement ring questions
How long does it take?
Two to three months from our first chat to the finished ring. Some hunts are quicker. The rarest stones can take longer.
Do you have a showroom?
No. I’m a private jeweller, so there’s no showroom. I work by appointment from Yarralumla, and by video call for clients across Australia. While I hunt, I’ll show you the stones I’m considering and why I’m turning others down. You’ll really enjoy the process.
How does the gem hunting deposit work?
A $999 deposit starts the hunt. It comes off your final invoice. If I can’t find a suitable stone within 90 days, you get it back.
Can you remake or reset a ring I already have?
No, I don’t remake jewellery. Every ring I make is new, built around a stone I’ve hunted for you.
Will my stone come with a certificate?
Yes. Every centre stone comes with a report from a globally reputable gem lab.
Should I choose a heated or unheated sapphire?
Almost every sapphire on the market has been heated to improve its colour, and that’s accepted in the trade. An unheated sapphire is far more collectible. But for a large stone, three to five carats in the strongest vivid royal blue, heated is acceptable. It really comes down to your budget.
Do you make diamond engagement rings?
Yes, to my house standard: D to F colour, VVS2 clarity or better, triple excellent cut, and no fluorescence. But I might try to convince you to go with a coloured gemstone.
Can you find a specific stone?
Yes. Gemstone collecting and fine jewellery are all about access, and I have access to the rarest gemstones on the planet. I’ve travelled to the end of the world, and I have the contacts to find any gemstone. Tell me about a stone, or even just a colour: her favourite, or the colour of her eyes.
Why choose a coloured gemstone over a diamond?
Colour means something. It might match their eyes, a favourite colour, or a place you both love. A rare natural gemstone is one of a kind. And the finest coloured gemstones are far rarer than diamonds. Some sell for more per carat.
Not ready yet? Follow the hunt.