Come and see this Christmas Set and other Gemstone Jewelry Sets
Dichroic Glass
Fossils
Wire Wrapped
Gemstones
Faceted Gemstones
Unmounted Gemstone Pendants
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Come and see new designs such as this Turquoise, Tiger Iron and Crystal Set.
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Enamel/Copper Pendant, Sponge Coral & Copper Set
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Dichroic Glass and Turquoise Beads Set
Dichroic Glass Pendant on Royal and Cape Amethyst Necklace Beads Set
When Calsilica, sometimes spelled calcilica, first appeared on the fashion jewelry circuit, it started a controversy and has and continues to create quite a stir because of its beauty and has generated a fair bit of controversy and speculation over it's true origin – particularly whether it is a naturally-occurring stone, or a man-made material. After its initial appearance, the most persistent claim has been that Calsilica is found at a mine in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, in the veins or seams of the volcanic Rhyolite that is mined at this location. This speculation of being man-made is continuing because geologists have been denied access to the mine, supposedly to protect the resource from over-exploitation. In the last few years, focus has changed and now is centered on an alleged deposit of Rainbow Calsilica in China. 
Many claim Calsilica, also known more commonly as Rainbow Calsilica, is a synthetic stone that is manufactured from a mixture of Calcite, plastic resins and artificial coloring pigments. The different colored bands through Rainbow Calsilica are powdered carbonate rock artificially colored and then stabilized with plastic resin. The bands of color can come in any order and in any color. Despite possibly being a synthetic stone, Rainbow Calsilica has been increasing in demand for jewelry, especially high end items. Natural or man-made or man-enhanced, Rainbow Calsilica is one of those stones that always draws attention..
Others claim that Calsilica, or "Rainbow Calsilica", is a naturally occurring material. However, all seem to agree that Calsilica, just like Turquoise, is most of the time stabilized to keep it from flaking, and protect the colors when being worn as jewelry.
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Calsilica specimens can be quite beautiful and colorful, and as such, can be used too make earrings, pendants, beads, rings, and other items. As seen to the right, a necklace of graduated Calsilica beads put together by Jay King, becomes quite dramatic on its own. While the purists amongst us may be disappointed that Calsilica is perhaps man-made or man-modified, Calsilica continues to capture the imagination of jewelry designer as well as jewelry wearers alike. It is really any different that the common practice of stabilizing Turquoise? The key in the future of Calsilica may be seeing the mine and determining if colorization in addition to the stabilizing, is being done on the natural stone.
Once in a while when unusual combinations of gemstones are placed together, they appear to bring out colors that are not obvious when looking at the stones by themselves. Although blue is not a common color to be found in Onyx, sometime the white, cream or ivory colored striping will have a slightly bluish tinge.
STRIPED ONYX - Onyx is a cryptocrystalline form of Quartz. Striped Onyx is a redundant statement since true Onyx will have color bands that range from white to almost every color (save some shades, such as purple or blue). Commonly, specimens of Onyx that are seen in the market place contain bands of colors of white, tan, and brown. Pure black Onyx is actually Dyed Agate or poor grades of Onyx where the stripes have been dyed to black.
BLACK AGATE (Onyx) which is truely a died black Agate, is more common and perhaps the most famous variety, but not as common as natural Onyx. Onyx is a crypyocrystalline form of Quartz. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color (save some shades, such as purple or blue). A picture of a true Black Onyx specimum is seen at the left. True specimens of Onyx contain bands of colors of white, tan, and brown. As stated, the pure black form which most people know as Onyx, is not a naturally occuring variety. Black Agate or poorly colored Onyx is heated and dyed black to come up with the pure black form so well liked within the jewelry industry.
KYANITE is one of three minerals to have the same chemical composition . These are Kyanite, Andalusite, and Sillimanite. Kyanite is the high pressure polymorph, Sillimanite is formed at high temperature, and Andalusite is the low pressure polymorph. Occasionally, clear and very colorful blue Kyanite is encountered. This material is highly prized by those who cut gemstones, especially the bluer the piece of rough is. It can be cut as a cabochon, faceted, or used to produce beads and pendants. Kyanite is considered to be an "exotic" gemstone because it is not often used in jewelry.
While walking around in a field or climbing a mountain side, finding a great chunk of Agate or a piece of Jasper is a thrill for any rockhound, but being able to identify exactly what it is that has been found is quite a headache for the beginner. These headaches can be relieved very easily though with just a little bit of knowledge about the different Quartz group of stones. Agate and Jasper are actually Chalcedony, which in turn is cryptocrystalline Quartz. When you pick up a stone you can rule out that it is a piece of regular massive Quartz quite quickly just by looking to see if you can see grains within the stone. If you can see grains, you do not have an Agate or a Jasper. Most likely, what you have then is massive Quartz or some other type of stone. Many new rockhounds will mistake massive Quartz for a piece of Agate, so don't feel bad if you do. It's a very frequent mistake.
If a stone is an Agate, it will be translucent as is Chalcedony, but an Agate will have patterns. Most commonly, Agates have bands, and are appropriately called 'Banded Agate'. Sometimes the bands are also translucent, sometimes some are opaque. There are many Agates named to describe how they look, such as plume, orbicular, or flower and many that are named for the place they are found, such as Dryhead or Lake Superior. 
AGATE is a microcrystalline variety of quartz, chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Although Agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks but can be common in certain metamorphic rocks. No gemstone is more creatively striped by Nature than Agate, the chalcedony quartz that forms in concentric layers in a wide variety of colours and textures. Each individual Agate forms by filling a cavity in host rock. As a result, Agate is often found as a round nodule, with concentric bands like the rings of a tree trunk. The bands sometimes look like eyes, fanciful scallops, or even a landscape with trees.
CITRINE is any quartz crystal or cluster that is yellow or orange in color. Although often cut as a gemstone, Citrine is actually somewhat rare in nature. Most Citrines on the market have been heat treated. Specimens of low grade, inexpensive Amethyst or Smoky Quartz are often cooked at high temperatures to produce the more profitable orange yellow Citrine. Citrines whose colors have been produced by artificial means tend to have much more of an orange or reddish caste than those found in nature, which are usually a pale yellow. Much of the natural Citrine may have started out as Amethyst but heat from nearby magmatic bodies may have caused the change to Citrine. Citrine made by heating Amethyst may be returned to a purple color by bombarding it with beta radiation.
SUNSTONE is a plagioclase feldspar, which when viewed from certain directions exhibits a spangeled appearance; this has led to its use as a gemstone. It has been found in Southern Norway, and in some United States localities. It is the official gemstone of Oregon. The optical effect appears to be due to reflections from enclosures of red hematite, in the form of minute scales, which are hexagonal, rhombic or irregular in shape, and are disposed parallel to the principal clevage-plane. These enclosures give the stone an appearance something like that of Aventurine, whence sunstone is known also as "aventurine-feldspar." The optical effect called "shiller" and the color in Oregon Sunstone is due to copper. In the middle part of this crystal, it sparks a lot, and usually has a dark color in the middle, and the color becomes lighter as it becomes the outer part.
Here we have Dark Blue Sonoran Leaves combined with Lapis Lazuli and Kyanite along with Crysatl Beads.
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This set combines Light Blue Sonoral Leaves with Turquoise and Crystal beads.
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We are returning to the Glass, Crystals and Gemstones combination. Not a combination one would automatically think of, but when the glass is cut or formed correctly, and the crystals and gemstones have been cut and polished also, you have a unique combination for the “discerning” jewelry wearer. Come and see this design and others at the Deep in the Arts of Texas Show at the Live Oak Civic Center, Sat Oct 9th, 9 to 5
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2009 Encino Park Craft Fair Booth
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Look for our Jewelry by CnC sign in the main Community Center room at Location 5 & 6
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This jewelry piece fits that color pattern. The Pietersite shield shapped pendant contains the many colors that Pietersite is noted for, but until put with the Blue Foil Glass beads, the spots of blue in the Pietersite can be easily overlooked. The large Citrine nuggest then highlight the golden colors within the Pietersite. Copper highlights and clasp complete the necklace with copper French Hook cearrings finishing the set.
These two forms of Pietersite are similar but still somewhat different from each other. The Chinese Pietersite's fibrous mineral is a magnesium-rich alkalic amphibole. The African (Namibian) variety is mainly Crocidolite. The China form of Pietersite is said to have been discovered in 1993, but did not come to market until 1997. This China Pietersite exhibits slightly different color variations from Mr. Pieter's original mineral, but both are beautiful and are now universally recognized as Pietersite. The material found in China was formed from a mineral very similar to Crocidolite, named Torendrikite. Chinese Pietersite has striking combinations of gold, red and blue color segments which sometimes also includes a deep golden brown color. Regardless of the source, Pietersite will always have brecciated, fibrous bands of blue, gold and/or red Tiger Eye type fibers in Quartz. 
The fibrous structure in Pietersite has been folded, stressed, even fractured and/or broken apart via the Earth's geologic processes. The fibrous materials have then been reformed and naturally recemented together by Quartz. Stones and crystals that go through this process are referred to as brecciated, creating a finished product with multiple colors, hues and superb chatoyancy. While Pietersite has the lovely chatoyancy of Tiger Eye, it is not found in continuously structured bands or fibers, more in swirls, swathes and fibrous (sometimes linear) segments. Thus the structure of the fibrous streaks in Pietersite may appear rather chaotic, and can flow or exist in many directions side-by-side like bold paint strokes. )
Colors include various blues, golds and reds, that may appear together or alone. Blue is the rarest color, followed by red. The blues range from a baby blue to dark midnight hue. Golds can be light to very deep and rich, sometimes having a reddish hue. All fibrous color variations will have a superb and striking chatoyancy, the bright and subtly changing shimmer of color that moves along the surface of a gemstone as it is viewed from varying angles.
It is nearly impossible to tell cut citrine from yellow Topaz visibly, but they differ in hardness. Citrine has ferric impurities, and is rarely found naturally. Brazil is the leading producer of Citrine, with much of its production coming from the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The name is derived from Latin 'citrina' which means "yellow" and is also the origin of the word "citron." Sometimes Citrine and Amethyst can be found together in the same crystal and is referred to as Ametrine which primarily comes from Bolivia, but some has been found in India.
