The AUTUMN COLLECTION -- Shades of Fall !

Autumn or Fall, depending on what you call in in your area of the country, is a magical period of time when nature changes from the greens and bright colors of Summer to the almost mystical tans, browns, golds, yellows and reds of Autumn. These colors are repeated many times over in many of the gemstones that are also worn during this time of year.
Using an assymetrical design and earthtones, this 3-strand necklace uses large Picture Jasper coin beads as focal points between bronze toned wire bird-cage beads and Czech Crystals for one side. Czech glass brown and white tear drops and Citrine chips complete the opposide side of the necklace. Ceramic rondels and Citrine chips complete the back of the necklace with a golden S-hook clasp along one side that dramatizes the unusual arrangement of the different shapes and sizes of the components used in this 24 inch necklace.

Golden French Hook earrings with a bronze toned wire bird-cage bead, a Czech Crystal and grouped Citrine chips that hang 1 1/2 inches complete the set.

Jasper is a form of chalcedony, is usually an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for snuff boxes. Various varieiies of Jasper go by regional, location or pattern names. When the colors are in stripes or bands, it is called striped or banded Jasper. Picture jaspers exhibit combinations of patterns (such as banding) from flow or depositional patterns (from water or wind), dendritic or color variations resulting in what appear to be scenes or images, on a cut section. Diffusion from a center point produces a distinctive orbicular appearance, or linear banding from a fracture.

Citrine is a variety of quartz whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown. Natural Citrines are rare; most commercial Ctrines are heat-treated Amethyst or Smoky Quartz. 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. Sometimes Citrine and Amethyst can be found together in the same crystal, which is then referred to as Ametrine.

Czech crystals and bronze wire are also used in this set.

SUMMER SENSATIONS - Cloisonné and light weight !

The lilac Cloisonné and fabric knit beads are very light weight and comfortable to wear. They are combined with Amethyst rondells, Rose Quarts beads, Amethyst and Citrine chips, Crystals and Silver accents. This 18 inch necklace with a 2 inch extender is finished with a S-hook clasp. Matcing French Hook earrings complete the set.

Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalework objects, but in recent centuries using vitreous enamels, and also inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and even linen. and other cloth materials, has become common place, especially in jewelry beads.

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry and decorative statues and lapidary displays. Amethyst is composed of an irregular superposition of alternate lamellae of right-handed and left-handed quartz. It has been shown that this structure may be due to mechanical stresses. Because it has a hardness of seven on the Mohs scale, Amethyst is suitable for use in jewelry. Amethyst occurs in primary hues from a light pinkish violet to a deep purple. Amethyst may exhibit one or both secondary hues, red and blue. Green quartz is sometimes incorrectly called green Amethyst, which is an actual misnomer and not an acceptable name for the material, the proper terminology being Prasiolite.

Citrine is a variety of quartz whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown. Natural Citrines are rare; most commercial Ctrines are heat-treated Amethyst or Smoky Quartz. 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. Sometimes Citrine and Amethyst can be found together in the same crystal, which is then referred to as Ametrine.

Rose Quartz is a type of Quartz which exhibits a pale pink to dark rose red hue. The color is usually considered as due to trace amounts of titanium, iron, or manganese, in the massive material. Some Rose Quartz contains microscopic rutile needles which produces an asterism in transmitted light. In crystal form (rarely found) it is called Pink Quartz and its color is thought to be caused by trace amounts of phosphate or aluminium. The color in crystals is apparently photosensitive and subject to fading. The first crystals of Rose Quartz were found in a pegmatite dike near Rumford, Maine, USA, but most crystals on the market today come from Minas Gerais, Brazil. Rose Quartz is not popular as a gem because it is generally too clouded by impurities to be suitable for faceting. Rose Quartz is more often carved into figures such as people or animals. Hearts are also commonly found because Rose Quartz is pink and an affordable mineral for Valentines Day.

Cord beads and Crystals are also used in this set.

SUMMER SENSATIONS - light weight, lilac and pale green !

SOLD Light in color and light in weight all for summer wear. Lilac fabric Cloisonne beads, purple corded beads, crystals, pale green Jade and Amethyst/Citrine chips will float around your neck like a summer garden. The necklace is 19 inches with a 2 inch extender and a gold plated Lobster Claw clasp. Golden French Hook dangle earrings complete the set.

Jade on todays market is primarily composed of Nephrite; Jadeite Jade has become quite rare and in its emerald-green, translucent form is referred to as Imperial Jade or "gem jade". A small amount of cromium in Jadeite accounts for the color of Imperial Jade. Other color-based names for Jadeite Jade are Yunan Jade, for a uniquely appearing dark green, semitranslucent Jade, Apple Jade for apple (yellowish green) green Jade, and Moss-in-Snow for white Jade with vivid green spots and streaks. Nephrite and Jadeite Jade ranges in color from a somewhat greasy-appearing, white to dark and light shades of green, gray, blue-green, lavender, yellow, orange, brown, reddish-brown, and black. An important dark green variety of Nephrite is sometimes known as "spinach Jade". The chromophore in all Nephrite Jades is usually iron. Nephrite jade is usually opaque to translucent in thinner pieces. The name Jade has been, and continues to be, applied to a variety of materials that superficially or closely resemble Jade but are not composed of either Jadeite or Nephrite. So as the old saying gos "Buyer Beware !".

Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalework objects, but in recent centuries using vitreous enamels, and also inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and even linen. and other cloth materials, has become common place, especially in jewelry beads.

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry and decorative statues and lapidary displays. Amethyst is composed of an irregular superposition of alternate lamellae of right-handed and left-handed quartz. It has been shown that this structure may be due to mechanical stresses. Because it has a hardness of seven on the Mohs scale, Amethyst is suitable for use in jewelry. Amethyst occurs in primary hues from a light pinkish violet to a deep purple. Amethyst may exhibit one or both secondary hues, red and blue. Green quartz is sometimes incorrectly called green Amethyst, which is an actual misnomer and not an acceptable name for the material, the proper terminology being Prasiolite.

Citrine is a variety of quartz whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown. Natural Citrines are rare; most commercial Ctrines are heat-treated Amethyst or Smoky Quartz. 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. Sometimes Citrine and Amethyst can be found together in the same crystal, which is then referred to as Ametrine.

Corded beads and crystals are also used in this set.

Wire-Wrapped Agate Necklace and Earring Set !

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.

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Jasper and Agate will appear to be made of wax. If the rock is just plain clear to white translucent with no markings or patterns, it is considered Chalcedony. If it is opaque, that is, if you cannot see into or through it, it is Jasper. Jasper is most frequently earth tones or red but you can find jasper in just about any color or color combination and it can contain some very lively patterns. One well known form of Jasper is called 'Picture Jasper', and just as the name suggests, the lines and markings look just like a scenic picture of mountains and valleys or forests and so on. Geometric patterns are also common in Jasper stones.

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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.

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This design incorporates a very interesting piece of Agate, which is striped but also is considered partially a Fire Agate and a Druzy Agate and has been enclosed in a silver wire wrapped holder and bail. The necklace then contains puff oval Citrine beads and faceted round Sunstone beads with their "shiller" effect and highlighted with silver beads and finished with a Toggle Clasp. Matching silver French Hook earrings containing a faceted Sunstone bead completes the set.

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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.

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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.
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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.

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GEMSTONE JEWELRY - The many colors of Pietersite !

Many times all the colors found in a gemstone are not readily visable to the viewer. When using, especially a pendant in a jewelry piece, other gemstones and materials can be used to highlight the colors of the highlight or main stone.

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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.

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Pietersite was discovered by Sid Pieters in 1962 while he was prospecting some farmland in Namibia, Africa. His discovery was published in 1964, and the material was named Pietersite. Currently there are only two known sources of Pietersite; China and Africa. 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.

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Citrine is a variety of Quartz whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown. Citrine normally is found in faceted cut stones, but also in quite common in chip form. Natural Citrines are rare; most commercial Citrines are heat-treated Amethysts or Smoky Quartz. 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.

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Georgia "Quartz" !

Amethyst crystals and a Quartz Septor from locations in Georgia.

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After several years of discussion, in 1976, the Georgia Legislature finally decided upon Quarts as the Official gemstone for Georgia. Quartz is a very common material found all over the State of Georgia as well as most of the Uniited States. Georgia Quarts comes in a wide variety of colors. The resolution making Quartz the State gemstone also cited two particular forms of Quartz: the Amethyst, which is mostly used in jewelry, and Clear Quartz, which, when faceted, resembles the Diamond and the septor variety is used in decorations.

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Citrine and Amethyst along with some Smoky Quartz are found quite often by rockhounds, but the clear quartz is by far the most abundant. Since Quartz is found all over the state, there is no one particular location that stands out, but most say the mountain regions are the best place to find good specimens.

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Although Alabama and New Hampshire also named Quartz as their State gemstone, specific varieties were selected. Several other states have also named Quartz as their official state mineral.

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North Carolina's "Emeralds" !

After several years of legislative debate, the North Carolina Legislature finally in 1973, settled on the Emerald as the Official State Gemstone. This selection was made hard by the fact that North Carolina is host to more than sixty-three different types of naturally occurring gemstones and minerals! Many of these are very rare, including Emerald, Aquamarine, Sapphire, Garnet, Topaz, Amethyst, Citrine, Rutile, and Tourmaline, along with an abundance of world class smoky and clear Quartz crystals. In addition, North Carolina is famous as the only place on earth where the very rare gemstone "Hiddenite" can be found!

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Nestled snugly in the foothills of the beautiful Brushy Mountains of North Carolina is located the small town of Hiddenite. This locality is recognized as one of the most unique and interesting geological locations on the North American continent. Each year, thousands of rockhounds, tourists and educational field trip participants flock to this popular North Carolina attraction to experience the thrill of finding rare gemstones in the rough. Whether a serious or amateur prospector hoping to fulfill dreams of finding hidden treasures, a student experiencing an enriching "hands on" learning experience or a family seeking quality outdoor recreation, they can all be found in this area.

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Another very popular area is in the mine fields around Franklin, in Macon County, in the western tip of the state. No matter which direction you arrive from, you'll pass through some of the prettiest areas of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Waterfalls, rock-clustered streams of rushing water, scenic mountain views, something for everyone. This area is especially noted for its Corrundum finds. Sapphires and Rubies are both variations of corundum. We tend to think of Sapphires as blue, but they can be green, pink, yellow, and many other colors depending on the presence of different impurities. All colors of Corundum are called Sapphire except one: Red Corundum is always a Ruby. A few mines in the area produce the rare Star Rubies and Sapphires, stones that produce a six-pointed star when they're cut into a cabochon shape, with a smooth, rounded, dome-like top. The star is the result of needle-like inclusions that react with light.

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Depending on who one talks with or which advertisement is read, there are between 30 to 50 gemstone producing mines in North Carolina, with only a small handful working commercially these days. Some mine have been in continuous use since the 1870s.

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Again, don't confuse the Emerald as being the State Gemstone with the State Rock named in 1979, which is Granite. Although Granite is found all over the State, the most famous location is Chimney Rock State Park which is located just 25 miles southeast of Ashville.

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SPRING FASHION and COLORS

Butterscotch Amber Earrings

Jewelry is taking on a colorful outlook this Spring season, mixing vibrant shades that show up in pieces across the price spectrum. After the deep purples and ashen color palettes of Fall clothing, a surge of hard-candy hues is exploding into Spring jewelry. It's bright, brilliant and dripping with fun and a sense of possibility.

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Mimosa is the color of Spring 2009". Mimosa is described as "a warm, engaging yellow" color, named after the mimosa tree and the yummy cocktail. Though we are still in the middle of winter, you can already add the mimosa color to your wardrobe for instant cheer, style and inspiration. Wear with jewelry made from natural elements, like wood, for a complementary look that blends well with other colors also.

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Easily incorporate mimosa into your wardrobe with a simple scarf,nail polish or a bright headband. Look for jewelry in the yellow color - amber (especially Butterscotch Amber), citrine, sapphire, spinel, tourmaline are a few that come to mind. Consider a coat in a bold gold or mimosa color to brighten up your everyday winter look. Layer over gray tights or tees for a pretty transition into Spring.

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For late Spring and early Summer, add jewelry made of coral or turquoise to look fresh and tropical, without going overboard.

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Exerpts of articles from the Houston Examiner and Los Angeles Times.

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