CARIBBEAN DELIGHTS SERIES - Colors of the Caribbean Islands and Sea !

As one visits the Caribbean, the vibrant colors that are seen in the Ocean, on the Islands and in the Sunsets inspired this jewelry collection called "Caribbean Delights". The first two cover the green of the islands and the blues of the water.

SOLD A peridot colored 2 inch Sonoran Glass Leaf acts as a focal point and is combined with Green and Tan Rhyolite rectangular beads, Coper accents, natural White Coral and Green Aventurine pebbles to take the wearer on a tour of the Islands of the Caribbean. This 18 inch necklace with a Copper Toggle Clasp is versitle and very light weight. Copper French Hook Earrings using Rhyolite, Coral and Aventurine complete the set.

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Rhyolite is a relatively common volcanic rock. It is the chemical equivalent of granite. Although the two rock types have the same chemistry, Rhyolite is extrusive and granite is intrusive. While granite has crystals that are generally easy to see, in rhyolite the crystals are often too small to see. This is due to the more rapid cooling of the rhyolite lava compared to granite's slower cooling magma. Rhyolitic lavas are often more explosive and slower moving than the less viscous basalt lavas such as those that erupt on the island of Hawaii. Rhyolite often is found with flow banding "frozen" into the rock. This lends to uses as decorative rocks and even ornamental stones for jewelry.

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Corals are marine organisms typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps. The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans, which secret calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. Coral tissues become colorless as they reveal the white of their calcium carbonate skeletons, an event known as coral bleaching and most corals are found in the white form. Other colorations also exist depending on chemicals and algie in the water in which they grew. Corals are highly sensitive to environmental changes. Scientists have predicted that over 50% of the world's coral reefs may be destroyed by 2030; and as a result most nations protect them through environmental laws, especially the black corals. To overcome the shortages for jewelry and other ornamental uses, coral farms are now being developed and used for non-ocenaic purposes. Sponge Coral has been raised in these Coral Farms for decades.

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Aventurine is a form of quartz (chalcedony to be more specific), characterised by its translucency and the presence of platy mineral inclusions that give a shimmering or glistening effect termed aventurescence. The most common colour of Aventurine is green, but it may also be orange, brown, yellow, blue, or gray. Chrome-bearing fuchsitte is the classic inclusion, and gives a silvery green or blue sheen. Oranges and browns are attributed to hematite or goethite. The majority of green and blue-green Aventurine originates in India. Creamy white, gray and orange material is found in Chile, Spain and Russia.
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SOLD As blue a the waters of the Caribbean, a blue colored 2 inch Sonoran Glass Leaf is the focal point of this 20 inch necklace. Opalite and Lapis beads along with crystals have been charmed to highlight the leaf. Wavy Lapis beads and chips, bronze accents and a bronze Toggle clasp complete the necklace. Clusters of charmed beads and crystals hang from the Frech Hook earrings to complete the set.
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Lapis Lazuli is a rock, not a mineral: whereas a mineral has only one constituent, Lapis Lazuli is formed from more than one mineral. The main component of lapis lazuli is Lazurite, and a feldspathoid silicate mineral. Most Lapis Lazuli also contains Calcite (white), Sodalite (blue), and Pyrite (metallic yellow). There can also be other possible constituents and trace amounts of other minerals. Lapis lazuli usually occurs in crystalline marble as a result of contact metamorphism. The finest color is intense blue, lightly dusted with small flecks of golden Pyrite. Stones with no white Calcite veins and only small Pyrite inclusions are more prized. Patches of Pyrite are an important help in identifying the stone as genuine and do not detract from its value. Often, inferior Lapis is dyed to improve its color, producing a very dark blue color with a noticeable grey cast which may also appear as a milky shade. Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, and vases.

Opalite is a stone mined in Utah that comes in varying shades of purple, lavender and creamy white with swirls of yellowish-brown and pink. Opalite is also referred to as Tiffany Stone. Opalite is also a trade name for synthetic opalized glass and various opal simulants. The name is also many times used to promote impure varieties of variously colored common opals.

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GEMSTONE JEWELRY - A Unique Gemstone !

Sometimes it is not the design that makes a piece of jewelry unique, but the material it is made from. Most gemstone jewelry uses material that can be found world-wide or at least in several different locations. Thus many times the same piece or variety of Agate or Jasper goes by various names. Other gemstones that are found world-wide, for instance Turquoise, is known by the same name eveywhere. And then there are a few gemstones that are unique to a single location.

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This necklace is such a design, The pear shapped Nevada Lapis pendant hanging from a string of Freshwater Pearls and Crystals, comes from a single location. The necklace is then highlighted by round and tube silver plated beads with a silvefr toggle clasp. French hook earrings with Freshwater Pearls and silver beads complete the set.

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The second design below uses another Nevada Lapis oval pendant which has been wire-wrapped and hangs from a necklace of Opalite beads which are also used in the French Hook earrings.

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Nevada Lapis is a interesting gemstone in the skarn family (A lime-bearing silicate derived from nearly pure limestone and dolomite with the introduction of large amounts of silicon, aluminum, iron, and magnesium). One dealer claims it is form of Chalcedony (a cryptocrysalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of the minerals Quartz and Morganite) from the Orient, varying in shades from pastel pink, green, beige, gray, yellow, and white. It other words, Nevada Lapis looks like an agate but in pastels. This dealer also says that the name Nevada Lapis is a misnomer, because it is neither from Nevada nor in the Lapis family of stones. It is likene to Unakite, but with different color scheme.

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Then there is a report from a geologist that says the scientific name for Navada Lapis is “Thulite-Diopside Skarn”. It is a rock composed of at least ten distinct minerals including: Thulite, Diopside, Clinozoisite), Microcline, Sericite, Titanite, Epidote, Plagioclase Feldspar, Scapolite, Actinolite and Quartz. The pink color is due to the presence of Thulite and Clinozoisite, the green is due to Diopside, and the cream color is mostly due to the presence of Microcline and Scapolite. Navada Lapis is a skarn of hydrothermal origin, having been formed from a granite which is 171 million years old. Because of the hydrothermal origin, all of the minerals forming this "gem quality skarn" are silica rich, which gives Navada Lapis its hardness and ability to take a polish. Previously skarn had never before been found to occur as a gemstone. The general character of the Navada Lapis is very similar to that of the Yerington Batholith rocks composed from diorite in granite. This formation is only known to exist in the east side of the Pine Nut Range. These rocks are associated with the giant porphyry copper deposit in northwest Nevada near Yerington in Storey County, close to Douglas, Nevada. This type of skarn is known from various places around the world, especially in the Orient, but nowhere else is it found to occur as gem-quality material and as colorful as the Nevada Lapis. The brightness of the pink Thulite and green Diopside in combination is unique in the world.

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Freshwater Pearls, abreviated FWP, are a kind of pearl that comes from freshwater mussels. They have been produced prodominently in Japan and the United States on a limited scale, but are now almost exclusive to China. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission requires that all freshwater pearls be referred to as "freshwater cultured pearls" in commerce settings.

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Opalite is a stone mined in Utah that comes in varying shades of purple, lavender and creamy white with swirls of yellowish-brown and pink. Opalite is also referred to as Tiffany Stone. Opalite is also a trade name for synthetic opalized glass and various opal simulants. The name is also many times used to promote impure varieties of variously colored common opals.

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