SUMMER SENSATIONS - Time for Cool Refreshment !

This cool and refreshing Summertime necklace has a faceted freeform Hawaiian Pineapple Quartz pendant surrounded by Amazonite beads, Seraphenite barrels, gold accent pieces with peridot and peach colored crystals. Green Turquoise chips finish out the 19 inch necklace that has a hook and eye Gold Plated clasp. French Hook earrings with charmed beads and crystals complete the set.

Pineapple Quartz is a nearly transparent, light lemon-yellow light-green colored, synthetically produced glass that looks like fine Quartz that is highly prized in the Hawaiian Islands.

Amazonite (sometimes called "Amazon stone") is a green variety of microcline feldspar. The name is taken from that of the Amazon River, from which certain green stones were formerly obtained, but it is doubtful whether any green feldspar occurs in the Amazon area. Amazonite is a mineral of limited occurrence. Formerly it was obtained almost exclusively from the area of Miass, 50 miles southwest of Chelyabinsk, Russia, where it occurs in granitic rocks. More recently, high-quality crystals have been obtained from Pike's Peak, Colorado, where it is found associated with smoky Quartz, orthoclase and albite in a coarse granite or pegmatite. Crystals of amazonite can also be found in Crystal Park, El Paso County, Coorado.

Seraphinite is a trade name for a particular form of clinochlore, a member of the Chlorite group. Seraphinite apparently acquired its name due to its resemblance to feathers, such as one might find on a bird's wing. With some specimens the resemblance is quite strong, with shorter down-like feathery growths leading into longer "flight feathers"; the resemblance even spurs fanciful marketing phrases like "silver plume seraphinite." Seraphinite is generally dark green to gray in color, has chatoyancy, and has hardness between 2 and 4 on the Mohs scale. Seraphinite is mined in a limited area of eastern Siberia in Russia. Russian mineralogist Nikolay Koksharov (1818-1893) is often credited with its discovery.

Green Turquoise is a green variety of common Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue. In recent times, turquoise, like most other opaque gems, has been devalued by the introduction of treatments, imitations, and synthetics onto the market. The substance has been known by many names, but the word turquoise, which dates to the 16th century, is derived from an Old French word for "Turkish", because the mineral was first brought to Europe from Turkey, from the mines in historical Persia. The Southwestern United States is a significant source of turquoise. The deposits of California, Arizona and New Mexico were mined by pre-Columbian Native Americans using stone tools, some local and some from as far away as central Mexico. Turquoise from these pld mines are some of the best and highly prized stones on the market today.

Crystals are also used in this set.

Stone Patterns !

One of the things one looks for when picking out a slab to make pieces for jewelry out of is an outstanding or unique pattern within the outline of the shape one is going to design. An excellant example is the following pendant made from Red River Jasper from Australia. Here you see two very well defined colors streaking across the stone.

Some times the piece of stone or slab is not large enough to make several pieces which would become a pendant and earring set. But sometime one is luckly enough in the pattern presented by the stone, to be able to make a pendant and earring set from multiple pieces, as seen in this Tiger Iron set from Australia.

Then there are times when one is able to make a large pendant out of a slab, only to have the finished piece break into pieces, hopefully only two, because of a fracture line in the stone or a bit of rough handling when cutting or polishing. Many times the crack occurs when trying to drill a hole for hanging the piece from a necklace or placing a bail on it. But sometimes when this occurs, one gets very lucky and where the crack occurs allows the piece to be repolished into a matching set as seen in this Cappucinno Jasper double-pendant.

Sometimes it takes a bit more imagination to come up with a design after a stone cracks, but as can be seen in these Cappuccino Jasper pieces, the original stone patern is still very much present although the two pieces no longer actually fit together.

At other times there is no real pattern but similar areas make for an interesting double pendant design. Again Cappuccino Jasper from Poland fills the bill for this double-pendant.

We close out with another great pendant made out of Seraphinite or "Russian Angel Stone" where Silvery Mica is encased in the Seraphinite makes for a very interesting pendant pattern and a very unique piece.

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SERAPHINITE - The Russian Angel Stone ! !

Almost everyone knows the story of Alexanderite and its connection to the Russian Zars and the rarity of the gemstone. Alexandrite was originally discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia in 1830 and named after the boy Czar, Alexander ll. But few seem to be aware of another spectactular Russian gemstone. It is a commonly known Mineral Specimen stone due to its softness, but few realize it can also be a fantastic jewelry gemstone.

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Seraphinite is a lovely dark-green stone that changes its sparkle and coloration as you view it from different positions. It comes from the mine “Korshunovskaia” which is situated not far from Baikal Lake in Eastern Siberia, Russia, near the same area where Chrome Diopsite and Charoite are mined. Seraphinite forms through the metamorphic and hydrothermal alterations of other iron and magnesium silicate minerals. It crystalizes in the form of foliated or granular masses and also as tabular crystals. It has a hardness is 2 – 2,5 (Moh’s Scale), density of 2,6, and a Chemical formula H8 Mg5 Al2 Si3 O18.

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Seraphinite is the gem quality variety of Clinochlore. Clinochlore was found by the Russian mineralogist Nikolai I. Koksharov (1818 – 1892) who was once the director of the Russian Imperial Mineralogical Society. This mineral got its name from the Greek words for inclined and green since its structure is monoclinic and its common color is green.

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Seraphinite has silvery chatoyant fibers much like charoite. Many agree that the fibers are the result of Mica being trapped in the veins of the stone. Often referred to as "an angel stone" due to its feathery look and strong Air to Earth qualities, it is difficult to say these days who gave this “Angel” name to the stone, but they say that it helps one to contact angels and communicate with them. Seraphiniteis is said to have become one of the premier healing stones of the 21st Century. It is strongly recommended for use in strengthening and activating all of the chakras.

There is a common opinion that seraphinite can be used only as a mineral specimen, because of its softness. But Seraphinite looks great in jewelry and can keep a polish/shine quite well, and it is not as fragile as it appears. But because of its softness it can easily be formed into beads of all shapes and sizes.

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Seraphinite definitely looks best mounted in Platinum, White Gold or Silver. It can be mounted in rings, but greatly discouraged because it can be so easily damaged due to its softness.

A good pendant or earring mounting is best for protecting the cut and polished Seraphinite stones.

In the past several years, a variety of Clinochlore has been found in the West Chester area of Pennsylvania. Many call it Seraphinite because of the close resemblance to the Russian material.

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