Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Tourmaline, Turquoise, and My Bracelets de La Semaine

triple strand tourmaline bracelet with labradorite and sterling silverI've been trying to work with different gemstones, since I am so bad about getting onto one and using and reusing it (I've been doing that with turquoise). In an effort to be a bit different, I've used tourmaline - not my favorite gemstone because good tourmaline is just too expensive, and I seldom see it cut in a way that I want to use and that I can afford to use as well. But I did get some pretty tourmaline from Spain with lots of pink in it, green, and very little black. I threw in some of the highest quality labradorite rondelles that I had (tons of blue flash) and used one of my labradorite nuggets with good blue flash, made three strands, braided them, and I'm pretty happy with the result.
turquoise beaded bracelet with green quartz and sterling silver
turquoise bracelet with pearls and sterling silverI've been playing with turquoise as you can see, and here are some of the results of my play. I tried it with pearls (above) and lampwork beads, muscovite and lampwork beads, and even green quartz and lampwork beads. The lampwork beads are by Burt Gumeson and James Derrick Reeves, two of my favorite lampworkers. The pearls are freshwater, and the metal components, charms, clasps, beads, are all sterling silver. Hmmm, I'm going to have to put a picture of a turquoise bracelet with gold (or vermeil) because I think that while turquoise and sterling silver are classic, gold is fantastic with turquoise and gives it a richness that reminds me of ancient romantic places, Babylon, Sumer, Ur, Egypt.
turquoise bracelet with lampwork beads and muscovite gemstones and sterling silver
By the way, if you are intersted in beading and other crafts, check out Elifce's blog where she demonstrates with video - and even has some video of her hometown in Turkey! Look on my sidebar under Elifce's for her ecraft.blogspot.com.
Cluny Grey Jewelry

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think your jewelry is very beautiful!

Elifce said...

Hi Cluny,

I added your pretty blog' s link to my e-craft.blogspot.com' s "My Friend' s Blog" part.

Elif from Istanbul... See you soon :)

Wolfie said...

Wow, not only do you look a bit like my sister your background and jewellery are quite similar.

Ol' Lady said...

Wow-ever nice jewelry!! Found you via blogmad, I have voted for your site. If you have a moment could you stop by my blog and sign my guestbook, I'm new to the world of blogging and I think it's neat to see where everyone is from. Thanks

fin said...

The blues are beautiful

Anonymous said...

I seriously want one of your bracelets. They are stunning. Do you make them in a smaller size? I have a pretty tiny wrist.

clunygrey said...

Dear Divine Calm,
All of our bracelets are sized to fit each person who buys one - free of charge because fit is so important when wearing jewelry. You tell us the size of your wrist and I have/make a mandrel the same size and fit the bracelet to it depending on how you like your bracelets to fit: loose, average, snug.
Check our website: http://www.clunygreyjewelry.com and you can e-mail us from there, too.