Are You Ready for Valentine's Day?

One of the favorite gifts for Valentine's Day (in years past anyway) has got to be bracelets, necklaces, and earrings made of aquamarine. So here are some new aquamarine pieces that will be up on the site within the next day or two. Above, an aquamarine bracelet with sharply faceted nuggets of wonderful practically inclusion-free crystal quartz, and smaller nuggets of aquamarine. Below are aquamarine earrings with sterling silver chain links hanging from swirling filigree posts. The next aquamarine bracelet is a three-strand beauty with a pretty marcasite clasp; the pearls are freshwater Biwa pearls, and little Thai Karen Hill Tribes charms hang at intervals on the strands. Following, another pair of aquamarine earrings, this time hanging from some of my favorite sterling silver earwires adorned with an intricate handmade rose facing front.
Below, a quartz bracelet with a huge aquamarine rough cut nugget as the centerpiece, and finally, an aquamarine bracelet mixed with smoky quartz and sterling silver.
The last two bracelets are a garnet bracelet with red and green garnets and matching lampwork beads, and a smoky quartz bracelet for a special client.

The Stones of Summer

I wrote a blog entry once about how some gemstones are seasonal; that is, they seem to belong to a certain season or seasons (the main division being, however, winter and summer). This really doesn't have anything to do with the Color Me Beautiful idea that women should wear certain colours based on their "season" (meaning the season they fall into determined by their complexions, eye colour and hair colour). This is simply a subjective feeling I have for probably very silly reasons. For instance, I think of rubies as summer gemstones because they are the July birthstone (although rubies do work well in the winter - probably because of the red we habitually see at Christmas?), sunstones are summery because they are reminiscent of the summer sun, bright, orange, glinting, aquamarines because they echo the colours of the ocean, and of course, corals because of the colours and the relationship to the sea (meaning the beach, of course). So some of the most recent bracelets here are summer bracelets from the ruby bracelet at the very top of the page to the last coral bracelet below.
But despite my designating these as "summer stones", they do work well at other times of the year, especially with the addition of a "wintry" stone such as the pietersite in the aquamarine bracelet above.
However, the ankle bracelets that you see below, one ankle bracelet of gold and sunstone and one with aquamarine and sterling silver both sing out summer loud and clear!



Above, coral bracelets page, and   the turquoise and coral bracelets page on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.

Happy Fourth of July!

It's July and that means working with rubies - those red gemstones that I dearly love. Rubies are great in jewelry alone, but it's most fun to mix them with other stones, especially those that may seem an unlikely mix as in the bracelet above where deep blue turquoise has been mixed with dark pinkish-red rubies. I love this combination; it's very Victorian, but also very versatile and goes with a lot more colours in your closet than you may realize. And yes, that is a cabochon ruby toggle clasp also - the perfect finishing touch!
The bracelet below is a good example of how versatile rubies are and how well they mix. Here the rubies join aquamarines, lampwork beads, and kunzite, one of the rarest of all gemstones, a light pink. The lampwork beads here are slightly "dimpled" which gives them an interesting look, and they combines all three colours of the gemstones in the bracelet. The sterling silver toggle clasp here came to me straight from Bali, and it has its intricate raised design on both sides! A very elegant bracelet.

Below, rubies show off their beauty accompanied by intricately decorated sterling silver and borosilicate beads that glow in the light. A second strand of this ruby bracelet is made of one of my favorite Karen Hill Tribes chains dangling little ruby charms. I've used the pretty lavishly decorated toggle clasp again here.

Aquamarine is a perrenial favorite, and a gemstone that is especially beautiful for summer; it looks great with clothing in summer colours and beautiful against lightly tanned skin. The bracelet below is accented by complex borosilicate lampwork beads with little "bumps" on them for texture. The aquamarines are a pretty light blue.
The last bracelet is made of blue lace agate and blue chalcedony and features little charms around the bracelet. It's another combination of stones that looks great for summer!
I'm hoping that we'll have a grand view of the D.C. fireworks this Saturday from my apartment. If we do, it's going to be wonderful to sit in the living room and watch the fireworks flash across the sky without having to park and walk to find a viewing place. It will be my new grand-daughter's first Fourth of July and while the significance of the holiday is lost on her, the fireworks should get her attention.

March: Lion or Lamb?

March: this year, it has been totally unpredictable with a beautiful thick snow lushly covering the wounded landscape caused by February's ice storm. But it's milder now and here's hoping that the weather and life in general becomes much more lamblike here than lionlike!
March is the month of one of my favorite gemstones - the aquamarine. The top aquamarine bracelet is just one of many that has gone on our pages this month (or out the door). Below is a moonstone necklace with one of the gorgeous pendants I've been lucky enough to acquire lately. I've added Swarovski crystals in Azores, the most beautiful light blue, to pick up the blue flash of the moonstone - and some lampwork beads for that little je ne sais quoi.
As usual, when I've been working with a gemstone I tend to stick with it for a while, experimenting with different combinations. Below the moonstone necklace is a moonstone bracelet with rainbow moonstone and genuine sapphires.
Below is a Swarovski crystal bracelet , Green Pastures, Still Waters. I am still totally enamored of Swarovski large beads; they make spectacular jewelry.
Finally, a bracelet from our Bridal Jewelry collection. This bracelet features crystal quartz carved flowers in two types as well as light sapphire Swarovski crystals for sparkle and shine perfect for a wedding.

Winner of the Swarovski earrings for naming the ruby necklace: "Take Five" by EmandaJ.
Some other entries: Ruby, don't Take Your Love to Town; Sweet Caroline, Begin the Beguine, Music for Your Eyes, Musical Magic, Lyrics and Love, The Harmony of Rubies, Melody in Crimson.

October Delights!

One very delightful thing about October is that the heat and humidity has finally let up a bit so that I am able to breathe! Respiratory illnesses abound where I live, a small town in the middle of a farming community, probably because of all the chemicals associated with farming (I call this month's chemicals, the cotton defoliants, Agent Orange), but the weather certainly aggravates the symptoms of these illnesses making it very difficult to breathe and an air purifier a must. I have been busy though, and have decided just to inundate you with pictures! So here goes:

Handmade necklace features the largest amethyst nuggets ever!

Unique bracelet (below) would look great with the necklace above. Celebrating my affinity for purple and green, this gemstone bracelet (called Move Over Mondrian) also features wonderful lampwork beads and marquise freshwater pearls.Amethyst earrings are always good to have around. Below is a unique braceletwith orange carnelian, lampwork beads from Lynn Nurge, and gorgeous lapis.

These dangle earrings would look great with the chunky bracelet of blue chalcedony and Sand Opal Swarovski you see below. Below that is another chunky bracelet created from leopardskin jasper and Grey Opal Swarovski crystals.


Finally, a sweet pair of pearl earrings made with those pretty marquise pearls that you saw in the bracelet above (Move Over Mondrian>.



To finish, pink opal earrings, large, elongated lapis earrings with sterling silver wire, and pretty aquamarine earrings topped with sterling butterflies from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes.

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