Jewelry Trends for Fall

Although it is not officially here until next week, I can smell Fall in the air, and feel the energy that comes along with the season. I'm continuing to post pieces from the new Fall Collection on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.  Here are some of the pieces that will be posted this week:
Above and below: the aqua chalcedony bracelet features gold chain which is a big fashion trend this year.  The chalcedony here is beautiful; the smaller gemstone serves as a counter-weight  so that the bracelet does not keep turning over. 14 karat goldfill and vermeil.

Below, a prehnite bracelet features pretty translucent green olive faceted gemstones linked together with sterling silver and closing with a filigree cameo clasp.

Below, a pretty bracelet in chrysoprase has a feminine flowered toggle clasp in sterling silver and little round cabochon chrysoprase charms.

A drusy pendant is the focal of this necklace of tourmalinated quartz and amethysts. The faceted flat quartz nuggets are partially translucent and separated by translucent amethysts pebbles.  The back of the necklace is a heavy sterling silver chain.  The drusy pendant has a sparkling black drusy surround by sterling silver and four faceted bezel-set amethysts. The perfect necklace to go from work to happy hour, to pair with a LBD or with a favorite  dress.

Below, the bracelet of tourmalinated quartz and amethysts, sold separately, is a perfect match for the drusy necklace above. 

The aquamarine necklace features only aquamarine and sterling silver.  The aquamarines are smooth ovals, faceted nuggets, and pretty briolettes clustered at the center. This would look great with navy - the neutral this season, and also with burgundy, the really hot color for Fall/Winter.

Pearls are big this season! The freshwater pearl bracelet above is meant to be worn with the chalcedony nugget and the pretty toggle clasp on top of the wrist.  The toggle clasp has a bezel set pearl.  The aqua chalcedony is a beautiful faceted nugget.
   Below, three strands of freshwater pearls mix with gold and mother-of-pearl.  The gold, including the pretty puffed heart charm, is 14 karat goldfilled.  The geometric look comes from an open square of mother-of-pearl with a fluted 14 karat goldfilled bead inside it.

The earrings below are chalcedony in  a minty green topped with genuine rubies.  All metal is sterling silver. Beautiful with black - and the colors show up with most hair colors.

Chain bracelets are another big trend this year; add charms and you have a real winner.  All sterling silver with a sterling silver toggle clasp with a cabochon onyx embedded in a triangle of the toggle. The sterling chains range in size from 2mm to 8mm.

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Unique Bracelets

I've been doing a lot of catch-up work since returning from Paris, but have made 4 rather different bracelets in the last week.  Each unique bracelet has something about it that I love.  

  In the top bracelet, I love the combination of the warm sparkly sunstone with the cool aquamarine and sterling silver.  The little Thai Karen Hill Tribe beads in the second strand are an accent I am especially fond of because of their sparkle.

  Below, the drusy bracelet that you see here has one large sparkling focal drusy with a bluish tint to it.  The agate beads (which are smooth in contrast to the rough drusy) are a wonderful mixture of black, bluish grey and grey with some translucence.  The sterling silver charm here is a faceted blue topaz bezel-set in sterling silver. I love this bracelet because of its versatility; with jeans, it has an organic, semi-hippy look; with a little black dress or a suit, it's very sophisticated.

The third bracelet, above, is one of my favorite mixtures: turquoise, lapis, and carnelian.  The turquoise here is especially beautiful, a deep blue, and the large lapis nugget has sparkling gold pyrite in just the right amount! The accents are all 14 karat gold-filled with the exception of the clasp which is vermeil.

The fourth bracelet is made of cherry quartz (this is glass, not a real gemstone) with cloisonne and vermeil accents. Cherry quartz is such a cheerful material to work with that I don't mind that it isn't really a gemstone; when it works (as it does here with the cloisonne), it just works!
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Amethysts for February

I do love amethysts of all sorts: dark, light, dogtooth (white inclusions running throughout), Cape amethysts (very pale). Did you know that the word "amethyst" comes from the Greek language meaning "not drunken"? According to legend, the god of wine, Dionysus became angered at a young girl named Amethyst. She cried out for protection to Artemis (Diana) who turned her into a stone of pure quartz. When Dionysus saw her thus, he cried tears into his glass of red wine which then overturned onto the stone, colouring it a wonderful purple, creating the amethyst gemstone. So intertwined with Dionysus the amethyst became known for its ability to keep a drinker sober. Many believed that drinking from an amethyst goblet would render the alcohol incapable of causing intoxication in the drinker. Amethyst rings became popular for those who wished to keep a clear head during a night of revelry. 

   Above, a single stranded amethyst bracelet is accented by 14K goldfilled beads.  The cushion cut rectangles are especially pretty.  Three briolettes form a petal like design on one side of the bracelet.

Below, an amethyst bracelet has darker amethysts on one side, and three strands of lighter amethysts on the other.  On the single-stranded side, three nicely-sized amethyst nuggets lead to a lampwork bead by Robin Weber. Near the middle sterling silver rings dangle various charms including three small bezel-set amethyst ovals, a pendant charms with another faceted, bezel-set amethyst, and a sterling silver charm from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes.  The three strands of faceted oval amethysts provide a different look and texture to the other side of the bracelet.

Above, amethyst earrings feature nice chunky faceted nuggets of a medium colour, topped with spiral sterling beads and gem quality rondelles.  The earrings hang from sterling wires with spiral designs on the front. 

  It's not too late to order for Valentine's Day!

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Jewelry Is Magical

Jewelry is magical; I don't really mean that in the sense that many people do who believe that certain gemstones can imbue them with positive qualities or cure their ills. Jewelry is magical to me because it can cheer me up, make my day brighter - and make me look better. The right jewelry makes my blue eyes more noticeable, complements my complexion (which I'm a bit vain about), and can bring an outfit together (which is why I love gemstone jewelry containing more than one coloured gemstone). I'm lucky; because I make jewelry, I get to look at it all the time. And just looking at it makes me happy. I've been known to take a collection of bracelets and arrange them on my nightstand so that they are the last thing I see before I go to sleep and their colours are the first things I see when I awake.

I have a "happy-making" collection of jewelry today beginning with the top bracelet of blue topaz and citrine. Gem quality London Blue topaz and gem quality citrine in an imaginative rectangular cut are spectacular together. The citrine gemstones have pointed backs the way gemstones set in rings do, so they are interesting on both sides. I've added 14 karat goldfilled accents to the gemstones, but I like this combination so much that you can expect one soon with sterling silver.

  Below is a rainbow moonstone bracelet with gold vermeil and 14 karat goldfill.  The blue flash of these sharply faceted moonstones looks great with the gold.  Robin Weber's truly excellent ancient gold lampwork lentil beads add more colour and even more gold. I got lucky with the photo of this bracelet since not every single inch of each moonstone gemstone has flash.

Above is a turquoise bracelet made with Sleeping Beauty turquoise in a light blue.  Dark blue and the lighter blue rectangles echo the colours of the square lampwork beads which have a side of light blue and a side of transparent darker (aqua) blue divided by a swirl of silver.  Sterling silver accents include the second strand chain that dangles a turquoise charm with a bezel-set cabochon turquoise in its center.

   Below - more moonstone! These moonstones are a peachy-mauve colour (put them with a peach outfit and the peach comes out, with pink or mauve and they pick up that shade) with little sparkles and a wonderful sheen to them.  The second strand is one of our favorite sterling chains, rather sturdy with charms from the Karen Hill Tribes dangling. A pretty flower-decorated sterling clasp finishes the moonstone bracelet.

   Below the moonstone bracelet is a hefty fire agate necklace that just glows! I love the colours here and I've added a few Swarovski crystals in the crystal copper colour to really make it sparkle. Doesn't it look fantastic with black?

Finally,two bracelets have a winning combination of gemstones that have been quite popular! For a long time, I couldn't find any of the faceted coins of apatite to use, but the moment I did, I grabbed them! The combination of smoky quartz, apatite, and sunstone has proven to be very pretty and versatile. I've got one bracelet with sterling silver accents, and the other with vermeil.

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