The following jewelry pieces feature gemstones in colours that are based on Pantone's colour guide (Pantone produces the dyes that are used by the fashion world, so that they are the true forecaster of the hottest colours). Above, the double strand bracelet has three of the season's hottest colours: olivine (in Swarovski crystals); majolica (kyanite); grey (rutilated quartz). The second strand is a type of bangle accented only by the Swarovski crystals.Below, more rutilated quartz celebrates another big trend for Fall: the chunky necklace. The large, flat faceted nuggets (over an inch long) are primarily grey with touches of tan/brown. Each nugget is over an inch in length.
Citrine is always a favorite stone, and one of Fall's newest colours is honey yellow. With its range of colours from pale yellow to a deep golden colour, citrine can add a touch of this year's colour to an older outfit or blend with a new one.
Below, this unique bracelet has quartz (creme brulee), chalcedony (majolica), and carnelian (American Beauty) for a blend of colours exceedingly versatile. The next bracelet has chalcedony and yellow opal (majolica and honey yellow), and the bottom bracelet of African opal and vermeil will go equally well with both the off-white creme brulee and a neutral colour called nougat that is a pale taupe.
More tomorrow!
Women's Wear Daily is already showing the Spring 2010 fashions, but luckily here at Cluny Grey we don't have to get that far ahead! We are working feverishly on the Fall Collection which we will be posting soon. Meanwhile, custom orders are keeping us busy (as well as my new grand-daughter). And, as usual, it is just a challenge to keep our site pages filled with fresh jewelry as other jewelry sells. Today I have a few "odds and ends" - no special theme here! First I have a couple of copper bracelets. Copper has been in fashion for a couple of seasons now and it is getting better and better! No more thinking that copper belongs to those medicinal bracelets; it is a chic accessory colour and copper jewelry looks great when you're wearing copper-coloured shoes and/or carrying a copper-coloured bag. An added plus is that it looks great on all skin types. And copper looks great with many of the new Fall colours. Above, a classic turquoise bracelet gets its extra punch from copper in the form of accents and a large linked copper chain. The copper bracelet below is a combination I love: copper Swarovski crystals and copper accents.
I'm very fond of blue Peruvian opal; here you see two opal bracelets, one with sterling silver and one with borosilicate lampwork beads and sterling silver. I'm especially fond of blue Peruvian opal when it has a whitish tint and black inclusions as in the bracelet below.
I can never keep enough ankle bracelets, whether gold or silver, on the site pages. The one above is made with sterling silver and abalone, a great summer combination. Finally, below a pair of dangle earrings made from pretty dark blue lampwork beads. 
COMING IN SEPTEMBER, RIGHT AFTER LABOR DAY, THE CLUNY GREY FALL COLLECTION!!!!
Peridot is a gemstone that I feel is often under-rated. It is beautiful in its purest form: a clear almost spring grass green, but equally appealing when included and opaque in colours from a milky green to an olivine colour. The only problem I have with peridot is that I like to work with larger gemstones much of the time, and it is quite difficult to get large nuggets - or any other cut for that matter - of peridot.
I do love the folklore surrounding peridot. Early on, from before the time of Cleopatra, peridot was mined on the Egyptian island known today as St. John's Island (called Topazios previously). Mining peridot was difficult because the island was infested with snakes - probably the reason that peridot came to be associated with protection from snakes and snakebite. The miners also worked at night since they believed that the peridot was invisible during the day. To this day peridots are sometimes confused with emeralds; supposedly many of the "emeralds" that Cleopatra wore were, in fact, peridots.
Peridot was said to have many powers including the power to heal asthma, promote good luck and good fortune (it is known as a "money" stone), to guarantee a happy marriage and a good night's sleep. It releases negativity, draws love to you, and soothes the nerves. It is also thought to help one with spiritual enlightenment. No wonder those miners braved serpents to procure this gemstone!
I cannot guarantee that the peridots in our bracelets will perform all the feats listed above, but these bracelets will certainly look good on your wrist. We have them for every taste (and will have peridot bracelets with gold soon). So if you wear peridot, you will be wearing it in good health!
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.
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.
Yes, I actually had some time to make jewelry! The three bracelets here are the beginning of what I hope will be a constant stream of new jewelry! Although I have not had time to add them to the website, they will be on there in the next day or two. The top bracelet is fire agate and carnelian and will be listed on the Fire Agate Jewelry page, the middle is black onyx (
Unique Bracelets,
and the labradorite bracelet can be found on our Labradorite Jewelry page.
Summer means coral jewelry! Although beautiful coral can be worn any time of the year, it is very common in the USA to think of coral as being a "summer stone" (although it isn't really a stone, but the remains of a tiny marine animal). The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans utilized coral in their jewelry also, but first carved it into scarabs or intaglios or cameos. How insightful that first carver of coral must have been, for when coral is first taken from the sea, it is fairly ugly. It has to be cut, in some cases carved, and polished before it takes on the luminous quality we think of coral as having. The Medieval Era in Europe found coral being used for rosaries and as a decorative element in religious paraphernalia such as reliquaries and in churches. The Victorians used coral in broaches, often mixed it with diamonds, and gave coral rattles to their children. Coral is still used in Tibet and China in religious ceremonies (Tibetan Buddhists use coral rosaries).
The best coral today can be found in the waters of southern Ireland, in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, Mauritius, the Malay Archipelago, and in Japan, although in many places the harvesting of coral is banned as some species are becoming endangered. Most coral is treated in some way - especially inexpensive coral; it is often treated with resin because it is so porous and usually dyed to improve colour. Above, you see a coral bracelet with pinkish coral, lapis, and lampwork beads; second picture, an ankle bracelet, and below, a coral bracelet with blue coral.
Not in the coral family, but new this week is the chrysoprase bracelet that you see below with wonderfully chunky chrysoprase nuggets.
I should be back to a more regular posting schedule as the studio move is about completed.
It's a crisp, cool night here in Arlington, Virginia, but really lovely, clear and cloudless with stars which you can see despite the lights of Washington and the surrounding city. I do love it here on the top floor looking out across the cities; it's a great place for a studio! Now, if I can get some work done, I'll be doing really well! If you live in the free world, you probably know that I am a first time grandmother - and a very lucky one at that. It's not just that my new grand-daughter is healthy, beautiful, clever (yes, I can already tell!), but I actually get to spend time with her and with my daughter-in-law, a rare treat since we have never lived in the same city before. They are usually very, very far away. I find it inspirational, and although I'm still behind in my work, I'm working much harder and will be caught up soon. The excitement of being in a place I love and with people I love makes me work more efficiently; I want to make the most of every moment.So far, I haven't made a lot of jewelry since I've been catching up on orders, but I did make a couple of labradorite bracelets that you see above and below. I've gotten in some new coral, tourmalines, and a lot of sapphires that I will be working with soon. The two labradorite bracelets will have prices on them soon, I promise!
Meanwhile, enjoy the beautiful days!
Citrine is always a favorite stone, and one of Fall's newest colours is honey yellow. With its range of colours from pale yellow to a deep golden colour, citrine can add a touch of this year's colour to an older outfit or blend with a new one.
Below, this unique bracelet has quartz (creme brulee), chalcedony (majolica), and carnelian (American Beauty) for a blend of colours exceedingly versatile. The next bracelet has chalcedony and yellow opal (majolica and honey yellow), and the bottom bracelet of African opal and vermeil will go equally well with both the off-white creme brulee and a neutral colour called nougat that is a pale taupe.
More tomorrow!
