



My handcrafted jewelry blog featuring everything from unusual bracelets to chandelier earrings. The jewelry I make can be seen at www.clunygreyjewelry.com. A world of gemstones awaits!






If the colours in this bracelet look unusual for me, it's because they were given to me as a challenge by the ART JEWELRY MAGAZINE FORUM (thanks Karlarei!) The bracelet includes lampwork beads, jade, and yellow calcite as well as sterling silver.I love these challenges since they wake me up and force me to put things together that I would have shied away from before. If you make jewelry,even casually, but love to do it, try a colour challenge (or some other kind of design challenge) with other jewelrymaking friends - remembering to let them tell you what you must attempt. The results may surprise you!
I am still entranced with amazonite and with ocean jasper (found off the coast of Madagascar; hmmm... there is a water theme there) and so I combined them both with some lampwork beads (by James Derrick Reeves, one of my favorite lampworkers). The faceted amazonite and the smooth ocean jasper beads are a delight to work with.

I've been trying to use up my stock of chrysoprase (so I can buy more, I guess) and green beads in preparation for Saint Patrick's Day. I especially like the way the earrings turned out with the green onyx bezel set at the bottom and the little dangles below. You can't really see them very well in this picture though. One of the charms is a bright sterling silver Karen Hill Tribe orchid - I adore these filigreed flower pendants/charms. Of course, I think that Karen Hill Tribe is some of the best silverwork in the world!
Before one of the Forum challenges, I hadn't touched my rhodonite for a while although I love working with faceted rectangles, ovals and carved beads and I had all of these in rhodonite. The Forum made me go back to the rhodonite container and check out all the beads. I also love leopardskin jasper - a stone that looks so wonderful you would almost think that someone had painted the pattern on - but it is natural. I put these two together and I like them so much that I am going to have to make a set for myself with gold or vermeil.
My next bracelet (I just made matching earrings, but don't have a photo to upload yet) consists of lampwork beads, citrine, amazonite and a second strand chain made of smooth and twisted rings as well as filigree pieces. Amazonite looks so beautiful with yellow that I'm tempted to keep making jewelry these colours over and over. (I must restrain myself). These 2 pieces are for auction on Ebay this week: look for clunygrey or user id: chloemarie99 . I'll get some more pictures up soon, I hope, and I may be able to go home in a few days, or even this weekend.
I am a total fan of gold; I suppose I will always love it. The bracelet above is a celebration of gold with lots of vermeil (24k gold layered over sterling silver) and exquisite lentil lampwork beads that have metallic gold swirled richly throughout. The faceted nuggets are rainbow moonstones from Spain. The earrings are also made of the same beautiful lentils. I made this just because I really like it. I really don't sell very much gold since sterling silver is the rage. Gold is supposed to be making a big comeback in the fashion world - I can't wait! My dream is to work with pure gold and precious gems.
The second bracelet I created as the result of Art Jewelry Magazine's Forum Colour Challenge. The colours given to me were light and dark topaz, silver, and French rose. What I love the most about this bracelet featuring rhodonite, lots of sterling silver, and smoky topaz are the vase shaped Botswana agate beads that are a pinkish-taupe colour. In fact, I liked them so much that I made a pair of matching earrings using them.
Chrysoprase and lampwork beads from James Derrick Reeves are punctuated by 3 large charms in the middle of the bracelet. The sterling silver "S" clasp has a very detailed rose on it.
I've made several of these mother of pearl bangle bracelets; I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out of this lot of mother of pearl. The size of the rounded rectangles and the wonderful gleam and shimmer and colours in these pieces are just phenomenal. Little keishi pearls are at the ends of this bracelet beside the hook clasp.
I've been very busy making bracelets (among other things) with earrings to match. The first bracelet features faceted nuggets of pietersite, sterling silver, and lampwork beads by James Derrick Reeves in a blue and tan. The bracelet has 2 strands: one main strand with heavy gemstones and the lampwork , and a second strand that is a chain with little pietersie charms and Karen Hill Tribe flower charms. The matching earrings featuring matching lampwork beads and faceted pietersite rounds as well as more sterling silver.
Ahhh, red, just in time for Valentine's Day. Deep red carved jasper beads, faceted carnelian rondelles, and one of the most beautiful silver-laced lampwork beads are combined with lots of Turkish and Karen Hill Tribe sterling silver. The matching earrings have the carved jasper rounds, special ruffled sterling silver Tahi beads with dangles, and carnelian.
Sea Shimmer: mother of pearl ovals and a large round, Turkish sterling silver accents, keishi pearls in a lovely silvery grey, and the sparkling silver laced lampwork beads by Annie Divilbliss all shimmer in this bracelet. A second strand is made up of swirled filigrees and large sterling silver rings. The pretty sterling silver "S" clasp closure with a rose on top is from the Thai Karen Hill Tribe. The matching earrings are made from keishi pearls and mobe pearls turned on their sides.
Saffron Spice: It is a portent of the summer to come: hot and spicy with a touch of light turquoisey-blue. The beads are yellow calcite and genuine citrine. The second strand are Karen Hill Tribe sterling silver bamboo beads with a floating charm or gemstone dangle hanging from it. The matching earrings are calcite hanging from curvy chandeliers.
Carnelian and red agate complement wonderful borosilicate beads that have a lovely shade of blue and a peachy orange in their depths. A little red agate turtle adds an amusing touch. The second 1/2 strand consists of curvey filigrees and large sterling silver rings linked together. The matching earrings are made of red agate ovals that have a beautiful carved design. This one is really special!
A sweet blue agate, blue quartz, sterling silver, and lampwork bead bracelet, made sweeter with the addition of Thai Karen Hill Tribe sterling silver. The flower and leaf and the wonderful base of the earrings are all Karen Hill Tribe. Feminine, but not fragile.
Blue has always been one of my favorite colours, and I love it combined with opalite. What's so great is that the opalite picks up the lighter colour in the lampwork beads (from Burt Gumeson's "Jewels" collection, and the agate and quartz picks up the blue in them. There are about 60 charms here, so this is a really full bracelet - nice and fat for those who like them that way!
Fluorite is a softer stone to work with and to wear on a daily basis, but it's worth it because of the wonderful colour variations of the stone. In this 2 strand bracelet, large and small nuggets, a large carved oval, and faceted rondelles echo the colours of the lampwork beads with their subtle shades of greens and purples. The second strand is 3/4's wirewrapped little nuggets, and 1/4 large sterling silver rings doubled. The flowered lampwork bead is especially striking.
The last bracelet also has 2 strands, the second featuring large sterling silver rings once again (this is such a great look; it has substance, but is light) plus smokey topaz smooth rondelles. The great lampwork beads are laced with silver and blend perfectly with the topaz. All the bracelets have matching earrings, even if they are not shown here. All of these bracelets are for auction this week on Ebay. Check for user id: chloemarie99.

Here are 2 bracelets I just made while thinking in terms of Valentine's Day: hence the pink. I am in love with the first one, a bangle made with thick round sterling silver tube beads from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes, and the wonderful lampwork of James Derrick Reeves. I used 2 of his swirling pink lentils around a regular bead also decorated with swirls for the front of the bracelet. Little Czech pink opal bellflowers are coming out of more Thai sterling silver - rosebuds here; there are Bali sterling silver beaded rondelles, and the "S" clasp that is decorated with a rose is also Thai as is the rose charm that is hanging beside it. This bracelet may be hard for me to let go - oh, and there are matching earrings, too.
This bracelet has a focal bead from LittleCrow, a beautiful pink tulip with green leaves around its base. The star gemstone here is pink rhodonite in cubes, long tube-like beads, faceted rondelles and a carved oval and a "ruffled bead. And of course there's a lot of sterling silver including the toggle clasp!
I love these large pearls in the deep burgundy garnet colour; yes, they are the same colour as the garnets, they simply have the pearl nacre! The faceted garnet nuggets here are from Spain and they are about 6-8mm wide and about 12-14mm long, so a very good and hard-to-find size for faceted nuggets in garnet. The name of this bracelet is "Wine Dark Sea" from Homer's Odyssey - I think the name is really more appropriate for this bracelet than for the Mediterranean. The lampwork beads are made by an artist here in the United States. The Bali sterling silver adds a nice counterpoint to this assymetrical bracelet.
"Red Sunset", the bracelet in the very first photo is named partially because of the wonderful borosilicate beads from Beingbeads Studio. Turkish filigree shows them off, and I've loaded the rest of the bracelet with sterling silver from Bali and from the Thai Karen Hill Tribe. On the left side of the picture, you can see a very large smooth garnet nugget -it's almost 18mm-that you don't see very often. More of the garnet coloured freshwater pearls mix with the stones. The second slender strand has only 2 elements: Karen Hill Tribe sterling silver bamboo beads and smooth garnet rondelles. This is one of my favourites, and it too uses those high-quality garnet faceted nuggets from Spain.
I love the bright colours in this bracelet: yellow calcite, sodalite, dumorterite, carnelian, turquoise. The sterling silver prayer box opens, and adds balance to the 2 strand bracelet. "Canyon Mission" is up for auction on Ebay this week.
"Arroyo" too is part of the "Canyon Aesthetic" style. Carnelian, dumorterite, sodalite, carved jasper, and carnelian are combined with lots of intricately hand-decorated Turkish, Bali and Karen Hill Tribe sterling silver to give a lush but casual look to this wire-wrapped bracelet. Charms dangling from most of the links between the stones. "Arroyo" is also up for auction on Ebay this week: search for Cluny Grey or for user id: chloemarie99.
Garnet is the birthstone for January according to both traditional and modern interpretations. It is also associated with the astrological signs Leo, Capricorn and Aquarius. In the ancient world it was often referred to as the carbuncle. The name garnet probably comes from "pomegranate", and garnets do resemble pomegranate seeds when many are used together.
jewelry gemstone The Jewelry Blog Cluny Grey Jewelry Cluny Grey Jewelry
Looking back over the recent months, I've discovered that there are some materials I really like to work with although they are certainly not in the semi-precious stones or artists' lampwork category. One is crystal as in the bracelet above made with Preciosa crystals (I like Swarovski also). These crystals are not Aurora Borealis coated so they are much more subtle than they would be otherwise.
I also love beadsbeads that are lined with silver foil, especially when they are well lined (no missing or ragged spots) like the ones above that are light blue and have flowers painted on the outside. Good quality silver foil looks great with white silver.
I personally wear more gold than I do silver, or I wear a mixture. The bracelet above has beads with sparkly gold middles, vermeil and 14 karat gold-filled accents and blue Preciosa crystals. jewelry The Jewelry Blog
Combining turquoise with rust, orange and red and especially sterling silver or giving a rough edge to a gemstone otherwise associated with a more refined or sophisticated milieu (such as rubies or tourmalines cut into rough nuggets) I've come to call the "Canyone Aesthetic." The first bracelet illustrates the "Canyon Aesthetic" with turquoise and silver paired with lampwork beads in the canyon colours then mixed with very eenly faceted red aventurine barrels and the more sophisticated matching earrings with an ornate sterling silver chandelier base and the same regularly faceted stones. As sterling silver has supplanted gold according to the preferences of a younger generation in the last few years, we see more and more of the Canyon Aesthetic. It is a style of jewelry that is replacing the idea of Southwestern as turquoise and silv
er, the elaborate "Squash Blossom", and the tackier geegaws created for the tourist trade.
Rubies are one of my favorite stones; these rubies are a dark opaque burgundy and look wonderful with the beautiful lampwork floral bead from Littlecrow (whose beads are just fantastic!). The lovely swirled bead is by Alyson Straley. Turkish silver is also one of my favorites. Turkish sterling silver is a high quality silver with marvelously intricate patterns and beading and granulation. The cones here and the bead to the left of the floral focal is Turkish as are the flower studded earwires that close in the back. Bali is great, too, but Thai Karen Hill Tribe is another favorite of mine. The super high silver content combined with great workmanship and unique designs make it very desirable for jewelry designers. The ruffled hand-decorated caps on the earrings around the large ruby make almost any piece special! This bracelet was an entry in the Internation Jewelry Designers' Guild Virtual Trunk Show.You can't miss this Virtual Trunk Show brought to you by the members of the International Jewelry Designers' Guild. Yes, I am a member, but so are many others, and the work is fabulous! If you are a jewelry fan, you have got to look, even if you can't buy right now! Only on Sunday starting at noon Eastern Standard Time - December 4, 2005.
Cluny Grey International Jewelry Designers' Guild Virtual Trunk Show jewelry bracelet necklace
I have been so busy selling jewelry that I haven't had much time for actually creating it, but I did put this charm bracelet together out of vintage lucite gilia flower beads, some Preciosa crystal, Swarovski crystal for the flower centers, and some other lampwork and glass beads. There is nothing quite so soothing to me as putting together a charm bracelet. I go into one of those "flow" states that is better than meditation where I feel myself centered in one place while doing one thing and thinking of nothing else. Another charm bracelet features the borosilicate beads of James Derrick Reeves and genuine natural aquamarine. These boro beads have beautiful depth and are perfect with the aquamarine since they have mysterious swirls of blue and green. Currently the top charm bracelet is up for auction on Ebay; the aquamarine can be found on our webiste.
Kyanite is one of Nature's most beautiful gemstones; the name comes from the Greek word for blue - another name is Disthene. Often a lovely cerulean blue with striations inside that look like long, fine brushstrokes, the kyanite that we see in the jewelry business is usually translucent although it can be transparent. The striations give kyanite a lovely texure even when it's smoothly polished so that it sparkles and has a lovely sheen to it.Cluny Grey Jewelry Studio G Jewelry The Jewelry Blog earrings
Zanzibar is the first charm bracelet that is very Fall - Winter in spirit because of the wonderful dark colours and the boro lampwork beads by James Derrick Reeves of Gonzie and V3 Glassworks. The swirls in beads remind me of the rusts, tans, yellows, brown, and soft greens of leaves swirling outside in the Autumn wind. Bronze freshwater pearls and smoky topaz add to that Fall feeling and the heavily ornamented Bali sterling silver adds to the richness of the bracelet. This is currently up for auction on Ebay under the user id: chloemarie99 or you can do a search for Cluny.
purple, especially amethyst or lepidolite, I just want to continue to work with it even though my current project may be finished. That's how my next project came into being. A large clear amethyst nugget got me started, then I found a lampwork bead I liked, and I had to go ahead with this bracelet! It makes use of most of the elements in the charm bracelet, the amethysts, the violet crazy lace, but I also add some sage violet opal or sage violet amethyst as I've seen it called also. Those are the little faceted briolettes that make one part of the bracelet looked scalloped. Even on this bracelet there are charms. The second strand is a chain with amethyst charms hanging from it at intervals. I haven't named this bracelet yet, so if you have any good ideas for a name leave me a comment!