Rubies and Heat!

I am one grateful person! Close to noon on the Fourth of July, after being without electricity for 5 days, we regained power! I LOVE air conditioning, tv, and most of all my computer and the internet! I didn't make jewelry during that time since my studio is on the fourth floor and you can just imagine what the heat was like (it was 100 degrees outside for at least 2 of the days). So in celebration of July (ruby is the birthstone) and the power returning, here are some red-hot ruby bracelets!

   Above, my favorite flat faceted rubies team up with dragonfly bangles in sterling silver.

   Below, rubies bring some heat to the cool creamy white freshwater coin pears you see here.  The sterling toggle clasp with its bevy of flowers is an extra pretty touch!

A bangle bracelet, below, features pretty faceted ruby nuggets and bangles from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes of sterling silver.  The sterling toggle clasp has a cabochon ruby bezel-set in the teardrop.

Quartz faceted nuggets are cool and classic and each is separated by pretty neon aqua apatite.

Above, the colors of turquoise and coral are echoed in the lampwork beads.  A scalloped filigree sterling toggle is the closure; two charms, one fish and one seahorse, hang near the center of the bracelet.

STAY COOL!!!

Red for Ruby, Green for Peridot, Aqua for Aquamarine

Tomorrow is the first day of July and the sultry days of summer are upon us!   The current temp here in Arlington is 103 degrees Fahrenheit!  But here are some cool jewelry pieces that  make the summer heat bearable!  

   Above, my new favorite aquamarine necklace is made with sparkling aquamarine rondelles and nuggets and one beautiful slightly translucent agate faceted oval, the perfect foil for the wonderful blue of the aquamarine.

In readiness for July whose birthstone is the ruby are the following bracelet and earrings.  First, a ruby bracelet gets some cool tones from gem-quality apatite and gleam from 14 karat gold-filled accents. Little charms of apatite and a larger sand dollar charm are on either side of the bracelet.  The focal point is a large flat, faceted ruby nugget!

Above, these ruby earrings with their pinkish glow cool down some with sterling silver and faceted aquamarine rondelles. The earwires are from Bali and have a hand-decorated sterling silver flower on the front. The ruby earrings below feature 14 karat gold-filled beads and accents and some of our favorite larger faceted ruby nuggets!

Below peridot faceted rondelles team up with greenish-gold freshwater coin pearls in this freshwater pearl bracelet with sterling silver.

The coin pearl necklace below has gleaming champagne coin pearls with what looks like a pearl on top of each coin.  They give this coin pearl necklace a pretty lacy effect.  14 karat gold-filled accents add sophistication to this classic necklace.

Cloisonne beads are focals in the bracelet and the earrings above. In the bracelet, the faceted rondelles are peridots; the toggle clasp and beads are gold vermeil.  The earrings have fan-shaped cloisonne beads, 14 karat gold-filled beads and earwires, and genuine emerald rondelles.

  Enjoy your summer and don't forget the FREE SHIPPING in the USA for purchases over $50.00!

Our Favorite Jewelry Pieces Under $70

I am busily making jewelry and trying to enjoy the summer, too! While the prices for my supplies, especially sterling silver, continue to rise, we do have some great deals on our Cluny Grey website. All the bracelets here are on our website and are under $70.00!!! Naturally they are well made with genuine stones (unless otherwise specified) and sterling silver, vermiel or 14 karat goldfill. The earrings that you see here are mostly under $30.00! So if you are looking for a bargain, a gift, or just something special to spice up last year's summer outfit, check these out! They are the tips of the iceberg in our lower-priced jewelry!

  Above, on our Nugget Bracelets page, we have a blue opal and amethyst bracelet with sterling silver. The soft blues of the opaque blue opals complement the wonderful purple translucence of the amethyst.  At $53.99, it's a real steal!

  Below, one of the few glass stones we have ever used is strawberry quartz.  We just had to have these because the flat, faceted stones are so pretty and chunky.  The horseshoe-shaped clasp and charm hanging beside it are both sterling silver.  And it's under $50.00!

My favorite thing about this chalcedony bracelet (found on our Chalcedony Jewelry page) is the chalcedony gemstones.  They are a wonderful yellow that seems to glow!  How perfect for summer! The sterling silver toggle clasp is large enough to carry these pretty faceted nuggets. We also have yellow chalcedony earrings found on the same page (there are more yellow chalcedony earrings, too). These earrings are special because of the pretty earwires which have intricate roses on the front.

Some of our best bargains in bracelets can be found on our Freshwater Pearl Bracelets page. About 5 years ago I was fortunate enough to buy a huge quantity of freshwater pearls in different shapes, sizes, and colors. I bought so many that I received them at a wonderfully low price and I still have some stockpiled!  Below, this freshwater pearl bracelet is made with creamy marquise freshwater pearls and rainbow moonstone rondelles with pretty flashes of blue! The flower charm and curved lobster clasp are sterling silver. At 51.99, this bracelet with its quality rainbow moonstone is a bargain!

The bracelet below is composed of larger yellow freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals.  The sterling silver really adds to the feminine look of this bracelet.

   The brown freshwater pearl bracelet below boasts 14 karat goldfilled accents and a gorgeous faceted olive bead of smoky quartz.  It will be on our website shortly.

The earrings you see above can be found on our Coin Pearl Earrings page.These bronze-brown earrings have Swarovski crystals and sterling silver. These are gorgeous and they are only $19.99!

   The earrings below are from our Coral Earrings page and mix peachy-pink coral rounds with vermeil and pretty black onyx faceted teardrops.  They have a wonderful Deco look to them and would be perfect for your summer wardrobe.

Above and below are ruby earrings, yes, genuine rubies! Above, the rubies are mixed with 14 karat goldfilled accents, and below they are mixed with gold vermeil. Can you imagine owning ruby jewelry for under $70.00 - and these are not microscopic ruby chips, either.

Here is a pair of my favorite earrings, found on our Unusual Jewelry page.  These gorgeous earrings are made with 14 karat goldfill, gem-quality Swiss blue topazes and rectangular citrines, and amethysts carved into the shape of flowers.  I love these! Unique and beautiful!

Another good source of bargains on the Cluny Grey website is our Bangle Bracelets page.  Here are two sterling silver bangles, the top with citrines, the bottom with Swarovski crystals. The bottom bracelet is made with older sterling silver stock bought when it was much cheaper. The result: this silver bangle bracelet is only 56.99!  With today's materials, it would be close to twice that much since it not only has Thai Karen Hill Tribes sterling curved, hand-decorated sides, but intricately made accents of Turkish sterling silver.

Also, to keep costs down, don't forget that we ship first class FREE in the USA with every purchase over $50.00 and a low $1.95 for purchases under $50.00! Enjoy shopping!

Summer Trends for Jewelry!

Coral is always great in the summer! Ever since I had a peachy coral and lapis necklace (fake, though) when I was in my twenties, I have been in love with this mixture.  So I decided to translate my fake '70s necklace into the real thing - this coral necklace is the result.  I had to have a bit of sparkle in it to make it really special, thus the Swarovski clear crystals and the Swarovski large crystal coral drop.  It's a discreet sparkle that you can wear out and about; you don't have to be going to the opera at the Kennedy Center!  The sterling silver clasp has a cabochon lapis set into it.

Using lapis got me onto a roll, so I made three pairs of lapis earrings.  The first pair has a cabochon lapis set into the earring post and sterling silver Thai Hill Tribes accents. 

Lapis and pearls are classic together. Not only do these lapis earrings have lapis with sparkly gold pyrite and crystal Swarovski rounds and  clover shaped freshwater pearls, they have large cabochon pearls bezel-set into flower shaped earring posts. I love these!

Lapis and gold together is my favorite combination. The fluted 14 karat goldfilled beads give a more formal look to these earrings.

This amethyst bracelet with 14 karat goldfilled accents is simple but fantastic!  The flat, faceted amethyst nuggets are translucent and gorgeous with wispy inclusions.

   Below, one of my handmade bracelets from the Raj Collection full of faceted and smooth rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and amethysts. All sterling silver with little flower charms from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes.

Above, this is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill freshwater pearl bracelet!  These lustrous brown freshwater pearls gleam amid tiny 14 karat gold-filled accents while a gorgeous faceted smoky quartz olive-shaped focal takes center stage.

   Below, a salvation bracelet that is also a bangle bracelet. Round Swarovski crystals are in the salvation colours.  A heart-shaped toggle clasp is the closure. Sterling silver. 

The moonstone is the traditional birthstone for June.  Here is a piece of rainbow moonstone jewelry that will make you think anything but traditional! Two pretty strands of sterling silver and rainbow moonstones are accented by three clover-shaped freshwater pearls.  The real stunner is the clasp: a little frog with a cabochon freshwater pearl bezel-set into its back.

Hope you are enjoying your summer and have plans for a great vacation!

REMEMBER:  FREE FIRST CLASS SHIPPING TO ALL USA DESTINATIONS!!!

Jewels for Summer!

I adore summer! Everyone is out and about, especially now before the full heat of the mid-atlantic is upon us, and new outfits are popping up everywhere. And to go with those new summer outfits, you need jewelry! A customer I spoke to mentioned liking lapis and sunstone just in passing and that got me started. First, I put lapis and sunstone together in the two-strand bracelet that you see here. And because lapis is one of those stones that just begs to be played with, I had to make a couple of other lapis pieces as well.

Below, for those who like something simple, a lapis bracelet with one pretty blue borosilicate lampwork bead for a focal; it's surrounded by Thai Karen Hill Tribes sterling silver then finished with thick disks of lapis sprinkled with sparkling pyrite.  The sterling silver toggle has a flower on both the bar and the ring as well as a flower charm hanging to one side.

I really love lapis with gold. Here all the gold is 14 karat goldfill.  Lapis with gold always makes me think of the riches of early Sumer and Egypt.

 I've had these beautiful and odd lampwork beads for some time. They were made by Lynn Nurge and while the three long pieces at first make one think of coral, they have tiny "bumps" all over them which makes them look like octopus tentacles.  Sounds creepy? They are gorgeous!  I mixed the colours with Swarovski crystals in copper and light tanzanite.  I can just imagine this necklace worn in the early evening with a white dress - or an orange one, or a light purple one or . . . . After I finished this I tried it on wearing a khaki coloured shirt and it was wonderful.  Major sparkle!

This necklace has been on the site, but I made it in the winter (I guess I was longing for warm weather).  This fantastic necklace is made with sterling silver and all Swarovski crystals, including Swarovski crystals in the clear coral shape. This is chic and very, very elegant with plenty of sparkle.

Are you enjoying the warm weather?  I'm getting ready for a trip to Paris soon, so I'm trying to find things to take that are cool but dressy at the same time.  You can bet I will have plain basics and lots of not-so-plain jewelry!

Emeralds and Rubies

 It's already May, one of my favorite months, for reasons other than my own May birthday.  I love this time of year when the weather changes, my wardrobe changes, and my outlook changes.  I feel the urge to walk, an inclination to dress up, and an overall sense of well-being. Does anyone else feel this May mood? It could still be because for many years that I taught, May signaled the coming of summer vacation.  The emerald is the May birthstone (I am so lucky!) and of course, emerald jewelry is classic and luxurious even when it is made with the roughly faceted nuggets that you see in the bracelets here. Above, the emerald nuggets reign supreme, with sterling silver their only companion.  The second strand of the emerald bracelet is a sterling silver chain with charms.  A pretty toggle clasp decorated with tulips is the closure (all sterling silver, of course).

Below, the large emerald nuggets are joined by smooth emeralds, a pebble emerald, little dark green faceted emerald rondelles, and sterling silver.  The second strand of the emerald bracelet is made of tiny Thai Karen Hill Tribes hand decorated tube beads; the emeralds are both in the strand and dangling from it.

 I adore gold, thus the emerald bracelet with goldfilled beads, toggle, charms, and chain.  A large roughly faceted emerald nugget is the focal; other emeralds include faceted rondelles, soft green smooth rounds, faceted round, and dark green pebbles mottled with black.

 The emerald necklace above is simple.  A single briolette teardrop hangs in the center; faceted emerald rondelles are on either side. the sterling silver of the necklace is made from delicate little tube beads from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes.
  Below, a bangle bracelet with rubies.  I rarely work with emeralds or sapphires that I also want to work with rubies. The ruby bangle below has some pretty cherry red plump ovals as well as faceted ruby rondelles and goldfilled bangles and toggles.

 Below, a ruby bracelet with goldfilled beads and ruby gemstones of different sizes and shapes. The large oval faceted rubies are some of my favorites with their dark red colour and high polish.

There's still time for Mother's Day!  Free Shipping for purchases over $50.00!