For the most part, there is no rhyme or reason to the group of jewelry pieces that you see here although two were an experiment with colour (or perhaps the lack of it). I have been working on some custom orders and every now and then have to break from the gemstones and pearls I'm working with and use a completely different set of components. I don't use jade very often and since I don't I have an overflowing supply of some kinds of jade, so I truned to some rarely used colours for a change of pace. Above and below are a jade bracelet and a pair of jade earrings done with what is sometimes referred to as "candy jade." I had these wonderful lampwork beads by Suzette Celestin (I love the way that she combines colours and often has beads with a translucent effect in the middle of opaque) in colours that matched beautifully. I'm quite happy with the result - a bit too happy; I've already thought of two outfits I have at home that these would look great with!
I was intrigued with the lampwork beads, below, once again that mixture of translucent and opaque, this time in greens and aquas, and decided to mate them with faceted aquamarine rondelles. I really like these large genuine aquamarine rondelles; they have interesting faceting and colours; some are opaque and some a bit translucent, and because of their size they look great with lampwork beads, creating a very "even" aquamarine bracelet.
The large gemstone bead is a banded agate that grounds the bracelet and picks up the taupe colour in some of the beads.
Below are two cloisonne bracelets I made for a real change. The first has cloisonee beads with a dark yellow background that I combined with vermeil and, happily, citrine nuggets. I really like this one! The one below is made with sodalite beads; these are a dark blue, almost reminiscent of lapis, but without the golden pyrite that one finds in lapis. This bracelet has especially good vermeil that I just received straight from Bali - very high quality.
Above is a lariat necklace made with pretty purple suede and the largest chunky amethyst nuggets that I've ever had on the ends. These nuggets have white banding on one side and then translucent amethyst on the other; I just love them! Below, two bracelets experimenting with all black with touches of white, and black and white and red. The bracelet with red has very shiny red lampwork beads laced with silver (by Robin Weber), black onyx, and white quartz. The bottom bracelet is double-stranded; one strand is an imprinted chain from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes; the major strand has banded agate (black and white) and some of my favorite matte-finished lampwork beads, and pretty Bali sterling.
I do not want to make light of our troubled economy, but I had to shake my head when I read in my WWD (Women's Wear Daily, the insider rag for fashion retail) about a scenario reported on by one of the editors of the paper. Apparently, a woman was looking at two sweaters, one very trendy and wildly patterned and one plainer in a neutral colour. According to the editor, because of the economy, the woman chose the plainer, neutral sweater - and this was a bad thing. Now, I fail to see this as a sympton of our problem economy at the moment, and more as evidence of the woman's savvy as a good shopper and possibly a true fashion lover; I would have done this in the money-flowing '80s (and did) , the '90s, and I still do.
What does this have to do with jewelry? Well, first of all, although many people believe that jewelry is generally an impulse buy, I don't think that is often as true with the people who buy handcrafted jewelry, especially those who buy on a regular basis. First, they know the worth of what they are buying, jewelry that is made with sterling silver that will last with real gemstones, not costume jewelry that often sells for the same price but is made with base metals that "turn" making the piece unwearable, made with glass or plastic stones that are glued in, with no intrinsic value to the piece past the season when it is bought. Handcrafted jewelry made with genuine gemstones, artists' lampwork beads, and sometimes goldfill and vermeil (both of which will last a lifetime if cared for properly) is the equivalent of the neutral sweater - only better because it lasts much longer. An added benefit is that you can "go wild" with handcrafted jewelry since unusual colour combinations and designs will change the look of all those neutral outfits that make so much sense to buy. And even if you wear a piece for a few years, then put it away for a while, ten years later, you will pull it out again and it will give a whole new look to whatever clothes are current at the time!
What usually happens during times when the economy is slow is that people don't really stop buying - they stop buying poor quality, they consider purchases more carefully if they are smart, and they will spend more money buying one good thing instead of the same amount (or larger) buying many cheap ones.Above, the first bracelet made of fluorite is an example of a bracelet that will dress up the neutral outfit - and a piece of jewelry that will last, even though fluorite is a softer gemstone. Below are fluorite earrings with a classic look. The look of jade never goes out of style, and the jade bracelet has the added appeal of lampwork beads (by Lynn Nurge) as well as some candy jade beads. Finally, below are chalcedony earrings and a chalcedony bracelet made with my favorite chalcedony smooth nuggets in aqua (called Peruvian chalcedony from the dealer I bought them from). The bracelet has the most marvelous taupe and aqua lampwork beads by Suzette Celestin of Gaslite Lampwork.
Although all the jewelry I've shown today is made with sterling silver (which does occasionally need polishing a bit), the goldfilled and vermeil jewelry on the Cluny Grey Jewelry site will also last. The secrets: keep the jewelry in a plastic baggy when you're not wearing it or inside the pouch that comes with it; do not swim or bathe while wearing it, especially in a chlorinated pool, and you'll find that the gold jewelry stays bright and shiny as well.
P.S. I'm trying the look of white background with black print for those of you who find the black background with light print hard to read. Let me know which you prefer!
jewellery 
accessories 
jewelry 
fashion 
shopping 
bracelets
beads 
handmade beaded jewelry 
beading 
helmi 
gioielli 
smykker 
takı 
juvelen 
lampwork beads 
The Jewelry Blog 
jewelry trends accessories jewelry 
Swarovski crystal 
fluorite jewelry
Tomorrow may be a day of rest for some, but I think I'm probably going to spend the afternoon in the studio unless something unexpected comes up. Believe it or not, Christmas is looming close on the horizon!
earrings 
cloisonne jewelry
unique jewelry
unusual jewelry
beaded jewelry
bead jewelry
aquamarine bracelet
