Ankle Bracelets, Aquamarines, and Earrings That Dangle!

It's almost official SUMMER, and summer is the time for ankle bracelets.  Nothing shows off summer skin like a gemstone ankle bracelet; nothing looks sexier on your legs except bare skin! Very feminine, but slightly edgy, ankle bracelets have long been the summer jewelry of choice.
   Above, a sterling silver ankle bracelet made with amazonite and genuine abalone; perfect for your beach vacation! The shell abalone hangs next to the tiny sterling toggle clasp.
   Below, a red-hot carnelian ankle bracelet cooled off with just a touch of aqua apatite and a single sterling silver Bali bead. The closure is a sterling lobster clasp.

Wonderful tourmalines in this mix will go with almost anything. This ankle bracelet is a mix of tourmaline chips and gem-quality tourmalines with a touch of sterling silver.  The wonderful sterling silver shell charm makes this perfect to wear with a sundress after a day frolicking in the sand.

Gem-quality amethysts and carved amethysts have a touch of sterling silver and an exotic starfish charm in sterling hanging from one side.  The clasp is a sterling lobster.

I've been working with aquamarines; I love them because they mix so well with so many different gemstones.  Case in point: the aquamarine and orange carnelian bracelet above.  The special flowered sterling silver toggle clasp is a real looker, but these faceted aquamarine rondelles really sparkle! Of course, so do the wonderful faceted carnelians, especially the cross-drilled squares on the second strand.
   Below, more of those sparkly aquamarine rondelles, this time with genuine abalone and 14 karat gold-filled accents. This abalone shell is gorgeous on both sides. This aquamarine bracelet is a real stunner!

   Below, dangle earrings are created from different sizes, shapes, and textures of sterling silver chain and feature small gemstones such as apatite, carnelian, green aventurine, and gem-quality citrine rectangles hanging from the bottom.  The simple sterling earwires have a textured ball for their only decoration. These are wonderful, colorful, flirty earrings!

Dangle Earrings

Ashley Olsen wearing two anklets.

Above, one of the Olsen twins wears ankle bracelets on both ankles.
Below, more celebrities wearing ankle bracelets.

Rashida Jones

Above, Rashida Jones sporting an ankle bracelet with green heels, and below, Jennifer Aniston stepping out in an ankle bracelet on her left ankle.

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I Love Turquoise for Summer!

Turquoise Bracelet with Sterling Silver

 Turquoise is probably my favorite color, so it follows that I would certainly love gem turquoise.  For years, I thought of turquoise as Southwestern and it reminded me of family trips to California, and conjured images of the Painted Desert, Carlsbad Caverns, Navajo reservations, and that endless highway called Route 66 that we drove on back then.
   Then, I went to Greece! To my surprise, turquoise was everywhere, as it was when I went to Egypt, and especially when I went to Turkey. Although I still can link turquoise with the Southwest US, it now gives me visions of ancient times in Mesopotamia, Turkey, Egypt and Greece especially when I mix it with lapis lazuli.

Turquoise Necklace with Carnelian

Turquoise Necklace with Vermiel

Turquoise Bracelet with Lampwork Bead Focal and Sterling Silver

 Above, a Southwestern take on the turquoise bracelet, and below, a more Grecian look in turquoise and gold.

Turquoise Bracelet with 14 Karat Gold-fill

The following pictures also demonstrate that the popularity of turquoise remains undiminished. It is truly beautiful and suits many different types of women.

Above, turquoise against tanned skin is a classic, but look, below, at how beautiful blond Cameron Diaz is in turquoise necklace and earrings.

Cynthia Nixon with her red hair and ultra fair skin is ravishing in this multi-strand, layered turquoise necklace. Look at how well it goes with her blue eyes! Every red-head should own turquoise jewelry.

Below, Selma Hayak sports two turquoise necklaces for a layered look.  I especially like the shorter one.

Turquoise even flatters that summer perennial, the white tee!

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Summer Romance: Jewelry to Fall in Love With

Citrine Necklace with Sterling Silver

Everything goes in cycles, and making jewelry is no exception. What seems exciting and absorbing for months will suddenly become old, and I'll search for new gemstones everywhere, even though I have an unbelievably large inventory in the studio.  
Then, there are times when I go back to the gemstones that first piqued my interest when I began making jewelry so many years ago.  Precious gemstones are perennials with me, but here are some of the other gemstones in jewelry form that I have long had a romance with.
Above, citrines are one of my favorite gemstones.  I love sunny yellow. The citrine necklace above is very simple, large faceted nuggets with minimal sterling silver accents. It does have a sterling silver dog-shaped clasp (the dog is stylized but resembles a dachshund).  I love this necklace because it has absolutely wonderful sparkle.  Oh, and I adore sparkle!

Ruby Bracelet

Above and below, this ruby bracelet features smooth large pebble-shaped opaque rubies that are a fairly strong red.  They look perfect with accents of 14 karat gold-fill and little faceted ruby rondelles.

Ruby Bracelet with 14 Karat Gold-fill

Fluorite Bracelet

I found fluorite to be one of the most intriguing gemstones to work with because of the purples and greens that look so great together.  It is one of the first gemstones I started using artist's lampwork beads with; I loved the way the right lampwork would draw the two colors together. This bracelet has a large lampwork focal, sterling silver beads, and a pretty sterling silver box clasp with a faceted amethyst.

Fluorite Bracelet

Aquamarine Bracelet with Citrine and Sterling Silver

Blue aquamarine (not the greener aquamarine) is fantastic with citrine.  Think of the sun and the sky, the sun and blue water.  I love this gemstone mix especially for the way that it perks up whatever I'm wearing. One gemstone alone can be classic and beautiful (see the ruby bracelet above), but put two primary colors together and you suddenly have a statement piece.  This bracelet will be on our Aquamarine Bracelets page.

Aquamarine Bracelet with Sterling Silver and Citrine

Fall in love.  And whatever you do, wherever you go, wear your jewelry!

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Warm Weather Bracelets: Gemstones and Coral and Pearls, Oh, My!

Coral and Freshwater Pearl Bracelet

 Dark clouds are gathering outside; there are severe thunderstorm warnings for areas surrounding me.  It's the perfect time to make jewelry! 
Why a storm puts me in a creative mood, I have no idea.  I am just glad that it does.  I cannot wait to hit the workbench.  Meanwhile, here are some of the newest creations:
Above and below, coral, it's a sign of the season.  I especially like pinky-peachy angelskin coral that you see here which I've paired with the prettiest color aqua freshwater pearls.  These pearls have such a pretty glow and they are perfect with the coral.  Three strands of the pearl and coral mixture also have little sea-themed charms hanging from them.  The clasp is one of my favorite elegant toggle swirls.  All sterling silver.

 Below, I love mixing gemstones and this bracelet is an unusual mixture that I've never used before.  A large prehnite faceted nugget centers the bracelet; on either side are pretty faceted dark lemon quartz nuggets that are a yellow color.  Little faceted prehnite rondelles, each with its own faceted ruby rondelle on the bottom, dangle from around the bracelet.  The toggle clasp is sterling silver with an oval cabochon ruby bezel-set into the toggle diamond.  Two very intricately decorated sterling beads from Bali are on either side of the bracelet.

Gemstone Bracelet with Prehnite, Lemon Quartz and Rubies

 This gemstone bracelet features lapis, aqua chalcedony, and citrine.  On one side larger rounded corner rectangles of lapis glitter with pyrite.  On the other side is a double strand of gemstones, chalcedony and citrine.  In the midle are charms of citrine, chalcedony, and rubies with one of our favorite sterling silver cherub coin charms.  The sterling toggle clasp feautures a double-sided toggle clasp with a faceted iolite on both sides.

Unique Bracelet with Genuine Lapis, Chalcedony, Citrine, and Rubies

 Cluny always helps me when I work!  He finds it a great time to nap.  The more I work, the more he naps!

Cluny, my number one helper!

Lemon Quartz Nuggets with Sterling Silver

The chunky bracelet above is made up of some of our prettiest quartz nuggets with beautiful faceting.  This simple bracelet has minimal silver so that the nuggets get all the attention.  The toggle clasp is a larger sterling one with flowers both on the toggle ring and on the toggle bar.

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May Is the Month for Emeralds!

 It's no secret that I love emeralds.  I am a May baby, after all, so the emerald is my birthstone.  My dream is to have a huge emerald cut emerald ring - but I haven't gotten around to that yet.  
Emeralds belong to the same class of gemstone as the aquamarine;they are beryls. The green color in the emerald comes from chromium.  Emeralds are one of the four so-called "precious" gemstones, along with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires.
It is very difficult to find a "perfect" emerald since almost all of them have inclusions.  And finding pretty emeralds in the form of beads is especially difficult, since most of the least-included emeralds are used for cut gemstones.  Most emerald beads are quite heavily included or opaque (or often both).  Even included and imperfect, I still adore emeralds.
One of the reasons I love emeralds is because they are very versatile. Emeralds look very good when combined with other gemstones, both precious and semi-precious.  The emerald bracelet shown above and below also has neon blue apatite and rubies with sterling silver.

 The emerald bracelet shown in the next two pictures, below, features neon apatite rondelles and peacock blue apatite coins.

 Of course, plain emeralds, here they are in the form of faceted nuggets and smooth coins which are quite rough, are a classic on their own with just a touch of gold or silver.  In this bracelet, the faceted nuggets are accented with 14 karat gold-fill.

 Little faceted opaque emerald rondelles dangle from these sterling silver chandelier earrings.

In the emerald earrings below, bezel-set opaque cabochon emeralds hang from sterling silver earwires each decorated with a single flat heart on its front.  Hammered sterling silver rings hang below the emeralds.

 Two emeralds piggy-backed and surrounded by sterling silver make the perfect precious pendant necklace. The flat faceted emerald nugget is a favorite shape of mine.  The dark inclusions add to the texture and interest of the gemstone.

Emerald Necklace

 Emeralds and pearls are a combination dating back hundreds and hundreds of years.  Here the emeralds are with freshwater coin and keishe pearls in a creamy white color.  Two almost oval faceted emerald nuggets are on each side of the necklace. Three gorgeous faceted briolettes are the centerpiece of this emerald necklace.

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For more about emeralds, see Emeralds: The May Birthstone

Shades of Blue and Purple

 I love the colors of Spring this year! The turquoises, blues, and purples are my favorites, and they are becoming on everyone no matter what her skin or hair color.  Swarovski crystals just continue to get more and more popular, so you will be seeing quite a few on the pages of Cluny Grey Jewelry!
The first bracelet, above, is a luscious shade of orchid complemented with 14 karat gold-filled accents, charms and clasp.
Below, the neon aqua apatite is a favorite gemstone of mine. It is translucent and looks wonderful usually combined with other gemstones.  In this case, those gemstones are gem quality amethysts and real Lightening Ridge opals from Australia!  The perfect metal is gold,  of course!

 Above Swarovski crystal bracelet, Swarovski's Pacific Opal looks fantastic with sterling silver and a single artist's lampwork bead.  The second strand of sterling silver chain (from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes) dangles more Swarovski crystals.
Below, Swarovski's Chrysolite and Pacific opal look great with the opal cyclamen.

 Two versions on an aqua and white theme: top, Swarovski's Pacific Opal and marquise freshwater pearls, in one bracelet and below, Swarovski Azores and freshwater pearls in the shape of clovers or trefoils. Both Swarovski bracelets feature pretty sterling silver toggle clasps.