Pretty Good Jewelry

Keshi pearl necklace + earrings

Most pearls are formed when nacre is deposited around a small irritant.  Keshi pearls, however, lack the central nucleus and tend to be flat rather than rounded.  Being pure nacre, they tend to be highly lustrous.  (You can see my other pearl necklaces here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

These pearls are about 5 to 6mm in diameter.  I strung them with small gold-filled saucers, and finished with a gold-filled lobster clasp.  The necklace is 17 inches long, and weighs 0.5 oz.

I made hoop earrings to match.  The hoops are gold-filled, about an inch in diameter.  The earrings weigh 0.1 oz.

Price: $83 (shipping is free)

Rainbow obsidian square-diamond bead-link necklace + earrings

Here's some gorgeous rainbow obsidian for you.  This is a really good batch: just look at that rainbow effect when the sun hits the beads!

I'm a sucker for that square diamond shape.  The diamonds measure between 20 and 21mm from corner to corner.  I joined each with gold-filled wire, and finished with a vermeil s-clasp from India.

The finished length is 21.75 inches, but you can wear it shorter by clasping the hook between two beads as shown.  The necklace weighs 2.5 oz.

I made matching earrings with gold-filled French hooks and vermeil charms.  The dangles are about 1.5 inches, and the earrings weigh 0.3 oz.

Price: $58 (shipping is free)

Square drusy & silver bead-link necklace + earrings

Druse is a coating of small crystals on the surface of a rock or mineral.  Drusy beads are beginning to be more available and this is my first experiment with them.  The sparkling crystal coating is on one side only, with the other side smooth.  The flat squares are 20x20mm, and the 25mm twisted links between are sterling silver from Bali.  I joined the links with sterling silver wire.

I finished with a Bali silver hook & eye clasp.  The necklace is 17.25 inches long, and weighs 2.2 oz.

I made earrings to match, with Bali silver hooks and headpins.  The dangles are about 1 1/8 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.4 oz.

Price: $64 (shipping is free)

Seraphinite wire-wrapped pendant

I adore seraphinite.  (I have seraphinite necklaces listed here and here.)  I bought this lovely little cabochon from the same guy who sold me the cappuccino jasper I used in my earlier pendant.

I wrapped the cabochon in sterling silver wire.  The finished pendant is about 1 1/2 inches long, and weighs 0.2 oz.  I am not including a chain, but if you need one let me know & I can add one for about $14.

Price: $32 (shipping is free)

Blue opal wire-wrapped pendant

I bought this cabochon from a fellow in Australia.  The surface is a little rugged, which I think adds to its charm.  I wrapped it in sterling silver wire.

The finished pendant is just under 2 inches long, and weighs 0.3 oz.  I am not including a chain, but if you need one let me know & I can add one for about $14.

Price: $55 (shipping is free)

Peruvian pink opal wire-wrapped pendant

The first picture is in direct sunlight; the others are in indirect sunlit.

So anyway, this is the stone that started my experimentation with loose stones: when I saw it for sale, I had to buy it, even though I had only worked with beads before.  It's a 65.90 carat untreated Peruvian opal, cut into a 30x21mm oval cabochon.

I purchased several settings, but none worked, as the stone is over half an inch thick.  I knew I would have to wire-wrap it.

I used sterling silver wire in my own design.  The finished pendant is under 1.75 inches long, and weighs 0.6 oz.  I am not including a chain, but if you need one let me know & I can add one for about $14.

Price:  $60 (shipping is free)

Ametrine faceted necklace + earrings

Here's more ametrine.  The colors range from a little lighter to a little darker than those of the ametrine necklace I just posted.  These beads aren't perfect--some of the beads do have inclusions present--but the overall quality is fairly good.

The shape of the beads is not quite an oval, but too rounded to be a rectangle.  They are faceted, and are about 8 to 9mm long.  I set them off with little vermeil spacers from Bali, and finished with a vermeil hook & eye clasp.  The necklace is 17.25 inches long, and weighs 0.6 oz.

I made ear threads to match.  (I had a little bit of trouble in the 2nd picture: the friction that keeps ear threads in place in your ears isn't sufficient to keep them in my display stand without a little maneuvering.)  The ear threads are gold-filled and weigh less than 0.1 oz.  Their length from the end of the threader to the bottom of the bead dangle is about 3.75 inches (so less than 2 inches long when worn).

Price: $70 (shipping is free)

Madagascar rose quartz faceted 8mm necklace + earrings

I don't know if this rose quartz actually came from Madagascar or if it's just called that because of its fineness.  What I do know is that Madagascar rose quartz is know for its exceptional color and clarity.  Most rose quartz is opaque, but these beads are translucent, with just a faint cloudiness keeping them from transparency.  They are faceted rounds, measuring 8mm in diameter.  (You can see my other rose quartz necklace here.)

The little silver beads are faceted twists from Thailand and are 99% pure silver (sterling silver is 92.5% silver).  The s-clasp is sterling silver, from Bali.  The finished length is 19 inches, with a weight of 1.3 oz.

I made matching earrings with sterling silver French hooks & headpins.  The dangles are 1 inch long, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.

Price: $57 (shipping is free)

Black obsidian carved rose bead-link necklace + earrings

These beads are plain ol' black obsidian, but they have been carved into roses.  (They're only roses on one side, with the other being dome-shaped.  I turned over the bead closest to the hook in the first picture so that you could see its back.)  They measure roughly 18mm from side to side.  I linked each with gold-filled wire, finishing with a vermeil hook & eye clasp.

The necklace is about 21.75 inches long (can be worn shorter by hooking the clasp between two beads as shown), with a weight of 2.1 oz.

I made matching earrings with gold-filled French hooks and heart-shaped vermeil dangles.  The bead-links plus dangles are about 1.25 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.

Price: $51 (shipping is free)

Black onyx 8mm necklace + earrings

These beads are permanently dyed black onyx (I washed them to make sure that no dye would come off).  The big sterling silver beads are about 9mm in diameter, and they are imported from Bali.  The little saucer beads are about 4mm in diameter, and they are also Bali sterling silver.

I finished with this beautiful sterling silver hook & eye clasp.  The finished length is about 17 5/8 inches long, with a weight of 1.4 oz.

The matching earrings are made with sterling silver headpins and French hooks.  The dangles are about 1.5 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.3 oz.

Price: $52 (shipping is free)