This is another one of my early cabochons. I eventually learned to put a rough dome on the front, but these early ones are all flat.
The stone is turritella agate. The little shells you see in the stone are fossilized sea snails. Very cool!
I wrapped the stone in gold-filled wire. The pendant is about 2 1/4 inches long, and weighs 0.6 oz.
Price: $16 (shipping is free)
I bought this cabochon because I loved the pattern. It's boulder opal: streaks of opal in a surrounding matrix. It does have a couple of pits on the front, but is otherwise smooth.
The cabochon measures about 32x25x5mm, weighing 36 carats. I wrapped it with gold-filled wire. The finished pendant is about 2 inches long, and weighs 0.4 oz.
Price: $37 (shipping is free)
This is from the very first batch of cabochons that I cut, so it's absolutely ginormous and flat on both sides, instead of domed. The stone is called crazy lace agate, and it has a few small translucent areas. There are a few pits, but it polished up very nicely.
I wrapped it in gold-filled wire using my reversible wrap. The pendant is about 2 5/8 inches long, and weighs 0.8 oz.
Price: $16 (shipping is free)
This is another purchased cabochon that I wire-wrapped. It was sold to me as calligraphy stone, but I've seen it elsewhere as golden lace agate or elephant jasper or elephant skin stone or elephant skin jasper. It certainly looks more like a jasper than an agate to me.
The cabochon is a 30x30mm square, and I wrapped it in square gold-filled wire. I had intended to wrap it so that it would hang from a chain as a diamond, but the balance didn't cooperate, so it's a square. It's a large pendant, about 2.5 inches long, with a weight of 0.6 oz.
Price: $19 (shipping is free)
These hypersthene beads are a very deep brown, almost black. Their highly polished glassy surfaces have chatoyant depths. Gorgeous! (I have another hypersthene necklace here.)
I strung the beads with Bali vermeil spacers, and finished with a vermeil s-clasp. The finished length is 18 3/8 inches, with a weight of 1.3 oz.
I made matching earrings with gold-filled headpins and French hooks.
The dangles are 1 1/4 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.
Price: $47 (shipping is free)
The first two pictures were taken in direct sunlight, and the third in indirect light.
These are some fabulous beads, so marvelous that instead of putting them all in one necklace as I normally would do, I picked just a few to be focal points.
Here's a couple of closeups, in the direct sunlight and out of it:
Glorious!
Okay, that's enough gushing for now. How about some facts? The beads are smoky quartz, and they're shaped into puffy faceted dice. They measure about 10x10x10mm, or roughly 14mm from hole to hole. I linked the dice with my favorite gold-filled figure eight chain, finishing with a gold-filled lobster clasp. The necklace is about 17 5/8 inches long, and weighs 0.3 oz.
(I have other smoky quartz necklaces here, here, and here.)
The matching earrings are made with gold-filled stud posts and headpins. The dangles are about 1.5 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.
Price: $39 (shipping is free)
Here's some lovely, elegant smoky quartz! These beads were a total impulse buy: I couldn't resist their unusual shape, and the way it reflected the light. The shape is kind of a circular saddle, like a Pringles® chip. The saddles/chips are drilled diagonally, so that the dips & peaks at the edges are off to the sides.
This closeup shows the shape a little better.
Anyway, the beads measure about 15mm from hole to hole. I joined them with gold-filled wire, and finished with a vermeil s-clasp. The finished length is 20.5 inches (you can wear it shorter by clasping the hook between two beads as shown), with a weight of 1.8 oz.
(I have other smoky quartz necklaces here and here.)
I made the matching earrings by suspending bead-links on gold-filled chain from gold-filled posts. The earrings are about 1.5 inches long, with a total weight of 0.2 oz.
Price: $72 (shipping is free)
I love these beads! They're a beautiful chocolate brown, with darker streaks that look like wood grain. (I have another fossilized wood jasper necklace here.) Plus, I'm a sucker for the square diamond shape.
The beads measure about 16mm from corner to corner. I joined each with gold filled wire, finishing with a vermeil hook & eye clasp from India.
The necklace is 19.25 inches long (you can shorten it by hooking the clasp as shown), with a weight of 1.6 oz.
I used gold filled French hooks for the matching earrings. The dangles are about 1.25 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.1 oz.
Price: $43 (shipping is free)
These beads are jasper, and very very cool. They're a lovely chocolate brown with
darker brown grain-like streaks, looking just like a very dark wood
that's been turned to stone. (Hence the name). They are round, 8mm in diameter. I strung them with 6mm Bali vermeil spacers, finishing with a vermeil s-clasp from India. The finished length is 17 inches, with a weight of 1.3 oz.
The French hooks and headpins in the matching earrings are gold-filled. The dangles are about 1.25 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.1 oz.
Price: $38.50 (shipping is free)
Mahogany obsidian is named for its deep reddish brown color, which provides the background for its mottled black splotches. Obsidian is actually form of volcanic glass, and I've used other forms of obsidian in earlier necklaces (see here, here, here, and here).
These particular nuggets vary in length from 12 to 19mm. I linked each nugget with gold-filled wire, finishing with a vermeil hook & eye clasp.
The necklace is 22.5 inches long (can be shortened by hooking the clasp between two beads as shown), and weighs 2.4 oz.
Price: $30.50 (shipping is free)
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