Pretty Good Jewelry

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)

Citrine rough nugget bead-link necklace + earrings

These citrine nuggets are in a rough cut, not tumbled smooth, so they look like honey-flavored rock candy, good enough to eat!  The color is not uniform, but they are wonderfully translucent, like bits of late afternoon sunshine.

I joined the nuggets with gold-filled wire, finishing with a vermeil hook & eye clasp, putting the largest nuggets in the middle (they range in length from 12 to 27 mm.)

The necklace is 24 inches long (can be worn shorter by hooking the clasp as shown), with a weight of 2.5 oz.

I made matching earrings with gold-filled headpins and 2mm round gold-filled beads.  The French hooks are also gold-filled.

The dangles are about an inch long, and the earrings weigh 0.1 oz.

Price: $48 (shipping is free)

Golden rutilated quartz 8mm necklace + earrings

Here's more lovely golden rutilated quartz (named for the golden-colored needle-like rutiles inside the quartz).  These beads are round, about 8mm in diameter.  I strung them with vermeil rondelles, finishing with a vermeil s-clasp.  The finished length is 16.5 inches, with a weight of 1.2 oz.

I made matching earrings using gold-filled French hooks and headpins.  The dangles are almost 1.75 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.

Price: $76 (shipping is free)

Golden rutilated quartz faceted nugget bead-link necklace + earrings

Inclusions are not desirable in clear or translucent stone, except when they are.  This is one of the cases where the inclusions add to the stone's appearance rather than detracting.

The base stone is our old friend quartz, and the golden needles are rutiles.  The golden rutiles shimmer wonderfully in the light, like shafts of sunlight breaking through the clouds.  These particular beads are nuggets which have been faceted and then tumble-polished.  They range in length from 13 to 17mm.  I joined each with gold-filled wire, finishing with a vermeil s-clasp.

The necklace is 20.25 inches long (can be worn shorter by hooking the clasp between two beads as shown), and weighs 2.1 oz.

I made earrings to match.  The French hooks and the headpins are gold-filled.  The dangles are a bit over 3/4 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.

Price: $42 (shipping is free)

Citrine faceted rondelle necklace + earrings

Citrine fascinates me.  I resisted stringing these particular beads for the longest time, because I enjoying playing with them so much, moving the beads in the light and watching how they glowed and sparkled.  Almost hypnotizing!  They're like solidified sunshine.

The beads are cut into faceted rondelles, measuring about 5mm in diameter and about 2.5mm thick.  I strung them with 3.5mm Bali vermeil daisy spacers, finishing with a gold-filled lobster clasp.  (If you examine very very closely, you can see that I missed my pattern in two places....) The finished length is 18.75 inches, with a weight of 0.6 oz.

I used gold-filled headpins and French hooks to make the matching earrings.  The longest dangle is 1.75 inches.  The earrings weigh 0.1 oz.

Price: $48 (shipping is free)

Golden citrine faceted 9x7 oval earrings

The first two pictures were taken outdoors in direct light, and the third picture was taken indoors in indirect light.

This citrine is positively luscious!  The stones are faceted ovals measuring 9x7mm, from Brazil, with a total weight of 2.6 carats.  I placed them in gold-filled settings, and the total weight of the earrings are less than 0.1 oz.  (You can see my other citrine earrings here.)

Price: $25.80 (shipping is free)

Golden citrine faceted 6x4 oval earrings

The first picture was taken outdoors, in direct sunlight (and I am just now recovering from the sunburn, ouch!); the second was taken indoors, in indirect light.

Working with loose gems is more fun than a bag of hammers, y'all.  Seriously, this is way cool.  But you'd probably prefer that I shut up & tell you about these earrings.

The stones are citrine, which I've raved about before.  (The earrings look better in person than they do in the pictures, as I'm still learning the finer points of photographing such small objects.)  The stones are cut in a faceted 6x4mm oval, and are set in gold-filled settings.  The total weight is less than 0.1 oz.

Price: $16.70 (shipping is free)

Amber nugget necklace

These amber nuggets are stunning!  They're amazingly light in weight, and their color is a medium-dark honey.  The nuggets range in length from 8 to 12mm.  (I have another amber necklace posted here.)

I strung the nuggets with 3mm gold-filled beads, and finished with a Bali vermeil hook & eye clasp.

The necklace is just a hair over 18 inches long, with a weight of 0.4 oz.

Price: $35.10 (shipping is free)

Amber chip necklace

Amber comes in shades from the lightest golden yellow to deep golden brown, but this is the shade I like best.  These beads are marvelously light, & measure about 4 to 6mm in diameter.  I combined them with little square vermeil spacers, and finished with a vermeil hook & eye clasp.

You can find a pearl necklace that matches this amber necklace here.

The necklace's length is 19.5 inches, with a weight of 0.3 oz.

Price: $24.90 (shipping is free)