Pretty Good Jewelry

Mother of pearl nugget bead-link necklace + earrings

These beads are mother of pearl, and they really are fabulous.  I first ordered them on a whim, and I was so impressed when they arrived that I had to order more.  I don't think my pictures can do justice to the amount of silvery flash that each nugget has.

The nuggets are graduated a bit in size, from roughly 12 to 21mm in length.  I linked each nugget with sterling silver wire, and finished with a Bali silver s-clasp.

The necklace is 24.5 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 bead-links and little Celtic knot drops.  The drops and the French hooks are also sterling silver.  The dangles are about 1 1/8 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.

Price: $33 (shipping is free)

Elephant skin jasper flat oval bead-link necklace + earrings

This stone was sold to me as golden lace agate, but I've seen it elsewhere as elephant jasper or elephant skin stone or elephant skin jasper.  It certainly looks more like a jasper than an agate to me.

These particular beads are flat ovals measuring about 18x13mm.  I joined each with gold-filled wire, finishing with a vermeil s-clasp. 

The necklace is about 20 inches long (you can wear it shorter by hooking the clasp between two beads as shown), and weighs 1.7 oz.

The matching earrings are made with gold-filled French hooks & headpins, with little vermeil daisy spacers on the ends.  The dangles are about 7/8 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.1 oz.

Price: $32 (shipping is free)

Black line jasper oval bead-link necklace + earrings

One of my suppliers calls this particular stone "black water jasper", another, "picasso jasper", and a third, "black line jasper".  About all they seem to agree on is that it's jasper!

These particular beads are flat ovals measuring 18x13mm.  I linked each with sterling silver, and finished with a Bali sterling silver clasp.

The necklace is 21.5 inches long (can be worn shorter by hooking the clasp between two beads as shown), and weighs 1.7 oz.

I made matching earrings with these adorable Bali (sterling) silver French hooks.  The dangles are about 7/8 inches, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.

Price: $28 (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)

Golden sheen obsidian flat diamond bead-link necklace + earrings

I'm fascinated by these beads.  Its lovely golden sheen comes from gas bubbles in the lava flow that produced the obsidian.  (I have another golden sheen obsidian necklace here.)

The beads are square flat diamonds measuring about 17mm from corner to corner.  I linked each with gold-filled wire, finishing with a vermeil s-clasp.
The finished length is 19.5 inches (can be worn shorter by hooking the clasp between two beads as shown), with a weight of 1.3 oz.

I made earrings to match with gold-filled French hooks, hanging little vermeil dangles on the ends.  The bead-links plus dangles are about 1.5 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.1 oz.

Price: $52 (shipping is free)

Black banded agate rectangle bead-link necklace

These agate beads have been permanently dyed black.  (I washed them to make certain that the color wouldn't come off.)  I bought them because of their beautiful banding: on some the banding is very faint, but it is present.  (I have more black agate necklaces here, here, here, and here.)

The beads are pillow shaped rectangles, measuring about 20x12mm.  I linked each bead with sterling silver wire and then finished with a Bali sterling silver s-clasp.

The finished length is 21.75 inches (can be worn shorter by hooking the clasp between two beads as shown), with a weight of 1.6 oz.

Price: $40 (shipping is free)

Biotite flat oval bead-link necklace + earrings

I love stones which have something going on in their depths, which is why I bought these biotite beads.  The surface color is black, but underneath there's a golden brown glitter!

The beads are flat ovals, measuring 18x13mm.  I joined each with gold-filled wire, finishing with a vermeil hook & eye clasp.  The necklace is 20.75 inches long, with a weight of 1.6 oz.

The matching earrings are made with gold-filled French hooks & headpins, with little vermeil spaces on the ends.  The earrings weigh 0.2 oz.

Price: $37 (shipping is free)

Larvikite flat rectangle bead-link necklace + earrings

I had the hardest time finding out information about this stone until I found out that I had the name wrong: it's larvikite (named after Larvik, Norway, one of the places where it can be found, as the Wikipedia article says).  I was calling it larkivite, and from the websearch I did, I am not the only one.

Anyway.  I first encountered this under the name "Canadian blue pearl", but it's not a pearl, & although it has blue flashes, it's more of a gray.  Whatever it is, I like it very much!

These particular beads are flat rectangles measuring 18x13mm.  I linked each with sterling silver wire, finishing with a Bali sterling silver s-clasp.

The necklace is 20.75 inches long (you can wear it shorter by hooking the clasp between two beads as shown), and weighs 1.9 oz.

I made earrings to match.  The French hooks and headpins are sterling silver; the silver beads on top of the larvikite are Thai silver (from the Karen Hill Tribe) & thus 99% pure silver.  The dangles are about 1 1/8 inches, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.

Price: $40 (shipping is free)

Rhodochrosite twist bead-link necklace + earrings

I have been told that the best rhodocrosite has a rich color with little to no banding.  These beads are cut so that the lighter bands tend to lie on one surface of the twists, & the body of the bead is a rich pink color.

The twists measure about 16x7mm.  I linked each with sterling silver wire, finishing with a Bali sterling silver s-clasp.

The necklace is 21 7/8 inches long (can be worn shorter by hooking the clasp between two beads as shown), with a weight of 1.5 oz.

I made earrings to match.  The French hooks, headpins, and daisy spacers on the ends are all sterling silver.  The dangles are about 3/4 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.

Price: $120 (shipping is free)

Rhodochrosite flat rectangle bead-link necklace + earrings

This beautiful pink stone is rhodochrosite. I used gold-filled wire instead of silver to link each 18x13mm rectangle bead.  Usually I like to pair pink with silver, but I thought, what the heck?

These stones have beautiful bandings.  There are some gray & black inclusions present, but they are very minimal, mostly showing up as shadows.  I finished with a vermeil hook & eye clasp from India.

The necklace is 21.25 inches long, with a weight of 2.1 oz.  The hook is a little too large to do the "hook between two beads" trick, but if you need a shorter necklace I can take one or more beads off.

I made earrings to match.  The French hooks & headpins are gold-filled, and the little daisy spacer on the end is vermeil.  The dangle is about 7/8 inches long, and the earrings weigh 0.2 oz.

Price: $115 (shipping is free)