Pretty Good Jewelry

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)

Lava rock, blackstone, and silver bead-link necklace + earrings

The three large black flower-shaped beads are lava rock.  Cool!  I bought the round matte blackstone beads to go with them.

The lava rock beads are 25mm across (about 1 inch), and the blackstone beads are 10mm in diameter.  The larger sterling silver beads are from Bali, measuring about 11mm in diameter, and the smaller ones are plain 6mm rounds.  I linked each with sterling silver wire, finishing with a Bali silver s-clasp.  The necklace is 17.5 inches long and weighs 2.1 oz.

The matching earrings are made with sterling silver French hooks.  The silver end charms are from Bali.  The earrings weigh about 0.2 oz, and the dangles are about 1.25 inches.

Price: $49.50 (shipping is free)

Black "fire" agate & matte blackstone bead-link necklace + earrings

The lantern-shaped beads were sold to me as black fire agate, but it is actually agate that's been made to crackle & then treated with black dye.  I like it a lot, but if you want to see real fire agate, click here.  The round black beads are blackstone, which is a catchall name for various stones that are then permanently dyed black.  My best guess would be that it's some sort of jasper.

The agate beads are about 11mm in diameter, and the blackstone 10mm.  I linked each with sterling silver silver wire, finishing with a Bali silver s-clasp.  The necklace is 17.5 inches long, and weighs 2.0 oz.

I made earrings to match.  They're a bit on the heavy side--0.4 oz--and the dangles are 1.5 inches.  The French hooks are sterling silver, and the silver spacers and small end dangles are from Bali.

Price: $39 (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)

Oval pyrite bead-link necklace

Here's a necklace made with Fool's Gold(aka pyrite) oval beads and real gold-filled wire, finished with a vermeil s-clasp.  (I thought the beads were too heavy for earrings, but I do have pyrite earrings here.)

The ovals measure 18x13mm.  The necklace is about 22.5 inches long, and weighs 2.7 oz.

Price: $42 (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)

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)

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 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)