Handmade Gemstone Jewelry - Australian Opal

Australia contains the most opal in the whole world. About 95% of all Opal comes from Australia and the rest comes from Mexico, Brazil, Idaho, Ethiopia, an Mali.

Opal is made out of stone sediment and silica that was deposted along the Australian shorline during the big flood about 6 thousand years ago. (Noah's Flood) During this flood, waves of silica stone rich water poured into the nooks and crannies of sedimentary rocks and there the silica turned into opal. Opal is the gell from silica with a 3% to 20% of water. 

Opal was first found in 1849 in the Australian cattle stations in Tarravillia, where the first opal "prospectors" in 1890 were at the White cliffs.  

The best Australian opal fields are called White Cliffs, Lightning Ridge, Andmaooka, Coober,  and Peddy. The most famous mine is the Lightning Ridge mine and mainly produces black opal.

Anadamook is the mine were crystal opal and light opal is mined in 6,843 kilograms. Because of this, the mine is named  "Andamooka Desert fame".

 In the last few centuries, Opal was mined in deep holes or caves and the miners would sleep in the caves to protect themselves and their families from the scortching head of the day and the icy cold winds at night. The miners used tools such as the pick and shovel. They would lower buckets down into the deep holes and would pull up a bucket of dirt and go through it hoping to find some opal. These shafts were often 5-40 meters in depth. Opal mining was not an easy job until modern technology lent a hand with big machines like trucks and conveyor belts. Opal is known as Australia's outback gemstone.

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Handmade Gemstone Jewelry - Black Onyx Silver Gemstone Rings

Lapis lazuli jewelry is certainly not the only gemstone in handmade gemstone jewelry with a history going back a long way. In fact, nearly every gemstone has a history streching far back.

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Black onyx jewelry is another gemstone with a big past. Black onyx silver gemstone rings were worn by royalty, popes, and aristocrats centuries ago to show their high standing.  It was also very highly prized that it earned the name "Black diamond".  Traditionally, black onyx was set in yellow gold and it might be also set with a diamond in the centre. 

 All rights reserved by orchidei (Vintage Black Onyx, diamond, Yellow gold ring)

Nowdays, Black onyx is valued for its beautiful and elegant appearance. Black onyx gemstone rings are used for engagements, wedding anniversaries, and gifts! After a survey done in the U.S it was found that black onyx was one of the most popular gemstones.

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Onyx is a hard stone with a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale which makes it perfect for handmade gemstone jewelry. Black onyx also blends with every stort of metal. Silver and white gold  is most commonly used for a band to set an onyx gemstone in becuase of the contrast between the deep black and the whitish silver or gold. Sometimes, black onyx is also set with a diamond and a pearl to give the piece of jewelry a little bit of interest. There is wide variety of shapes and sizes of onyx silver gemstone rings. 

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Black onyx can also be set in titanuim or space metal which is good for those who have sensitive skin. 

For more Black onyx jewelry articles, please visit Handmade Gemstone Jewelry.

Handmade Gemstone Jewelry - Lapis Lazuli, an ancient stone!

Lapis lazuli is a stone that is flecked with golden pyrites. It was very popular in the Babylonian and Egyption civilizations. Lapis Lazuli handmade gemstone jewelry has been worn by royalty for centuries.  The Egyptians used it for cosmetics and paint.(e.g: Cleopatra) There is a Persian legend that says the heavens owed their blue color to a huge lab of lapis upon which the earth rested.

Imperial Designs Jewelry's photo
Lapis Lazuli was also used in commesso, a Florentine mosaic that was developed in the late 16th century. Commesso is a mixture of gemstones and materials such as agate, quartz, chalcendony, jasper, granite, porphyrie, petrified woods, black onyx, and lapis lazuli. Commeso was used the most for table tops and small wall panels.  Commesso are simply pictures made from pieces of gemstones.

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Ultramarine was used in paints in the Middle Ages. The paint was used to decortating materials. One of the most well known uses was of this paint was for the Illuminated Manuscripts. It is a brilliant blue, and mainly contains lazurite with no specks of clacite or pyrite. Lapis without calcite or pyrite is very expensive.  Artists in the Middle Ages who used ultramarine as paint couldn't not afford such expensive paint, but the the lords they served bought it for them.
Sometimes, shops sell so-called lapis that is really jasper from Germany with specks of  crystallized quartx instead of golden pryites.
The best mines in the world for lapis lazuli are in Afghangistan. Other smaller places such as Egypt, canada, Chile, the U.S. and South America also prudoce lapis, but it is nowhere near as valuable. The biggest and most famous mine is in Badakstan, Northeasten Afghanistan and Ovalle, Chille.  The only difference is that the Chillean mine produces lapis that is not as bright as the Afghany mines.
For more articles on Handmade Gemstone Jewelry and especially black onyx jewelry, rose quartz jewelry, and lapis lazuli jewelry, please visit Handmade Gemstone Jewelry!

Buying and Collecting Handmade Jewelry

Handmade jewelry is that which has been handcrafted rather than designed by a machine. For a jewelry to be called “handmade”, it refers to jewelry that is designed by hand power or hand control. On the other hand, this does not include the use of pound pushes and machinery that is used to connect certain pieces together. These are simply machinery used to handcraft the jewelry, not manufacture it altogether.

All over the world you can find wide range collections of handmade jewelry. In general, people tend to admire handmade earrings, handmade necklaces, and handmade bracelets, etc. If you wanted to sell handmade jewelry online via a website, you should begin by testing your market before promoting your website through advertising channels. You may not have enough time in the day to accomplish this so make sure you have all the ducks in a row and count the cost.

For many people, making money is their main goal for going into business. But when it comes to creating handmade jewelry, you must have a knack for it or you might lose heart and shut down. In order to differentiate yourself from the competition, you should offer unique handmade jewelry that caters to a certain target market. The actual handcrafted jewelry is typically classier than the standard handmade jewelry on the market. However many people are fooled by machine-made jewelry which has been designed to look like the handmade jewelry.

Indeed, the world of handmade jewelry is captivating even though it is guided by wide varieties. The wide range of resources involved in making handcrafted jewelry can be overwhelming to say the least. With delicate styles and uniqueness reflected on every created piece, handmade jewelry is seldom universal. Nevertheless, you must be aware when people sell machine-crafted handmade jewelry and then label them handmade.

Tags: handcrafted, handmade bracelets, Handmade Earrings, handmade jewelry, handmade necklaces, machinery

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Handmade Jewelry Designs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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Handmade Gemstone Jewelry - Opal

Opal is one of the most desired gemstones. It is listed among diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies. Opal is loved for its beauty.  If you are lookig for opal handmade gemstone jewelry, it is important to look at its quality. When looking for a diamond, we look at its color, clarity, carat, and cut. And when looking at emerald and rubies we think about the natural inclisoons and those that have a great color. When looking at gold you think about wether it is 18k, 14k, or 10k.

But how to you choose jewelry?

This particular type of jewelry is called opalescense or iridesncens. (or opal)  The extent of colors determines wether the jewelry is good quality or not. It is difficult to find good quality opal.

There are 4 types of opals that can be used in jewelry : black, white, crystal  and boulder opal.

The black opal is very hard to find and valuable.

Black Opal

The White opal is probably the cheapest and easiest to find. 

Leespicedragon's Photo

The crystal opals are translucent, have a sharp clarity and display many shades of color. The boulder opal is formed amongst ironstone and is quite cheap. 

There is quite selection of colors that you can choose. Blue and green opal is sold the most in jewelry because it is attractive and cheap. Orange and Red opal is more rare and desired.

When looking at a piece of opal jewelry, you should look at the colors and make sure they flow naturally like a stream with no geometric pattern. Their color should look dappled like in the bottom of a pond when the sun is shining.  

This glass-like gemstone is quite delicate and needs a lot of care.  Opal is not as durable as some gemstones like emerald, diamond or alexandrite. When cleaning, make sure to avoid materials that could scratch or chip your opal such as scrowers, scrubbing brushes. Always make sure that you remove any opal jewelry when using hairspray or cleaning with household chemicals. 

 Theappraiserlader's Photo

Avoid soaking your opal jewelry in oil or water. Mix a small amount of room temperature water with some detergent and wipe jewelry with a soft cloth. When you have done this, you can remove anything stuck to your opal jewelry with your finger tip or a soft brush.  One you have done this, rince throughly without submerging completly in water. Pat dry to prevent peices of stone breaking off. Always wash with room temperature water. If you did it hot or col it could ruin the opal permantently.  

Treat with care and store in a safe place when not in used. If you treat your Opalhandmade gemstone jewelry well, it should last a life time!

 

Handmade Gemstone Jewelry - Blue Diamond

Blue diamonds come from the Cullinan mine near Pretoria, South Africa. The Cullinan mine is the world's most notable blue diamond producing mine. The mine is also know from producing the largest diamond of the De Beers Millennium Jewels Collection, the brilliant Blue Heart of Eternity, which is 27 carats.

The largest polished blue diamond know publicly is the 70 carat Idol's Eye, which has a distinct delicate blue color, otherwise known as "rosy blue". The reason it is called the Idol's Eye is because legend has it that it was once set in the eye of a temple in Benghazi. After World War II, the diamond was sold to Mrs. Mary Stanton, an American aristocrat, who wore it at her breakfast every morning.

Another blue diamond, the Hope Diamond, probably the world's most famous diamond, is an extremely deep blue and weighs 45.5 carats. It came to Europe from India in the seventeenth century when it was known as the Tavernier Blue and was sold to Louis XIV of France. It was thought to bring bad luck to whoever owned it, including Marie Antoinette, the consort of King Louis XIV, Lord Francis Hope(who it was named after), and the American aristocrat, Evelyn Walsh Mclean. It is is now on display in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. 

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A blue diamond was also worn in the 1953 film of "Titanic".

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Handmade Gemstone Jewelry - Alexandrite!

Alexandrite - The gemstone named after Tsar Alexander II of Russia!

Watch this video to find out more about Alexandrite.  If you want to learn more about the history of Alexandrite,  I have written an article all about it here.

For more Information, please visit: Handmade Gemstone Jewelry.

 

Handmade Gemstone Jewelry - Prehnite - A Gemstone Named After its Discoverer

One of the first and many gemstones to be named after a person is Prehnite. It was named after and first discovered by Colonel Henrik von Prehn, a Duch minerologist and the governer of the newly formed American Cape of Good Hope Colony. Prehnite was also the first gemstone to be found in South Africa before it was discovered that there were many gemstone deposits in the country. 

Scientifically, Prehnite is a gemstone made of hydrated calcium aluminum silicate, which shows a soft luminus apple-green to yellow-green color. 

It has been best known for being cut into cabonchons or being carved into little statues, etc. Recently, small amounts of Prehnite has been faceted and used in jewelry. This new look has been quite popular in jewelry. 

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Prehnite has been found in deposits as large as 100 carats. It was a rare gemstone untill more deposits were found, so now it is quite inexpensive. High quality prehnite would very likely sell for about the same price as amethyst, citrine, or garnet.

Today, the biggest deposits are found in Australia, South Africa, Scotland, the United Stages, and the China. 

Since it is unlikely that you will find Prehnite jewelry down the road in your local jewelry store, it is best to browse online where you are sure to find some. 

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Read more of my articles at Handmade Gemstone Jewelry.

Handmade Gemstone Jewelry - A fellow artist!

Understanding Handmade Beaded Jewelry Designs

Understanding Handmade Beaded Jewelry Designs

via Handmade Jewelry Shops by andrew on 8/25/10

Handmade beaded jewelry making started in ancient times. Beaded jewelry is used for indicating riches and common rank that only class society people are allowed to put on jewelry. However, that does not mean that in these modern times you can’t make a beautiful and elegant beaded jewelry of your own. You don’t have to be a professional bead maker to make a stunning handmade jewelry piece. One of the reasons that handmade beaded jewelry is still admired is because many people have the talent to make them. Putting together a string of beads is quite simple when you get the hang of it. Putting together a fine looking beaded necklace is a wonderful feeling. But just because you can accomplish this feat don’t make yourself out to be a professional artisan just yet.

In handmade beaded jewelry there are several techniques that you should know. These techniques include the stringing technique, the knotting technique, the wire working technique and the stitching technique. A wide variety of strings are also used such as plastics, twine silk, cord and nylon. The thickness of the thread depends on what kind of jewelry you are going to make such as a hairpin, a necklace, a pair of earrings.  In threading beads, never use stitching threads or dental floss since they fracture easily and are not suitable for handmade jewelry making. Nylon threads are the most used threads. You will find beaded jewelry in every form if you are around long enough. You can create a beaded bracelet, beaded shoes, beaded dresses and other accessories. It really comes down to using your imagination.

Sometimes it is the various stones in handmade beaded jewelry that bring the most beauty. Women of all ages have found that beaded jewelry is very attractive and pleasant. During years ago, all beaded jewelry and beads in general, were very stylish. Beads are still very fashionable to this day and have varieties of shapes and designs that can theme your jewelry any way you choose.