More Sapphires!

More lovely fair trade sapphires, this time in slightly larger sizes -

5.75mm, ~1.0 carat each

6.25mm, ~1.2 carat each

6.25mm, ~1.1 carat each

 

6.25mm, ~1.1 carat

 

6.75mm, ~1.45 carat 

 

6.75mm, ~1.5 carat

6.0mm, ~1.0 carat each

 

6.5mm, ~1.1 carat each

New Sapphires

Some new fair trade sapphires -

4.75mm; ~0.5 carat each

 top row: 5mm; ~0.6 carat each

bottom row: 5.25mm; ~0.7 carat each

 5.75mm; ~0.9 carat each

 5mm; ~0.7 carat each

 5mm; ~0.7 carat each

5mm; ~0.6 carat each

More lovely sapphires

More lovely sapphires from my fair trade supplier; alas, once again I can't afford to keep them all, but at least I get to choose a few favorites... what do you think?

Fair trade Malawi sapphires, 5mm (2.27 total carat weight)

 Fair trade Malawi sapphire, 6mm (1.29 carats)

 Fair trade Malawi sapphires, 6mm (3.87 total carat weight)

 Fair trade Malawi sapphires, 6mm (3.93 total carat weight)

New Work

 Green moissanite, recycled 14k yellow gold, and recycled 14k palladium white gold ring

{ custom order; sold }

 Forever Brilliant moissanite and recycled 18k palladium white gold engagement ring

{ for sale on my Etsy page }

 The same ring with a matching wedding band.

 Fair trade pink sapphire and recycled 14k white gold ring

{ custom order; sold }

 Fair trade sapphire and recycled sterling silver ring

{ custom order; sold }

 Moissanite and recycled 14k rose gold engagement ring

{ for sale on my Etsy page }

Fair trade sapphire and recycled 14k rose gold ring

{ custom order; sold }

New Sapphires

Wow, look at these gorgeous fair trade Malawi sapphires I received today - I think I am in love!

Top row: 6mm stones
Bottom: 7mm stone

New Sapphires

I received a large shipment of some lovely fair trade sapphires the other day and just got around to photographing them. If you see something you like, let me know, because I probably won't keep all of them...

Malawi sapphires, ~5mm (~.55 carats each)

Malawi sapphires, ~5mm (~.55 carats each)

Malawi sapphires, ~5mm (~.55 carats each)

Malawi sapphires, ~5mm (~.55 carats each)

Malawi sapphire, 5.1mm (.61 carats)

Malawi sapphire, 5.8mm (1.04 carats)

Malawi sapphire, 5.8mm (.98 carats)
~ my personal favorite! ~
:-)

Malawi sapphire, 6mm (1.08 carats)

New Sunstones

These gorgeous stones just arrived in yesterday's mail. Most are available for custom orders (email me for details). The stones are all mined in Oregon, and are cut by a small family business in Sri Lanka. My local suppliers have worked directly with this same family for many years and are committed to helping to improve their lives by paying them a fair and professional wage for their work and supporting their ongoing professional education, so you can rest assured that these stones are not the product of cheap mass production done by children in India or underpaid factory workers in China.

Oregon sunstone - 5mm (0.52 carat)

Oregon sunstone - 5mm (0.5o carat)

Oregon sunstone - 5mm (0.49 carat)

Oregon sunstone - 5mm (0.50 carat)

Oregon sunstone - 6mm (0.92 carat)

Oregon sunstone - 6mm (0.87 carat)

Oregon sunstones - 5mm (approximately 0.50 carat each)

New Work

Teeny-tiny sapphire ring, 3mm fair trade stone on 2mm wide 14k white gold band
{ custom order; sold }

Fair trade sapphire and moissanite ring, palladium sterling silver
{ custom order; sold }

Now THAT'S dedication...

I braved the weather from hell today* to take these pictures, just for you. It is beautifully stormy here, and we had the most delightful thunder and lightning in the middle of the night last night...

* actually that makes no sense; Hell would be hot and it was definitely not hot outside today.

But back to jewelry. I am really excited about these rings and that's why I froze my butt off to photograph them today.

First we have an amazing green cat's eye tourmaline high-domed cab, mined right here in California, in a simple hand fabricated sterling silver setting. (The silver components are all from recycled sources.) This is the most expensive stone I've ever set in a ring and I was nervous throughout the process for fear of somehow damaging the stone. Thankfully, that didn't happen!

I used an open-backed setting for this stone, to let the light really stream through it and show off its chatoyancy. In order to provide support for the stone and improve the ring's comfort and wearability, there is a thin layer of clear resin on the back of the stone. You can see this piece in my Etsy shop here.


Next up is a little experiment I've been dying to try for months and months...

It's a rainbow moonstone cabochon set on top of a thin layer of blue resin. I love the way the blue looks through the moonstone... it's a very fun effect. I have lots of other colors (plus endless mixing possibilities, of course) so it will be fun to try this with other colors too.

More cabs

My problem just got worse...

Assorted olive green tourmaline,
mined right here in California...
these are so clear and gemmy!

Peridot - I've never found it in cabochon form before!

By popular demand - more bubble gum pink tourmaline,
also mined here in California...

...and another view to see the shapes better.

Afghan tourmaline - can you believe that color?

My personal favorite - a HUGE (17+ carats) blue tourmaline cab.

Chrysoprase cabs

Green cat's eye tourmaline (from the same mine in Southern CA).

And one more green cat's eye tourmaline.

I also got some really pretty little round hessonite garnet cabochons but I can't find them at the moment. Grr.