Virtude Jewellery
Handmade Wedding and Occasion Jewellery
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Platinum Pearl Earrings
Posted on December 14th, 2009 No commentsWell my goodness it’s that time of year again!
In case the weather wasn’t enough to tell you then TV certainy will. One of my favourite shows “Bones” just had their Christmas episode and the main character, Dr Temperance Brennan was wearing some lovely drop earrings. She wore them a few episodes ago so I set about making my ownn version.
Here they finally are, and I used the new Swarovski “Platinum” pearls- they have a gorgeous soft sheen that’s not quite golden, but not silver either- lovely! So say hello to “Temperance”…
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Fuchsia & Black Bracelet
Posted on November 6th, 2009 No commentsAh the 80’s! Back in the 80’s fuchsia was one of those bold signature colours. This jewellery blends that shade of shocking pink with deep burgundy Garnet and black Onyx to bring it up to date and make it altogether subtler, but still on-trend.
I kept it simple and just alternated a pink with black and used some of my faceted black onyx beads. Swarovski crystals finish the ends and I’m currently in love with hammered hoops so there’s one of those in there too!
Just because the 80’s in back in vogue doesn’t mean you have to make the same fashion mistakes…!
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Citrine Bracelet, November’s birthstone
Posted on November 5th, 2009 No commentsMost people associate Topaz with Novemebr, but Citrine is also a traditional gem for this month. This is probably because the two gems are very often mistaken for each other, but I’m just guessing.
If you know someone who has a birthday this month then consider a Citrine gift- it’s a very pretty gem and ranges in colour from very pale and watery yellow through to darker amber hues.
Just lovely, and just the thing to add a touch of colour to your outfit!
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Garnet Bracelet | All About Garnet
Posted on October 31st, 2009 No commentsGarnet is a gemstone that has been in use since ancient times, indeed it is among the stones mentioned in the surviving literature of all ancient languages.
Properties of Garnet
Garnet is actually the name given to a family of silicate minerals whose members are:
- Almandite
- Andradite
- Gossular
- Pyrope
- Spessartine
- Uvarovite
Its hardness is rated as being between 6.5 to 8.5 (it has roughly the same hardness as quartz at 7 Mohs).Garnets occur in almost all colours:
Almandite– Deep red to reddish-brown, occasionally with a violet or brown hue
Andradite– Red, green, yellow, brown, black; rarely clear
Grossular– Clear, white, green, yellow, pink, brown, orange and orange-red
Spessartine– Brown, orange, and pink
Pyrope– Deep red to nearly black; rose-red to violet, blue (as pyrope-spessartine)
Uvarovite– Emerald-green
Industrial Uses of Garnets
Garnets are used as an abrasive in industrial applications, the harder varieties of almandite are crushed and mounted on paper and called garnet paper.
Gemstone Uses of Garnets
The characteristic deep red shade has made it extremely popular and has been appearing in jewellery since ancient times through to modern day.
The most popular dark red variety is pyrope because of its attractive deep red colour and because it is normally free of inclusions ready for gemstone use in jewellery. It is also less expensive than almandite.
Garnets often appears as a doublet. A doublet is a composite stone i.e. a stone that has been fused or cemented together with another stone. In the case of garnets, usually an almandite garnet upper layer is fused to coloured or clear glass and then faceted. This is to make the most of the more expensive, durable stone.
Garnet Traditional Associations
Garnet is the birthstone for January, as this excerpt from a poem of unknown author attests:
By her who in January was born
No gem save garnets shall be worn
They will ensure her constancy
True friendship and fidelity
It is also the stone for Aquarius the Water Bearer in the Astrological table.
There is another list which associates stones with the day of the week a person was born on. Garnet appears in this list for the day Tuesday.
The twelve tribes of Israel each had a gemstone associated with them, and garnet was for Levi. Garnet was also associated with the angel Ambriel.
Garnets Superstition
In the past gems were invested with supernatural qualities, for garnets some believed that they averted plague and that they were a defence against thunder.
These superstitions have been updated and are commonly called “mystical properties” however there seems to be as many different properties as there are written sources e.g. from car sickness prevention to curing food poisoning.
Garnet jewellery makes a gorgeous gift and just as in earlier times, is a beautiful way to demonstrate affection for a loved one.
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Autumn Lampwork Necklace
Posted on October 28th, 2009 No commentsBut then, autumn/fall colours are sooo pretty! The cool thing about left-overs in jewellery making is that after a little while you end up with a sizeable collection that you actually do something with and here’s an example.
This one-off necklace features a variety of lampwork, gemstone and other assorted beads. Jewellery like this is great for playing with as there are so many different shapes, sizes and textures. Boring meetings, speeches and waiting rooms can all be made more bearable if you have such a necklace!
Click here for details. -
Rose Quartz “Love the Beach” Necklace
Posted on October 28th, 2009 No commentsToday was an unusually hot day. It’s October and here in the north of Spain October is usually lovely but today felt just like summer, so after coming back from the beach where I found some frosty beach glass, I made this long length necklace.
It uses frosted glass and smooth, watery rose quartz. I finished it with a little Sterling star charm.
Who says we only get to wear pretty pastels in spring?
Click here for more details.
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AW09 Preview
Posted on October 10th, 2009 No comments -
Green Amethyst Jewellery
Posted on July 19th, 2009 No comments
Green Amethyst Jewellery
Green Amethyst, also known as known as Prasiolite, is a pretty, watery shade of green. I have some in supply and I initially wanted to make something combined with smoky quartz, but in the end some little rondelles of purple and light purple amethyst combined better with the colours.
It’s great end-of-summer jewellery because the colours look fantastic when worn with white or beige.
Here’s the bracelet:
Green Amethsyt Necklace, Prasiolite
For the necklace and earrings i included some lovely little Sterling silver connectors from Bali:
Green Amethsyt Necklace
And finally, the earrings:
Green Amethyst Earrings
As usual you can buy any or all of the items from my eBay shop, or directly from me here.
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Emerald Jewellery | Green and Black Jewellery
Posted on July 15th, 2009 No commentsI can’t wait for autumn because I’ve recently been buying up beautiful beads in black onyx, green jade, aventurine and also real emeralds.
I made a special necklace ahead of time just to try out the materials and see how the colours work together- take a look at “Ellie”:
Green and Black Jewellery "Ellie"
It’s a long size 80cm necklace and the special thing about is that, as there’s no clasp, you can choose how to wear it yourself.
I also love Green and Black because there’s a strong link with chocolate (the cognoscenti among you know what I’m talking about!)
Are you enjoying the summer or are there aspects of autumn that you’re already looking forwards to?
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New Website in Spanish
Posted on May 25th, 2009 No commentsMost recently I have been working on setting up a Spanish version of my site- well I live in Spain so it kind of makes sense! I was originally going to just add one of the WordPress plugins to translate but it felt like a lot of work and in the end it seemed easier just to start from scratch, so tada! Here’s the Spanish version: www.VirtudeJoyeria.com.
