What is Amber?

Amber is a fossil. Actually is the result of fossilized tree resin. Over an immens period of time, the resin from the ancient forests has gone through a number of changes creating an exceptional gem with extraordinary properties. Amber has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty and is used for the manufacture of ornamental objects and jewelry.

How precious is this gem?

There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents. Even if amber occurs in a variety of colors, the most abundant type ranges from pale yellow to deep orange and brown, but when you think of amber you think of honey color. There are also unusual colors of this gem such as red amber (the “cherry amber”), green amber, and even blue amber, which is rare and up-to-the-minute. The most expensive gem is transparent, and is more appreciated than the very common cloudy amber and opaque amber.

Amber is always in fashion. Being a valuable gem it preserves its beauty and value over time. It can be worn at parties, cocktails or other events and is proper to wear in all seasons. The key is to determine the cut of the amber jewelry pieces you want and considering the large pieces available on the market you must find a suiting cut. While amber is generally cabochon cut, it is also available in various different shapes and styles of beading, in amber chips and even in inlay. (more…)

Artist Andrea Williams grew up near the coast of Maine where she got inspired by the ocean and coastal nature. Her jewelry are made from beachstones and every single piece is spectacular. In this post, I have presented only the items from her Starry Night collection.

Although I like all Andrea’s pieces, these are my favorites! But every piece is unique and impressing and if you are interested you cand see more jewelry at Bound Earth Presentation Site. There are also theKebyar, Sa, Kyuma, and Mani padme collections. All the jewelry lines have with Tibetan inspired names.

Of her work, Andrea Williams states, “My jewelry is an expression of the wonder I sense in the overlooked intricacies in nature. When we see stones in infinite numbers underfoot at the beach, we cannot help but to miss the unique perfection in each.” (more…)

Here’s a cool concept product by Charles Windlin. It is called the Watch Ring, and it is basically a ring with a display screen that runs along its body.This is a jewelry ring  with stylish and modern accents, having the potential future in material science.

This ring is highly compact and smart because it consists of magnetic and decorative material with advanced technology. With a brilliant digital display, the ring also has a lower layer of gold that comes with it. It can also show you the time, your personal calendar data and also act as a beautiful jewelry.

The device grasps 1710 sphere that can be turned into every direction. So, I guess the designer has given its best to make the jewelry useful as well as stylish at the same time. (more…)

Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet by Mary Hettmansberger is a great jewelry making book that explains how to use a lot of creative cold connections in metal and fiber jewelry work.

If you like rustic looking jewelry, you’ll love this book. The projects all have that handmade look, and the author encourages experimenting.

I love cold connections, which is probably evident when you look at my jewelry – lots of wire wrapping, and in my metalwork I often use variations on rivet techniques to hold things together while allowing for some movement – as in this pendant.

Once you master a few easy techniques for connecting metal parts without soldering, you start to get lots of design ideas, and can create pieces that look and feel more complex than what you can do without these connections. I like to use a combination of torchwork, wirework, and cold connections in my work.

If you like using fiber in your jewelry, or fiber techniques, you’ll appreciate a few sections of the book that deal with things like weaving wire. Weaving with thin-gauge wire enables a designer to create very intricate, details pieces – without needing a lot of expensive metalworking tools.

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I’ve been wanting to play with some new copper head pins I made that have beautiful deep pink ball ends, and when I received my latest goodies from artbeads to review, I knew the red poppy jasper beads would be perfect. (You can find the jasper beads and other shades of red and pink in the Valentines Day gemstone bead section of their website.)

I paired a jasper on copper charm with a deep purple freshwater pearl one, and added them to a slim silver bangle

Looking at the finished piece, I like it, but I think it would be a more successful design if the bangle was made from copper – so I’m hoping to experiment with some copper bangles if my son takes a good nap this afternoon.

The warm tones in the copper charms would blend a lot better with a warm copper bangle base – and maybe matching earrings? And while I’m being critical of myself, if I’d chosen a black pearl with more green/gold undertones, I think that also might have worked a bit better. But hey – aren’t my pink copper head pins gorgeous with the jasper?
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Normally when I think of CZ, I think of the sparkly white version that is often used as immitation diamonds. But it can be made in a rainbow of colors, so I picked some lavender and olive green beads to test.

The colors are gorgeous – the lavender is pale and beautiful, while the olive green is a rich deeper hue. They look great together, so I started by making a pendant combining both colors.

The huge lavender beads are 9×36 mm teardrop pendant beads, and the smaller olive green ones are 6×9 mm faceted teardrops, in case you are tempted to nab a few for yourself.

I had to try these lovely flat square cushion beads, so I went with some very simple earrings – I think the shape and facets on them are so pretty they deserve to be the center of a design.

The square cushion beads are my favorite of the three styles, not because the others aren’t beautiful (they are) but because I could see these beads as part of so many different designs. They’d be lovely as a simple wire wrapped pendant on a skinny chain, and there are a bunch of colors to choose from.

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Continue from Common Metals Used in Jewelry Making Part 1

Copper can be used for many jewelry applications. Because it oxidizes relatively quickly, it’s a good metal to try with patinas, and is also often enameled on. Some people believe that copper jewelry has health benefits, such as aiding people with arthritis pain, while others wear it for its rich, warm color. If copper jewelry has not been coated with something to prevent oxidation, it will need to be cleaned and/or polished frequently in order to keep it from turning green or black.

Brass is another non-precious metal that is often used in jewelry designs. It is an alloy metal and there are several different formulations for brass. It is sometimes sold shiny and other times with an oxidized “antique” finish.

Stainless Steel – steel, particularly stainless steel, is becoming popular as a jewelry metal. It is very hard, and melts at a very high temperature. In fact, a lot of jewelry tools are made from steel. I haven’t worked with steel very much except a bit in wire form. Memory wire made from steel, which is sold in coils for making bracelets, necklaces, and rings, is fun for stringing beads onto because it “remembers” its shape. Very thin steel wire can be used for weaving, knitting, or crocheting wire. Many metal artists are using steel sheet to fabricate designs as well, and mixing it with more traditional jewelry metals like silver and gold.

Platinum – of the commonly used metals in jewelry making, platinum is the hardest and the most expensive. I’ve personally never worked with it, so I don’t know much more than that. It has a lovely silver color and is popular for wedding and engagement rings, and high-end jewelry with precious stones such as diamonds.

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