In her latter years,  my grandmother used to have a whiskey mac every evening before supper.  The way she mixed it, this was half a tumbler of whisky topped up with Stones Ginger wine, no ice.  Quite amazing that she managed to stagger to the table after downing that, but my mum said that it cheered her up, and that was always a good thing.  Plus she was not the kind of woman who liked to be told what to do, so if she wanted to end her day lightly sozzled, no-one was going to tell her she couldn’t.  The reason I mention this is because I have some new hessonite garnet in, and this stuff always makes me think of my gran’s whiskey macs; that deep, tawny reddish gold, with a slightly cloudy quality; the fine, swirling inclusions giving the stones a silken lustre, as if they are glowing from within.  And don’t tell me that I don’t give you odd and interesting stuff either, because I’ve got this in not just a standard cab, but a rose cut as well!

More new stock!  I have some absolutely gorgeous pale indigo rose cut tanzanite; very clean material and full of sparkle.  I know that there are some real tanzanite addicts out there, so this is a real treat!  Also new in is melanite in 4mm, 6mm and 10mm kind of rose cut.  What I mean by ‘kind of rose cut’ is that it is a cut that I see other people routinely describe as rose cut but which is a little less complex than my standard rose cuts.  My supplier calls it something like ‘upside down checker’ but I think that would create even more confusion!  It’s triangular facets, and they make a rose pattern, but just without the fancy flower that I normally have on my stones.  Also have 8mm coming in, but I still have to photograph and list that.  Finally, Swiss Blue Topaz in a 4mm rose cut, lovely and vibrant, to go with all these bright colours that are coming in this season.