I’ve been trying for the longest time to get my cushion cuts faceted like this – with the flower on top to match the round rose cuts I carry. Finally success! Here we have African Amethyst and white topaz in 4mm cushions, at $2.35 and $1.25 per stone respectively. The African amethyst is a nice deep purple, a bit of colour zoning here and there and the white topaz clean with great sparkle.

I’ve been a bit short of peridot over the past few months so I’m really pleased to have some back in stock; 5mm rose cut round cabochons, honeycomb faceted pears and ovals. The 5mm rounds are flat back; the pears and ovals are cut with a small table on the base, which means that they can be set either way up; in a bezel, basket or window setting. This is nice quality material, gold-green saturated colour and pretty clean, with just a few inclusions. I love peridot – it is perhaps the most affordable green stone that remains untreated. It is fairly soft – 6.5-7 on the Mohs scale so you need to take care, as the facet edges can become abraded just from sitting in a bag. Best used in earrings or necklaces/pendants, perhaps, rather than in a ring that is likely to get more wear. Traditionally peridot has been associated with Arizona, US; this material is from China, a fairly new source that supplies beautiful lime-green material.