Confident, sophisticated, expressive, calm…

Tanzanite 3mm rose cut cabochonTanzanite 4mm rose cut cabochonTanzanite 3mm rose cut cabochonTanzanite 3mm rose cut cabochon

Apparently all words associated with the colour blue, and you can add to that ‘rare’ and ‘desirable’, because what we have here is tanzanite; beautiful, serene, periwinkle blue. New in stock I have plenty of 3mm rose cut cabochons, and a certain number of 4mm rose cut cabochons. This material is sublime; eye clean with superb lustre and the faceting is perfect and precise. Hence the not so many of the 4mm. I think that this is bound to go fast, not wanting to sound like a used car salesman, but it’s not so easy to find clean and reasonably priced tanzanite in these cuts. And these are reasonable; the 3mm rose cuts are $5.50 per stone and the 4mm rose cuts $17.50 per stone, all in USD. Tanzanite is from Tanzania, which contributes to a rather fluctuating supply, and is a relative newcomer to the world of cut stones, not being discovered until the 1960s. It is routinely heat-treated, as unless it has undergone some natural heating at its point of origin (which is rather unusual) it is generally a brownish colour in its natural state, and these stones are indeed heated. Shop now, to get your hands on these beautiful, sparkling gemstones.

It’s small…it’s shimmering…it’s….tiny labradorite!!

Labradorite AAA 3mm cabochon roundLabradorite AAA rose cut cabochon 3mm roundLabradorite AAA 3mm rose cut cabochon Labradorite AAA 3mm cabochon :abradorite AAA 4mm rose cut round cabochonLabradorite AAA 4mm rose cut round cabochonLabradorite AAA 4mm cabochon roundLabradorite AAA 4mm cabochon round

Finally for all you who have been waiting, I have fantastic high grade labradorite back in stock in small sizes, both cabochons and rose cuts. I just can’t keep 4mm labradorite in stock; it’s so popular. Even more exciting, now, for the first time ever, I have 3mm labradorite cabochons and rose cuts as well! Both sizes in the same, beautiful high quality Madagascan material; pale and translucent with superb flash. Prices are as follows; the 4mm rose cuts are $1.50 and 4mm cabochons $0.85 per stone, and the 3mm rose cuts are $1.85 and 3mm cabochons $1.25 per stone, all prices in US dollars. I know what you’re thinking; why are the 3mm stones more expensive? It’s the cutting charges – finding cutters willing to cut small stones is becoming hard and the 3mm rose cuts are quite specialised. In terms of colours, I have a range of blues, aquas, greens and golds. It’s fine to state a preference, but the blues normally go fast and when they’re gone they’re gone! Shop now to get top pick of these beautiful stones!

Natural Beauty

Catharina Demos ringsIt’s always great to see what customers make with my stones. Catharina Demos recently sent me some wonderful pictures of her work; I confess I have a real love for textured metal and all of Catharina’s pieces appear to vibrate with life. It’s not surprising, therefore, that she cites as her inspiration the majestic beauty of nature and wild animals and considers them the greatest expression of her art. In her pieces you can see the twisting lines of a vine, the plump outlines of a cactus, the intricate beauty of a spider’s web. A manufacturing goldsmith for over 21 years, Catharina grew up in Namibia, a place where it is possible to pick up semi-precious stones just by walking in the desert. Now she lives and works in Spain, creating each piece individually by hand. On the left are her silver and pearl rings, reminiscent of plant forms; on the right is Catharina Demos ringher silver and apatite ring inspired by water droplets falling on a weathered stone surface. Although Catharina works often with topaz and aquamarine, she knew that as they got smaller they would become very pale so instead chose apatite for its vibrant colour even in small sizes. If you would like to see more of Catharina’s work, you can visit her website, her Etsy shop, or her Facebook page. If you would like to see any of the stones featured in her designs here, you can find the apatite here and the pearls here.

Indigo Iolite

6mm iolite rose cut round cabochon6mm iolite rose cut round cabochon

Also new in stock I have 4mm and 6mm rose cut iolite, at $3.15 and $13 per stone respectively. An interesting stone, with its pleochroic qualities; an indigo blue face-up colour (ideally!), but demonstrating browns, greys and yellows from different angles. In fact I have sometimes had customers contacting me to tell me their iolite is faulty, so clearly grey is it when viewed from the side. No, not faulty, just the nature of this fascinating stone. Legend has it that is was known as the ‘Viking Compass Stone’, and that thin slivers of the stone served as glare reducers and polarising filters that helped Viking marine navigators locate the sun on cloudy days, and therefore locate their own position. It’s a beautiful stone, taking it’s name from ‘ios’, the Greek for ‘violet’. It’s a fairly hard stone, at 7-7.5 on the Mohs scale, and for those who are interested in such things, not treated. It can’t be heat treated as it has a relatively low melting point so would not withstand the kind of heat that, say, sapphire would be subjected to to intensify its colour. This material is slightly included but has a good, saturated indigo colour. Click here to buy!

Let the influx begin…

 8mm GAR rose cut round cabochon5mm garnet rose cut cabochon4mm garnet rose cut cabochon8mm GAR rose round 106mm GAR cabochon6mm garnet cabochon5mm garnet rose cut cabochon4mm garnet rose cut cabochon

I’m currently involved in an enormous re-stock of the shop. Items that have been out of stock for a while are finally coming back in, and everything in huge quantity so it should be, oh, at least another month or two before I run out again! First up; almandine garnet. I’m just changing over all my descriptions in line with the new GIA policy so I will now be referring to it as almandine, not almandite. This is Mozambique garnet, deep red and vibrant. Almandine can be very dark, especially in the larger sizes; in fact it has long been a practice to hollow out cabochons to bring out their intensity of colour. I have 6mm cabochons, and 4mm, 5mm and 8mm rose cuts and even the 8mm has a clear red appearance, not black. The 4mm is at $1.35 per stone and the 5mm is $2.65 per stone. The price of this kind of garnet for larger sizes has sky-rocketed recently so take a deep breath and sit down; the 8mm is $26 per stone. But as you see from the pictures, it is simply beautiful, with none of the rustiness that can mar almandine. A gemstone with an inner fire, its good hardness and toughness makes it a versatile stone that can safely be used in all kinds of jewellery.

Finally Freeforms!

freeform pic 3

‘Finally’, because I’ve had these a long time and it’s taken me forever to get them sorted! Each one individually weighed, measured, photographed, priced and then listed. And I have lots. Choose from Brazilian amethyst, citrine, chrysoprase, labradrorite, rainbow moonstone, pink opal – in a pale or a deeper pink, white moonstone and black spinel. This has become a really popular cut, and the fact that the stones are cut quite shallow means that it’s possible to have a large looking stone for a reasonable price. They look great in necklaces, set in window settings, or they make fantastic statement rings in either a prong or a bezel setting. Because they are random freeforms, it’s not easy to pair them up, but coming soon I have some really beautiful translucent chrysoprase freeform pairs which would make great earrings. I’m currently sold out of turquoise – that sold out as soon as I listed it, but I do have some more on hand which I will be listing as soon as possible. They are also versatile, cut with a table on one side and rose cut on the other, you can set them either way up. Hard to choose a favourite  – I love the pale pink opal, as it is so delicate, like the colour of a French manicure or perhaps more romantically, alabaster. Labradorite is always a favourite and I adore citrine for its bright, sunshine qualities. They are all lovely. Grab them while you can, because these do tend to go quickly. And why not check out my newsletter for an offer that makes them even more irresistible! There’s an offer in the newsletter every month; why not sign up on the ​Joopy Gems homepage to make sure you don’t miss out?