This is really interesting; a collaboration between Etsy Wholesale and Nordstrom, offering Etsy sellers the opportunity to place their goods into Nordstrom stores. I’ve long thought that Etsy offers a fantastic deal on jewellery, bringing original, one-off designs made from precious metals and proper gemstones into reach for the average person who wants quality but can’t consider spending thousands of dollars. I’ve blogged before about big-brand costume jewellery and how much you don’t get for your money and to me, Etsy is the antidote to that. So it’s great to see that big stores are now recognising the prodigious amount of talent collected there, and giving it a wider audience and the kind of helpful credibility that having your products in a large store can confer. Now, I’ve no idea what kinds of products Nordstrom are looking for, or the scope and reach of the programme – it seems that you have to sign up for Etsy’s wholesale programme and then the selection of products is done as a collaboration between Etsy and Nordstrom – but I hope they do recognise some of the unique jewellery design, and I’d love to hear from anyone who benefits from this programme. For the article in JCK News click here, for the Etsy blog post describing the programme (as well as other retailers Etsy has linked up with) click here, to sign up for Etsy’s wholesale programme, click here.
Refer a friend and claim 15% off at Joopy Gems!
I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and have only just worked out how! The idea is that every time you successfully refer a friend to my shop, Joopy Gems, you both get a 15% discount. Your friend will be sent a 15% coupon valid on their first order once you refer them. You will receive your coupon once they have actually placed an order. You can refer as many friends as you like, share the coupon on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and you will get a discount for each successful referral. I’ve sent out some emails to invite existing customers who I think will be interested, so if you haven’t got one, or if you are not an existing customer but still want to join the scheme, here’s how you do it:
1. Click this link to access the referral sign-up page: http://joopygems.referralcorner.com
2. Enter your email address to set up your personal referral corner
That’s it! You will have options to share via email, Facebook and Twitter and the system will automatically work out if and when your friends shop and send you a coupon each time someone places their first order!
Labradorite and the pot of gold
I’ve had such a headache with labradorite over the past year or so. Trying to find nice quality material, with good labradorescence, I’ve seen an awful lot of murky coloured material with little or no colour play, and I’ve sent back lots of the stuff as being no good. After all, labradorite without its famed stunning optical effects is just a dull grey stone. Now, it’s not that difficult to find beautiful individual examples of it, but sourcing a reliable supply that can produce calibrated cabochons in quantity is a different matter. Now I can say, I think I’ve found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; beautiful translucent material with superb flash. This really is stunning material, with minimal cracks.
I always get the same message from customers when they buy labradorite; good flash and no cracks, please. This is quite hard, because it is the layered nature of labradorite, leading to the interference of light at its internal structures, that produces its famous schiller, and quite often these cracks and fractures break through to the polished surface of the stone. So, whilst I will say that this is amongst the cleanest material I have seen, it is not completely free from cracks. But you can see for yourself; it is very beautiful, and when I opened my first packet of samples, I breathed a sigh of pure bliss!!
Currently I have 4mm, 6mm and 12mm cabochons priced at $0.95, $2.25 and $18 per stone, and you can find them here. There is a choice of colours; you can opt for blue/aqua flash or green/gold flash. In time I will be replacing all of my labradorite stock with this wonderful material; look out in the next few weeks for 4mm and 6mm rose cuts.
Spring Colours: Emerald
This is Pantone’s colour of 2013; a pleasing shade of blue-green, soft but with enough vibrancy to pack a punch. I remember when green was considered an awkward colour, difficult to wear. Times have changed and even if green still makes you nervous, jewellery is a good way of adding an accent of colour; dipping your toes in without getting completely soaked! The colour has also seen a rise in popularity in jewellery in recent years with the growing awareness of stones like chrysophase, which can make an excellent opaque emerald substitute. Emerald itself can be difficult; whilst it is indisputably beautiful, it’s expensive and I’ve seen the price of even lower grade opaque material soar over the past few years. Cheaper transparent material may be brittle and included, and rather lacking in lustre and so a more cost effective option might be the green and green-blue tourmalines. For vibrant green, chrome diopside is a good option.
In this colour range I have a selection of emerald cabochons, tourmaline and chrome diopside, plus a number of watermelon tourmaline slices in hard-to-find shades of blues and greens, available at www.joopygems.com Whilst emerald is often paired with diamond, greens also partner well with warm golds such as citrine and purples; all shades of amethyst from pale lavender to deep grape.
I’ve got a Pinterest board with a huge selection of jewellery in this colour range. To pick out just a few (which is hard!), to the right is a ring from Wexford Jewelers; the Emerald and Diamond Wedding set, in 14k yellow gold.
To the left and below is the ‘Skyscraper IV, Destroyed. A tourmaline rough ring’. This is a fantastic natural bi-colour tourmaline crystal set in silver and 14k gold with diamond accents. I love this; you can see the natural crystal formation on this along with the growth marks. Wexford Jewelers are based in Michigan in
the USA; a team of three sisters who, in their own words, ‘create a bouquet of exquisite pieces using recycled silver & gold, exquisite rough and polished gemstones, re-purposed diamonds, and rare minerals’. Unlike most other small-scale jewellers, they use the method of lost wax casting extensively in their work, carving their designs from wax first before having them cast in metal, lending a fluid and dynamic quality to their work. You can visit their shop here.
Charmian Harris is a British based designer, who cites early Greek and Roman jewellery as well as Egyptian jewellery as among her influences. She cuts and shapes her own stones and handpicks each one from collectors, dealers and sometimes 
direct from mine owners. I would imagine that this is extremely liberating for a designer, not to be bound by existing shapes and cuts. Certainly, Charmian’s work displays a striking fluidity and individuality; solid rock appears to flow in fantastically imagined
forms. To the right is her Sea Creature pendant made of 18 carat gold, chrysophase, white sapphire and diamond. I love the shape and the sinuous lines of this piece; wonderfully tactile. To the right is her 18 carat gold ring with chrysophase; a form that appears organic and living with its curving lines and textured metal. You can find Charmian’s website and shop here.
Here’s something a little bit different: to the left is Adzia’s Fingerprint Wedding band. A unisex band 
with a fingerprint and a gemstone, Chicago-based Adzia makes these to order, so that you can wear your beloved’s fingerprint wherever you go! To the left is an example in 14 carat white gold set with a natural emerald, but you can choose your metal, your gemstone and your finish. A very unique way of sealing your relationship, and not only do I like the idea, I also love the look of this – I adore textured metal! Adzia has a whole range of fingerprint rings, with and without gemstones; prints on the inside, prints on the outside, you name it! You can find this ring, and more examples of Adzia’s work here
For a spot of sheer glamour, why not have a look at Hong Kong based designer-maker Steve 
Cheen’s work? Steve’s work is complex and highly detailed, despite handmaking each piece. To the right is his Jaguar Engagement Ring, made from 14K white gold with emeralds and diamonds. To me this is reminiscent of the 1930s with its curving lines, pave setting and intricately imagined jaguar head, the kind of elegant piece that might
have adorned the finger of Wallis Simpson. To the left is his 3.2 carat green tourmaline ring set in 14 carat gold with diamonds. Again, the channel set diamonds lend traditional glamour, and the green tourmaline is spectacular. Steve will design to your specifications, and treats each piece as an individual artwork. For other examples of his work, you can find his shop here.
You can find more examples on my Pinterest board , below a selection, from left to right: necklace made of paper discs from German-based Dorisse at Paper Statement, Dior Fine Jewellery’s fantastical le Bal des Roses bal d’autrefois ring in white gold with diamonds, emeralds, chrysoprase, green tourmalines, tsavorite garnets and paraiba tourmalines, British based Louise O’Neill’s 18 carat gold necklace with green and pink tourmalines, and Jewelry by Johan’s Meteorite ring inlaid with platinum and set with a trillion cut emerald.
Spring Colours: Nectarine
Spring seems fa
r away but this year has gone so fast I’m shocked. Over here in Hong Kong, Autumn weather can feel very much like Spring weather (warm, sunny, not too hot), a relief after the sweltering summer month. So it doesn’t feel too strange to be thinking about spring colours. I normally have a look at the Pantone colour report for each season, just to make sure that I’ve got a good selection around the projected colour trends, and it’s nice to have look to see what’s out there. I’m starting with Nectarine; a soft, warm orange, great for providing a bit of a lift in these troubled times. From a pale coral to a deep, muted tangerine, this is a colour that adds warmth to the complexion and cheers the spirits.
In this colour range I’ve got pink freshwater pearls at the softer, more muted end of the spectrum; full strings, half drilled and button pearls, find them here, and peach moonstone at the deeper, more saturated end, find it here. For a paler take on it, morganite has a wonderful translucency. This is a colour that responds equally well to the warmth of gold and the cool brilliance of silver, and would combine well with neutrals such as ivory pearls and white moonstone as well as forming interesting partnerships with brighter colours like emerald, turquoise, peridot. In its paler tones, such as morganite, I can see it working well with amethyst and a strong blue; sapphire or kyanite.
I’ve been collecting ima
ges of jewellery, which you can view on my Pinterest and here are a few of them. On the left is an amazing Adria Alic ring from her ‘Flower’ collection, fashioned from silver and plastic. If you’ve never come across her work, you must have a look; she creates the most fantastical, dreamlike flights of fancy. Aiming to transcend ‘…the boundaries between jewellery, sculpture and visual arts’, she works with themes of illusion and lack of function to awaken people’s curiosity and challenge traditional notions of value in jewellery. Her work is mind-boggling, astonishing and you can find it here
On the right is 
a ring from the LA designer nodeform. Created by an architect turned jewellery designer, Konstanze design philosophy is for simple, sculptural forms with an architectural look. His work is clean and crisp, allowing the reflective qualities of the metal to enhance the flowing lines and overall harmony of the piece and endeavours to use reclaimed metal and ethically sourced gemstones in his pieces. Pictured is his Peach Moonstone Luna Ring, sterling silver with a bullet shape 11mm peach moonstone cabochon. You can see this and other examples of his work here
If you visit Ivona Posavi Pšak’s shop, IMNIUM, you will see that she claims to be ‘good at making jewellery, bad at writing about myself’. Whether she is right about the latter, I can’t really comment, but as to the former, I have to agree! Her pieces are organic, detailed and extraordinary. To the left is her Modern Organic Morganite Ring, made from hand-made oxidised silver beads and featuring a faceted 4.5mm morganite. You can find her work here, and be sure to check out her wire-wrapped work, which provide some of the most visually stunning examples of this technique I have seen, wonderful writhing coils provide depth and movement.
To check out what else I’ve found, you can find more on my Pinterest boards. I’ll be adding boards for each of the Pantone spring 2013 colours and am on the look-out for the weird, wonderful, beautiful and esoteric; drop me a line if you have something you think is suitable!
3mm Rose Cuts
I’ve been asked for these often and so I’m really pleased to be able to finally offer them; 3mm rose cuts, beautiful glittering little stones. At the moment I have Rainbow Moonstone ($2.75) and London Blue Topaz ($4) but I am planning to offer them in a wider range of stones. The rainbow moonstone is high grade material, beautifully clean with a wonderful bright adularescence and the London Blue Topaz is vibrant even in this tiny size. Both very sparkly, both available at www.joopygems.com
Juicy Watermelon Tourmaline
I’ve listed an awful lot of freeforms lately; opaque ruby, sapphire and labradorite. Coming soon I also have opaque emerald as well, and just in the last week, I have listed many, many watermelon tourmaline slices. Tourmaline is always popular, with its huge variety of colours, and this has been reflected in the price over the past few years, which has gone steadily up and up. I can’t do much about the price, but I do try to keep quality nice and high, and these slices are pretty clean for watermelon tourmaline, which is often highly included. They are absolutely gorgeous, in juicy, saturated colours, and I’ve got a huge variety in terms of shape, size, colours and price, including some rather rare and hard to source blue ones (several of these have already gone!). I also have a couple of pairs, which are fabulous for earrings. If you want to browse the collection, the relevant page on my website is here: http://www.joopygems.com/tourmaline-watermelon-slices/ . The last time I had these, they went pretty fast, and then I had no end of difficulty finding them again, so if you like them, grab them whilst they’re here!
page on
August birthstone
Peridot has long been associated with light and sun, and in fact the Egyptians called it the ‘gem of the sun’. Very apt indeed, (if you live in the northern hemisphere!) considering that it is the birthstone for August. There is something very sunshine-y bright about the peridot I’ve just listed, with its vibrant golden-green gleam. Apparently it is also thought to banish night terrors, especially if set in gold. Well, peridot does look exceptionally beautiful in gold, but for those of us that can’t run to that, silver offers a coolly lovely foil to its warmth. Just listed I have peridot in a 4mm and a 6mm rose cut cushion cabochon, available here: 4mm and 6mm
Welcoming back ‘old friends’
Finally back in stock I have some labradorite in sizes and cuts that customers have been clamouring for. These are labradorite 5mm round cabochons at $1.75 per stone, 5mm honeycomb faceted cabochons at $2 per stone and 6mm honeycomb faceted cabochons at $3.50 per stone. I am not quite sure what the problem has been with re-stocking these; I think it is just quite hard for my suppliers to get hold of nice quality rough. Such a lot of labradorite on the market is not nice; full of cracks with almost none of the highly desirable labradorescence. Since it is my opinion that a labradorite without good flash is like a blunt pencil (pointless) I’ve waited it out until now and finally I have some nice quality stones in large quantities, so I shouldn’t run out for a while! Feel free to buy like crazy!
Design and Integrity
I was just reading through The Guild of Jewellery Designers jewellery trends report for Spring/Summer 2012 – here if you’d like to read it for yourself, and was really interested because it echoed something that has been on my mind for a while. The author (Jayne Coulson) describes a move away from the big, bold excesses of the past couple of seasons towards a more crafted, considered and creative approach. The word she uses is ‘integrity’. I’ve
been thinking about that as I’ve found myself looking much more carefully at costume jewellery over the past couple of years, as my own business has grown. I’ve always been surprised at, well, what you don’t get for your money. It’s quite common to find base metals and low-grade stones for high prices, even for the more exclusive brands. Now, I don’t know the production costs attached to large-scale manufacture, which must be quite high, but I have this idea that anything over around $150 ought to be made of solid silver, with proper, good quality stones. And this seems to me to be the strength of the smaller, artisan jeweller, who can control this much better, select their materials and work to a smaller scale. The consumer therefore gets that much more for their 
money. More creativity, more quality, more value.
In her article, Jayne Coulson describes a return to line and form, as designs echo the asymetric lines and curves of tailored clothing, a trend for ocean-inspired organic pieces and a return to lady-like dressing (I have a fab line in pearls in my shop!!). Also, there is a renewal of interest in handmade finishes; hammered, engraved, brushed and granulated. Above left is Marsha Drew’s Riptide bracelet, made from fold-formed sterling silver (part of a larger collection), and right are a pair of embossed sterling silver earrings made by Petaluna. I adore both of these pieces; the spareness of the design and the creativity where fascinating and complex forms have been wrought from a simple piece of sheet silver. In these straightened and uncertain times, there seems to be a move towards integrity of build and design; pieces driven by a thoughtful design process, made from materials that are worth something and will stand the test of time. Anyway, what do you think?
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