artisan – Joopy Gems

Finally I am re-stocking tourmaline! I’ve been low on all sizes for a really long time, and that has reflected the way in which tourmaline has skyrocketed in price over the past few years. It went from affordable to eye-watering in what felt like the twinkle of an eye as the markets went crazy for its astonishing colour range and vibrant tones. In particular the Chinese market went mad for the deep pinks and reds and this drove prices up sharply and fast. Now it finally seems to be slowing and my long hunt for nice, reasonably priced material is temporarily over! I have just restocked 6mm in all colours, and will be following up with 3mm and 4mm over the next few weeks. This is nice quality material, with a few inclusions, but full of lustre and shine. As always, I have relatively few of the blues, blue-greens and chrome greens, so if you are after these, you might want to get in early! Plenty of pinks and grass greens. Price per cabochon has held at $18 per stone, and you can browse the selection here.

www.joopygems.com

What’s the collective noun for beads? A bundle? A clutch? Or…maybe something a little more esoteric? A sweetshop? Well, whatever it is, I am listing it. So many different ones to choose from, many of them in that fantastic and unusual silky matt finish. First up is all things greeny-blue. My personal favourites are these fantastic rough chrysoprase rondelles (right). And I mean rough; with bits of matrix, crevasses and druzy-filled gaps. They really are fantastic. With a matt finish that accentuates the patterning on the stone, I can see these looking great with some hammered silver spacers, so unusual and distinc Joopy Gems Chrysoprase rondelle 7-8mm matt finish tive. These are quite large, around 12-17mm and the strings are vaguely graduated so that they are smaller at the ends and larger in the middle. Also in chrysoprase I have some smaller, slightly more regular rondelles, 7-8mm in both matt and gloss finish. These are $45 for the matt option and $30 for the gloss.

Moving into a sl Joopy Gems Amazonite beads 13-14mm round ightly more aqua colour scheme I have amazonite round beads, again with a lovely silky matt finish. I can’t resist the sea-green shade of this stone, similar to turquoise, but with distinctive white markings. These are the most beautiful soft colour, highlighted by the matt finish, and I have them in a 7-8mm and a 13-14mm (pictured right), the smaller ones $25 per strand and the larger ones $45.

Turquoise is always very popular and this is African material, speckled with dark matrix, again in the matt finish that highlights the patterns on the stone and gives a fantastic organic look and feel. I have these in a 7-8mm at $25 and a 9-10mm round at $30.

Finally I have some chrysocolla rondelles. Chrysocolla-in-chalcedony, to give it its full name takes its name from the mineral chrysocolla, and it is that that gives it its blue colour. The material I have is opaque and looks as though it is mixed with other minerals. I have an AB grade at $37 per strand, which is broadly bluish-green and a B grade (pictured right) at $20 per strand, which, in my opinion is more beautiful still, with an array of different colours mottling the beads. I have both of these in a matt 7-8mm rondelle.

Look out for more beads over the next few days!

Joopy Gems | The Blog

Dream. Create. Inspire.

Category: artisan

Tourmaline is back!

All things greeny-blue