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?

4mm rose cut cushion cabochons

4mm AMETH cushion 64mm WT rose cut cushion94mm AMETH cushion 44mm WT rose cut cushion10

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.

New Peridot

5x7mm PER rose pear105x7mm PER rose oval 75mm PER cab rose cut round 75mm PER cab rose cut round 4

 

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.

Small but perfectly formed.

 

3mm BRAMETH rose round13mm CIT rose cut round 43mm blue sapphire rose cut 73mm GARR rose round53mm DIABLK rose cut round 13mm cab LBT round23mm PER rose cut round 13mm pink sapphire rose cut 13mm rose cut RMS round 2

I promised some time ago that I was going to increase my stock of 3mm rose cuts. It’s not easy to get these little chaps cut, as cutting prices everywhere are soaring (due to a shortage of skilled cutters and the increase of labour costs in countries like India and China – but that’s another story for another day…). However, I am now pleased to present citrine, rhodolite garnet, almandite garnet, Brazilian amethyst and peridot to my collection, all at $1.60 per stone. Very pretty, with the nice kite-shaped faceting characteristic of my stones.These are in addition to my existing stock of 3mm rose cuts – black diamond, blue and pink sapphire, ruby and London Blue Topaz. Coming soon I have new stocks of the AAA grade rainbow moonstone which proved so popular as well as white topaz in this size and cut.

Joopy Gems Newsletter April 2013

For any of you who don’t get my newsletter and are interested, here it is, for a round-up of new stock and a reminder about my Spring 15% discount offer.

http://www.icontact-archive.com/a-XpjZK-1tEA6Qaq8AYlpreQDHS_g1Co

  

 

April 2013

 

15% Spring Discount

This April and May at Joopy Gems, I am offering a sparkling 15% discount on all products, until the end of May. A fantastic opportunity to stock up for your upcoming collections! Discount code SPRING15 to enter at checkout. Redeem and claim by 31st May, one discount per customer.
 

 

3mm Rose Cut Cabochons

I promised you more of these and here they are: 3mm rosecuts in almandite garnet, amethyst, rhodolite garnet, peridot, citrine, all at $1.60 per stone, and black diamond at $14 per stone. Great for all of you working with small sizes. These are the same great cut as my other rose-cuts with the ‘flower’ (kite-shaped) faceting rather than the triangular which so many of you seem to prefer. Coming soon are white topaz in this size.

Rainbow Moonstone AAA grade

I’m really pleased to be offering some spectacularly beautiful rainbow moonstone 4mm rose cuts. This is AAA grade; fantastic clarity with superb multi-coloured flash, priced at $4 per stone. As it becomes harder to get hold of good quality standard grade material, I am gradually replacing smaller sizes with this high grade material.

Labradorite 4mm Rose Cut Round

This is always such a popular size and cut; I can never seem to keep enough of it in stock! I have here beautiful quality high grade labradorite in a choice of either blue/aqua flash or green/gold flash. The labradorescence is really superb on these stones and the background material pale and translucent. $1.70 per stone.

Last but not least…!

Also new in stock I have white moonstone 6mm and 8mm cabochons, 10mm rose cut AAA grade rose quartz, and 6mm Brazilian amethyst cabochons. Back in stock I have prehnite 8mm rose cuts and milky aquamarine 6mm rose cuts. To be listed in the next few days, I have peach moonstone 4mm rose cuts and white topaz honeycomb faceted ovals 15x10mm and teardrops 10x8mm.

Julia Aufenast

Joopy Gems

http://www.joopygems.com

julia@joopygems.com

 

15% Spring Discount!

 

ImageI’m offering a fabulous 15% Spring discount across all products in my store this Spring! A great opportunity to stock up on some sparklers for the summer, or even for your Autumn/Winter collections. All you need to do to claim your discount is to use the following code as you go through checkout: SPRING15. Offer runs until 31st May 2013 and is limited to one use per customer.

Nordstrom-Etsy link-up

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!

Rhodolite garnet cabochon 6mm roundIolite cabochon 4mm round

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

4mm LAB blue cab round16mm LAB green cab round512mm LAB green cab round112mm LAB blue cab round6

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.