Turquoise rose cuts

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I like opaque rose cuts very much indeed – the faceting adds interest and liveliness and it’s just a bit unusual. I’ve been meaning to trial turquoise rose cuts for some time; turquoise is so enduringly popular, I always struggle to keep it stock, so I really hope you all like these. I have them in a 2mm, 3mm, 4mm and 5mm rose cut, nice blue material with excellent polish. There’s the odd bit of matrix on the bottom here and there and on some of the larger stones.

Turquoise is one of the world’s most ancient gems, used in Ancient Egypt and 3000 years ago in China. It’s name derived from the French ‘pierre torques’ which means ‘Turkish stone’, and indeed for many years, the most valued turquoise came from the middle east – from Persia, now modern day Iran. Those mines are mined out now, but ‘Persian turquoise’ persists as a trade name to describe a particular strongly blue-hued colour of turquoise, without the veining and matrix that characterises the majority of commercial grade material. I never mind a bit of recessed sandy matrix, if it’s confined to the bottom of the stone; at least I know it’s real!More recently. of course, as most people will know, large deposits in the US were found and it was used as a ceremonial gem and currency by Native Americans. I can’t really do the ‘Southwestern’ style of jewellery, it’s not my thing. I prefer to see reasonably matrix-free material in a sleek, contemporary setting, but that’s just personal preference. Why not have a go and see what you can make with this? I’d love to see what people do with these. To shop turquoise, click here. These stones are stabilised, as is very common with turquoise these days (it makes for a harder and more durable stone with a better polish)

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Rose quartz for a summer of love!

Joopy Gems rose quartz 5mm rose cut cabochon, $2.25
Joopy Gems rose quartz 6mm rose cut cabochon, $3.50
Joopy Gems rose quartz 6mm rose cut cabochon, $3.50

Back in stock I have rose quartz in 5mm and 6mm rose cut rounds. Rose quartz itakes its name from its very delicate colour; I have these in 3mm up to 10mm and the colour range goes from very pale ‘white not quite’ in the 3mm to a warm, soft pink in the 10mm. The 5mm and 6mm material is somewhere in between.

Joopy Gems 10mm rose cut rose quartz cabochon
Joopy Gems 10mm rose cut rose quartz cabochon, $17.50

It owes its glowing translucence to small inclusions that give it its classic cloudy appearance, and indeed, it comes in a variety of qualities from highly included and fractured – which ironically might give a deeper colour due to the more opaque nature of such stones – to almost transparent. Larger stones of good colour can have an almost golden cast in the right light. Now, as you all know, I prefer to stick to nicer quality so these stones are pale pink and range from translucent to nearly transparent. The colour rose quartz was picked by Pantone as one of its colours of the year, and despite their (to my view) slightly twee pairing with the lilac-blue ‘Serenity’, I think it would work beautifully with white stones – white topaz maybe, or rock crystal – grey moostone, or for a more surprising pairing, with a pop of colour for summer, peach moonstone. Said to promote love and healing, clearly, you can’t go wrong! To shop 5mm rose cut rose quartz, click here; for 6mm rose cut click here, or for 10mm rose cut click here. To shop the entire range, click here.

 

Rose quartz looks very different depending on what you set it in; gold brings out its warm tones; silver gives it a cool, elegant bloom. Below and clockwise from left: I love the feminine and delicate beauty of Belinda Saville’s 5mm rose quartz and rose gold ring, contrasting so amazingly with Charlotte Burkhart’s rose quartz and sterling silver ‘Coven Ring’. She has given the silver a gunmetal finish and this lends the 13mm stone a fantastic fierce appearance. Below right, the elegant simplicity of William White’s rose quartz and sterling silver ring. This is a 10mm stone set in satin finished silver, echoing the beautiful haziness in the stone.

Belinda Saville rose quartz and 14k rose gold ring, $120.86
Charlotte Burkhart rose quartz and sterling silver ‘Coven Ring’, $220
William White rose quartz and sterling silver ring, $125

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Dancing, shimmering colour

White opal 6mm rose cut round, $15.45
White opal 6mm rose cut round, $15.45
White opal 4mm rose cut round, $4.55
White opal 4mm rose cut round, $4.55
White opal 5mm rose cut round, $8
White opal 5mm rose cut round, $8
White opal, 3mm rose cut round, $2.35
White opal, 3mm rose cut round, $2.35
White opal 6mm rose cut round, $15.45
White opal 6mm rose cut round, $15.45

I had a sample of rose cut opal in stock recently and it just flew out, in the space of a couple of hours. I don’t think I’ve ever stocked anything that sold out so quickly. So I got more in and once again it is selling phenomenally well. This is Ethiopian opal, which ranges from transparent to almost opaque, with a powerful play-of-colour that appears

Louisa Gallery opal and 14k gold ring
Louisa Gallery opal and 14k gold ring

to hang suspended within the stone. Opal from Ethiopia is a relatively new discovery – the source was only discovered in 1996. I have these in a 3mm, 4mm, 5mm and 6mm rose cut round and I must say, the rose cutting works phenomenally well with this material, highlighting the play-of-colour and making it absolutely pop. This is very eye-catching material, which is going to make stunning jewellery. You can see what I mean right; Louisa Gallery’s opal and 14k gold ring. Stunning, unexpected and rare.

To shop all rose cut opal, click here. Prices start from $2.35 for a 3mm rose cut cabochon.

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Tourmaline cabochons 5mm

Joopy Gems tourmaline 5mm cabochon composite

…..AAAAnnnd finally the last of the tourmaline! 5mm  round cabochons now up for sale, and I’m very excited to announce a price drop from $12.50 USD per cabochon to $10! As I’ve said before, the price of tourmaline finally seems to be stabilising and this is the same or even slightly nicer quality tourmaline as I’ve had before. All colours are back in stock, with as always, more of the pinks and fewer of the greeny-blues. Also, I’ve reduced further the price of less popular colours across all sizes – which are the yellowy-greens and browns. For 5mm, that means that these colours are $8.50 per stone, and you can’t say fairer than that! To browse 5mm tourmaline cabochons, click here

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First of an enormous re-stock…

Joopy Gems 10mm green amethyst rose cut roundJoopy Gems 4mm green amethyst rose cut round8mm green amethyst rose cut round

Here we have the first of a literally huge re-stock – lots of new lines, as well as old favourites back in stock. This is ever-popular green amethyst, finally back up to numbers, in 4mm, 6mm, 8mm and 10mm rose cuts, with the new addition of 5mm. This is lovely material, eye clean and with good saturation for green amethyst, which is a pale stone.  You can shop green amethyst here, prices start from $1.35 for a 4mm rose cut round. Keep your eyes out for a cascade of new additions over the next few days!

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Elemental emerald and sapphire

August is always a good time for re-stocking and general housekeeping and I will be adding significant amounts of new items as well as replenishing old favourites over the next few weeks. To start with, I have some nice sapphire cabochons in 5mm and new emerald 3mm cabs. Sapphire is a nice, open blue and fairly clean with some colour zoning, most likely heated. The emerald is a light blueish- green and included. It is also fracture filled. I also have some truly beautiful tanzanite 3mm cabochons. Pale blue, but beautifully clean. The sapphire cabochons are $29 each; the emerald $6.50 and the tanzanite $5.75 per stone.

Joopy Gems sapphire cab 5mm roundJoopy Gems Emerald cabochon 3mm roundJoopy Gems Tanzanite cabochon 3mm round

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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!