For Easter we are offering a fantastic 20% discount for the next 4 days! Those of you who know us well, know that we don’t do these kind of offers very often, and look, it’s so much better for you than all that chocolate. Although, actually, those eggs in the picture, they are entirely my favourite kind – Cadbury’s mini-eggs, with a hard, sugar shell and a milk chocolate centre. I’m normally a bitter dark chocolate girl, but I can’t resist those mini-eggs! Anyway, I digress! Use code EA1D1 to claim your discount! This offer is valid on all stock items, in our international shop, our US shop and our Etsy shop so why not indulge yourself?!
Out now! Our April 2017 newsletter with news about new stock – labradorite and aquamarine freeforms, plus some amazing concave cuts and lovely new rose cuts pears. Also it’s double points for shopping and introducing a friend via our points scheme – plus your friend will get a 10% discount, so there couldn’t be a better month to spread the love! We’ve got 2 newsletters: the international version and the US version, depending on which shop you use.
This one is all about the cabochons… A whole new lot of small to medium sized pink tourmaline cabochons. Lots of teardrops. Some ovals. Some marquise. Lots of bright, vibrant fuschia, and nice affordable prices for a lovely unique piece that won’t break the bank. Prices start from $37 with these stones which I think lend themselves very well to pendants. Mix them up with unexpected partners for an exciting effect; sunshine yellow citrine, or sharp green peridot. Perhaps even turquoise or rainbow moonstone could be fun. My mother’s engagement ring is a rather unexpected and lively tourmaline and amethyst combo. Or just go clean and lean with some white stones; diamonds if you can run to them; white topaz if not!
One thing that you tend to get with tourmaline – especially cabochons – is inclusions; very characteristic mirror like-inclusions, two-phase inclusions, liquid inclusions and growth tubes to mention just a few. Because of this, the predominent value factor with tourmaline is colour, and inclusions are tolerated to the extent that they don’t interfere with this. Besides, I think that many of the inclusions you see in tourmaline are quite simply beautiful, and rather than detract, add to the character of the stone. Clean gemstones are desirable, I know, but a few inclusions roots a stone to the earth, tells you where it has come from and reminds you of its incredible and unlikely journey to the surface of the earth. To shop the new tourmaline cabochons, click here.
Just the thing to brighten up a winter’s day; a treasure trove of gems. Have a look at my January 2017 newsletter for gem news and a fantastic reader offer. I have an offer every month listed in the newsletter, so why not sign up at joopygems.com to make sure you never miss out?! Or for US customers, you can read the US version here and sign up for it at www.joopygemsusa.com.
Winston Churchill famously said, ‘I cannot pretend to be impartial about the colours. I rejoice with the brilliant ones, and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns.’ An especially difficult colour for us Brits; I grew up in the 1970s and my overriding memories were of the colour brown; brown food, brown walls, brown clothes, brown bedding. Not forgetting, of course, brownouts, and everyone completely browned off. And yet it’s also the colour of, oh, chocolate, and polished wood, and my daughters’ eyes and my favourite kind of dog (a caramel coloured cocker spaniel). And, of course, smoky quartz. There’s something fascinating about this material. Like a pair of beautiful brown eyes, it can be deep and velvety, or flashing with gold lights, or sometimes the colour of an old sepia photograph. Perfect with white metal; I love the combination of silver and dark brown; it’s combusting with elegance. I now have some new lines; in addition to the 4mm and 6mm rose cuts that I have back in stock, I have added 5mm and 8mm rose cuts. I particularly love the 8mm stones, which have such depth of colour with an almost mysterious lustre. And the best part is that it is such excellent value for money! To shop all smoky quartz, click here. Prices start from $1.00 for a 4mm stone.
How exciting is that! It’s been in the pipeline for a while and it’s finally happening! My October 2016 newsletter is out – check it out for more information on the above story and gemstone news! Plus pick up your code for a free ship this month. Click here for the newsletter – or why not sign up at my website to make sure you never miss out again!
I’m really excited about this, mainly because I’ve never stocked it and in fact never see it. This is rose cut green tourmaline and it’s beautiful. Lovely clean material; really almost eye clean and therefore great lustre. The colour is a slightly bluish green but it’s a bit pleochroic, as tourmaline often is. I was just waxing lyrical a couple of days ago about tourmaline and its rainbow range and this is a perfect example. It’s also entirely the sort of thing you should snap up because I don’t think it’s going to hang around and I do think it is going to make for unique pieces. Prices are $3.50 for a 3mm and $8 for a 4mm, which is also fly-off-the-shelf pricing. Really I just want to sit here babbling ‘it’s lovely, it’s lovely’ whilst running it through my fingers. But I will restrain myself….do you get that I like this?! To shop 3mm click here; to shop 4mm click here. To shop all tourmaline cabochons, click here.
It’s a bit of a thin newsletter this month, but there’s a big, fat offer! I’ve got 100 20% discounts to give away! Grab it while you can, because there’s only 100 and the offer will run out either when they have gone, or on 15th August, whichever happens first! Go to www.joopygems.com and use code A1D1 at checkout to claim yours!
Joopy Gems rainbow moonstone 2mm rose cut round, $2.85
Joopy Gems rainbow moonstone 2mm rose cut round, $2.85
Joopy Gems rainbow moonstone 2mm rose cut round, $2.85
Well, it’s a bit of a gamble, this. I’ve had a few requests lately for very tiny stones; 2mm to be precise, for things like baby jewellery and other tiny things. I hummed and haa-ed a bit: will anyone really buy these? – and then I thought, ‘blow it, only one way to find out’. So here we are. I already have 2mm rose cut white diamond in stock, and now I am introducing 2mm rose cut rainbow moonstone. These are really very wee indeed but even so, they have the same beautifully precise cut with the intricate kite-shaped facets. Whew! Plus lovely, clean AAA material with the classic great flash that I always endeavour to deliver. What are you going to do with these? Please buy some and send me pictures!! These are the first of a line of stones in this size, cabochons and rose cuts. I’m going to have amethyst, turquoise, peridot, aquamarine, opal and more!
To shop 2mm rose cut rainbow moonstone, click here. These are $2.85 per stone, and I know what you’re going to say: whew, that’s a bit steep. A great deal of the cost is in the cutting; very small stones are precision work and finding someone who will agree to cut them, and cut them well is no easy matter.
I normally feature someone’s work on these posts, so you can see the stones I’m talking about ‘in action’ as it were. But I couldn’t find anything for these, so…watch this space!
I couldn’t think of a fancier title for another popular stone back in stock; crystal clear brilliant white topaz in a 4mm rose cut round. The GIA says that topaz takes such a high polish it’s slightly slippery to the touch, and you can see that clearly in these stones, hard and bright; an excellent, versatile and economical choice for a white stone. This is a useful size; good for grouping or complementing other stones, or for using on its own. These are beautiful, eye clean and perfectly cut with kite-shaped facets that form a rose on top of the stone. You can find them here, at $1.70 per stone.
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