CRYSTALS, GEMS AND JEWELRY

[veronika23]

I know a few of us share a passion for crystals and jewelry as well as makeup so thought I would start a thread on this. Share your stash, finds, whatever!

[Beadshopgirl]

One of my favourite semi-precious stones is chalcedony. I wear this bracelet nearly every day. The braided wire is an ancient technique called Viking Knit. I used 24 gauge sterling silver wire to make it. 

[Tamara76]

What a lovely bracelet!  You never cease to amaze me! @Beadshopgirl 

My mom has recently gotten into jewelry making, but she makes her own glass beads in her kiln (she is super inspired by Murano glass) instead of using gemstones.  I know that a ton of love and lots of work go into this type of a hobby, so I can definitely appreciate your lovely art!  ❤️

[PrettyPaint]

@Beadshopgirl That's beautiful. I'm not familiar with chalcedony, but I love that!

[KatieJiang]

@Beadshopgirl  That is probably the prettiest bracelet I have ever seen in my life!

[Titian06]

@Beadshopgirl - Your bracelet is so pretty!  Silver jewelry and blue gems will get my attention every time!

[veronika23]

Wow! Love the color!  No surprise there though 😄

[k617]

That is some amazing wirework @Beadshopgirl! I'm still getting the hang of wire wrapping, can't do much besides the basics to join beads together. I love weaves and elaborate designs like this!

[veronika23]

@prettyinpa  think you will like this too. I'm sorry I didn't tag you sooner. 😞

[prettyinpa]

@veronika23-  Thanks for the tag, this indeed is my kind of thread!  Will post pics when I'm not on my phone. I got to see a huge part of Liz Taylor's collection in the big show that Van Cleef & Arpel's had a few years ago.  Plus a bunch of their historical stuff.  If anyone is into really old jewelry, there is ancient Egytian and Peruvian jewelry at the Penn Museum in Philly. Plus real mummies if you're into that kind of stuff!

[veronika23]

Cool @prettyinpa 🙂 Looking forward to see your stuff 🙂

[Beadshopgirl]

From Wikipedia:
"Fingal's Cave is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed basalt columns within a Paleocene lava flow, similar in structure to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and those of nearby Ulva.

In all these cases, cooling on the upper and lower surfaces of the solidified lava resulted in contraction and fracturing, starting in a blocky tetragonal pattern and transitioning to a regular hexagonal fracture pattern with fractures perpendicular to the cooling surfaces. As cooling continued these cracks gradually extended toward the centre of the flow, forming the long hexagonal columns we see in the wave-eroded cross-section today. Similar hexagonal fracture patterns are found in desiccation cracks in mud where contraction is due to loss of water instead of cooling."

[darkiceis]

This is so pretty and unreal looking. Let's all go into the cave of wonders and see where it takes us!

[greeneyedgirl107]

@lmi82 Thanks for the site recommendations!  I will look into them when I have spare time!  Have you read "A History of Jewelry?"  I took it out of the library a while back and read the beginning - fascinating stuff!  I wish I had finished it.

[lmi82]

@greeneyedgirl107 You're welcome! I haven't read that book, but it sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out sometime. 🙂

[greeneyedgirl107]

@Beadshopgirl Thanks for posting that amazing pic!  Who knew something like that existed!

[Titian06]

@Beadshopgirl - Wow!  That's gorgeous!

[k617]

amazing! The colours, too...

I've been to Giant's Causeway and was in awe at what nature can accomplish. Will have to add this to my travel list!

[veronika23]

Wow! That's really pretty @Beadshopgirl. Magical!

[Mcakes]

Oh you know, just a stunning pair of fancy cut diamond earrings that sold for $57,425,478. No big deal 😛 

Idk if anyone else gets geeky like me but the auction results section of the Sotheby's site is amazing to look at 😄 

[k617]

Sotheby's auctions have the most amazing stuff!! @Mcakes

Check out this amazing nearly 60-carat diamond called the Pink Star...there was a video on one site showing how light is reflected off this diamond and I watched it so, so many times. 😄

(Can we also just talk about how this model's gel nails seem to be lifting/cracking?! If I were to hold an $80 million diamond and be photographed, I'd ensure my nails were FLAWLESS!)

Pink Star Diamond

[veronika23]

@Beadshopgirl  I think you'll need to share some of your creations here 😉