Semi
Precious Stones
Semi Precious Stones:
Why We Love Them
Above - Fire Agate, Coral, Freshwater Pearls and Sterling
Silver
Semi precious stones - hundreds, perhaps
thousands of different varieties, of which we have a few on the following
pages. As well as being tied in with birthdays (birth-stones) and wedding
anniversaries, semi precious stones bring a financial value to your work that
your customer will appreciate. Every stone has a story and many people believe
these stones bring benefits to the wearer - for instance, rose quartz is said
to be the stone of love.
Often people have a bond with a particular
stone - my Mum is crazy about Tigers Eye, not because it is her birthstone
but because it reminds her of when we were young and living in South Africa,
where the stone was abundant - it reminds her of our travels, sunshine, the
kids growing up and being younger and its a stone which always makes her smile.
. 
Above - Tigers Eye, Vermeil and Gold Filled Wire
I have enjoyed learning about these stones a result of
using them - there are many books available on the subject, or just a trawl
round the internet should begin a store of knowledge, and the more you know
about what you are handling when selling jewellery, the better.
My own favourite is aquamarine, my birthstone - said to
be the stone of safe travel, this stone is the blue variety of the stone Beryl
which occurs in many other colours but only the blue/green variety are aquamarine.
Some semi-precious stones are termed 'natural' where they have more or less
been mined, shaped and offered for sale, but there are many 'treatments' on
the market which may result in a stone changing colour, clarity or stability;
these treatments are not necessarily a bad thing but they certainly are worth
knowing about if you are selling your creations - for instance, green amethyst
is heat-treated purple amethyst - there is nothing wrong with heat-treating
something, but it is worth knowing how that stone came to look like it did
before your customer asks.
Another one is Turquoise which is often a soft, chalk like substance when
it comes out of the ground - this usually has to be stabilised before it would
ever resemble something that you could make into jewellery. Oher stones are
dyed to enhance colours - rose quartz is often a candidate for this - this
is not wrong or bad, its an industry practice that is completely normal and
it is what gives your stone a uniform colour. We try very hard to make sure
our customers know what a stone is so they can pass that information on to
their customers - we can only trade on our own knowledge and that which is
provided to us by our vendors - we do our very best to to trade honesty and
if something is unclear, please do not hesitate to contact us - we will do
what we can to find an answer.
Above: Multi-Coloured Tourmaline - all the same stone in
various colours!
Above: Green Amethyst
Often a leaning towards a particular gemstone will filter across to a consistent
choice of clothing or home decor and I enjoy looking at people and putting
them in a 'colour category' try this and see how many times you are right
- the more you hit the spot, the better you get at matching a customer with
jewellery.
A person may tend towards perhaps wearing purple or green or blue, or whatever.
Imagine a person in a range of colours - eventually that person fits perfectly
with a particular colour - this is particularly appreciated when you give
someone jewellery made especially for them.
Semi-precious stones range in costs and
values wildly dependent on rarity, colour, cut and many variables - there
is ALWAYS something in a semi - precious stone range that you can work with
whatever the budget, but the heart of any hand-made jewellery is that you
put something yourself into each piece.
Above: Hoop Earrings made with Multi-Coloured Tourmaline
and Gold-Filled Wire and Fittings
Perhaps your semi precious stone jewellery
will be around in hundreds of years, and there is something special both for
yourself and your customer in knowing these stones are 'real'!
Above: Coral Earrings with Swarovski Crystal, Freshwater
Pearls and Sterling Silver
Not sure where to start? - Take a look at our semi-precious
colour guide in the Hints & Tips section.
Stephanie
(©) BeadAddict, SLCDesigns 1999- Present; Jewellery made by
Stephanie @ www.slcdesigns.co.uk
Basket & 
