GEOLOGICAL FRIDAY ON SATURDAYMANY YEARS AGO I used to make UV necklaces for the fluorescent clubbers of London. Now that I'm more "grown up" (note the inverted commas) I'm interesteed in learning "proper" jewellery ~ silversmithing, gemology and jewellelry design. Hence my non-stop barkings on about bling over the last days.
I got Elizabeth Taylor's 2002 book My Love Affair With Jewelry from the library for inpiration. This 50ct sapphire "sautoir" (necklace and pendant), and this serpent watch are the best pieces.Both are by Bulgari ~ of course. All the best pieces in that book are by Bulgari. In fact most of the most striking jewellery I've seen is by Bulgari. Bulgari are very good.
The serpent's mouth opens to reveal the watch face sitting on the golden critter's tongue. Very funky. (Dual purpose pieces are the best, doncha think?)Although much of Ms Taylor's collection is pretty amazing, I was shocked by the amount of 18k gold she wears. Surely a lady of her stature could afford 22?
HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVOURITE MATERIALS:
Abalone ~ from exotic sea snails ...
OPALS
Matrix opal beads ~ these resemble the multicoloured millefiori against black beads I used to fashion out of Fimo for the more discerning nightclubber. 
Opals of course, reveal their "opalescence" under ordinary light. Mine looked interesting by daylight, but lit up like a rainbow of volcanic lava under the blacklights most clubs and bars are fitted with.
SOME STONES do exhibit dramatic colour changes under changing light sources. Most famously ...Alexandrite appears grass green in daylight and raspberry red under incandescent light.
Andalusite has been called "poor man's alexandrite" but actually has the very different property of revealing different colours from different angles of the fasceted gem ~ green from one direction and red from another. I'd particularly like to get hold of one of these.And last but not least...
HERE ARE SOME AMAZING NEW DIAMOND CUTS.
Aren't they funky?
The "startlingly simple" Context cut...
The "revolutionary" Spirit Sun cut...The "whimsical" Lily cut ...
(Context cut left; Spirit Sun cut right; Lilly cut centre)
STOP PRESS: CONTEXT CUT DIAMONDS ~
I got the wrong picture on Saturday. THIS is how they look. An entire natural diamond crystal is cut this simply... only 1 in 100,000 gems found are suitable... The cut is patented and available only through Tiffany... and how amazing does it look!!
BULGARI
("BVLGARI", if you prefer...)
By Deutsche Welle TV in English
Some of the stuff here is pretty amazing:
These 2 are advertisements by Bulgari:
(not in Spanish:)
Hi Gled,
ReplyDeleteA good medium to work with is Precious Metal Clay. You can mould and sculpt it like Fimo and when it's fired (in a kiln or on a gas hob) it brings out the pure silver.
It's something I intend to have a go at this year. Here's a link that will tell you all about it.
http://www.silverclay.co.uk/
24 carat gold is far too soft to wear as jewelry - 18 adds some strength to hold the gems, the shape, and not wear as quickly.
ReplyDeleteNice post, Gleds. I love jewellery, especially earrings. Aren't opals supposed to be unlucky?
ReplyDeleteGenial post and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Thank you seeking your information.
ReplyDeleteLESLEY: I heard about that, my stepmum is into that.
ReplyDeleteJEANNIE: you can get 22k gold at Indian jewllers everywhere and that's not too soft; also there's a gold 990 (out of 1000) ie 99% gold 1% titanium that's said to look like 14k gold ie quite pale, but has a wonderful strength...
WELSHCAKES: I think they're lucky for those not superstitious enough to be put off wearing them! Hopefully the "unlucky" tag is putting the price lower than it would otherwise be ~ haha!
ANONYMOUS: thank you. But who on earth are you..??!?
Oh, I hope opals aren't too unlucky.... the opal is my birthstone! :O)
ReplyDeletelove the context cut diamond!!!!!! soooo pretty
ReplyDeleteLesley: o come on! As I said, the unlucky myth is a boon for the rest of us ~ hopefully it means opals are far cheaper than they otherwise would be ~~~ WAHEY!!
ReplyDeleteSwede: Context Cut diamonds take an entire flawless original diamond crystal ~ only 1 in 100,000 are suitable to do this, and cut that very simple design into them... The cut is ONLY available through Tiffany's at present... but how beautiful..!