Rutilated Quartz

I've made a couple of new pairs of earrings that are variations on a theme.  I tend to do this variation thing a lot.  I listed two of the pairs yesterday in my etsy shop.

Rutilated Quartz with Garnets:

Rutilated Quartz with Peridot:

I'm sure I will find more rutilated quartz pairs to continue this theme.  Some of the little beads I plan to add are aqua blue cz, citrine, black spinel, crystal quartz, carnelian.  They probably won't all end up in my etsy shop, but will instead be consigned or sold wholesale.  Later in the year, I will make more that will be part of my show inventory.

Rutilated Quartz ... to die for

The strand of briolettes that these 2 came from was amazing ... and these are the only 2 that made a pair.  I find that incredibly frustrating.  I guess many necklaces will follow.

These brios are quite large and I didn't want to cover much of their beauty, so I used the "large-hole-silver-bead" method of finishing them for earrings.  This method secures the bead and hides the wire wrapping above the bead without obscuring any of its beauty.  Plus it makes a nice little nest for the pearl to rest in.

These earrings are for sale in my etsy shop.  Click on the photo to go directly to the listing.

Arrowheads?

When I first spotted these rutilated quartz briolettes in Tucson, I was puzzled.  They were most definitely in the shape of arrowheads!  I had never seen any beads like this before. Plus, the copper colored rutiles were abundant inside the beads, giving them a very complex look.

It's kind of hard to see in the photo, but the top part is "cut out", resembling the top of an arrowhead.

Of course, between the rutile pattern and the irregular shape of these beads, finding 2 to make a pair was tricky indeed!

These earrings are for sale in my etsy shop.

Rutilated Quartz . Mixed Gemstones . Necklace

I listed a brand new and quite delicious necklace in my etsy shop recently. I'd like to share it with you here. You've seen the gorgeous rutilated quartz briolettes featured in these earrings and in this necklace. I do believe I have made all of the "pairs" I'm going to get from this particular strand of briolettes, so the remainder will become necklaces -- no more earrings. This makes me a little sad.

Sad, that is, until, I created this necklace. I topped the briolette with a collection of rondelles in a rainbow of colors. I gathered some citrine, pink tourmaline, aqua blue apatite, amethyst and bright green chrysoprase.

Now I'm happy.

This necklace is for sale in my etsy shop. Click on the photo to go directly to the listing.

Rutilated Quartz . with Sapphires . Necklace

Remember this post? Well, here's a variation of the necklaces featured there. Once again, I started with a long briolette of rutilated quartz. It is joined by two small briolettes of watermelon colored sapphires. Just like the other necklaces, I oxidized all of the sterling silver and selectively hand sanded it to reveal just a bit of the shiny. This is a look I really like for its understated elegance.



This necklace is for sale in my etsy shop. You can click on the photo to go directly to the listing.

More Rutilated Quartz ...

... this time with a deliciously smooth Ruby briolette! Black and red is a classic color combination. This necklace captures that, but adds a modern flair.

I found it very difficult to get a good photo of these stones, so I'll share two photos with you here. The photo on the right shows the beauty of the rutilated quartz. It's full of needle like inclusions of black tourmaline.


This second photo better highlights the depth of color found in the ruby. It's the nicest quality ruby I've ever seen in bead form. It was a real splurge for me to purchase that strand of rubies while in Tucson, so I'm using them very judiciously. Click on either of the photos to go directly to the listing for this necklace in my etsy shop.


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Rutilated Quartz . with Sapphires

Several weeks ago, I added a beautiful necklace to my etsy shop that featured a long briolette of rutilated quartz flanked by 2 colorless sapphires. It didn't last long. When I started to make another one, I discovered that none of my remaining colorless sapphires would fit on 26 ga wire. I don't stock 28 ga wire -- but that's a topic for another day.

What to do, what to do. Turning back to the sapphires, I spotted these raspberry colored beauties. Then I saw some peach, some watermelon and lemony sapphires. Problem solved! They all looked great with the crystal clear and black rutilated quartz. This raspberry adorned one is in my etsy shop.

Black and White . Earrings

One of my new purchases from Tucson was a strand of rutilated quartz briolettes. Searching the strand for perfect pairs with which to make earrings is both fun and frustrating. The two brios that went into creating these earrings are perfectly matched (yay!).

I've topped them with tiny beads of black spinel and slightly larger beads of quartz crystal. The black and clear (and white?) color combination is stark and striking.

They hang from sterling silver leverback earwires.