Well here goes!
1. Labradorite
This is a stunning gemstone, it was first discovered in 1770 in Labrador in Canada. It's usually a dark grey colour, with flecks of green and black, that show iridescent flashes of blue, blue-green and silver.
I like this gemstone a lot, to me it looks expensive and luxurious. I did buy some coin Labradorite beads and made a pair of earrings and a bracelet out of them.
Labradorite Bracelet
There is a vast selection of Labradorite beads on the JewelleryMaker website http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/search.aspx?parentcategory=gems-and-beads&gemstone=labradorite
2. Rose Quartz
I like pink. Rose Quartz is pale pink in colour and can range from very light to medium pink, in colour. Sometimes they can almost be transparent, but his is very rare. I've made a wire wrap ring with a Rose Quartz bead and brass wire.
Rose Quartz Wire Wrapped Ring
Rose Quartz is considered to be the gemstone of love, so they would be the perfect gemstone to choose, when making something special for a customer, for Valentine's Day. http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/product.aspx?c=pmkz36&d=80cts-pink-quartz-faceted-rounds-approx-6mm
3. Haematite
The word Haematite comes from the Greek word meaning blood. It's colour can range from steel grey to almost black. I like this bead, because it always looks super glossy, sleek and elegant. I think it also looks slightly masculine, so that's why I chose to use Haematite beads to make one of my gent's bracelets.
Haematite Bracelet
You can see here that you can get Haematite beads in other colours and finishes. http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/search.aspx?parentcategory=gems-and-beads&gemstone=haematite
4. Unakite
Before I bought these Unakite beads, I wanted to know where Unakite came from and I found out that it was first discovered in the United States, in the Unakas mountains of North Carolina. It's a form of granite and it comes in various shades of salmon pink and green, all mottled and blending into each other. Unakite is a hard material, so it is resistant to abrasions, so I used some Unakite beads to make another one of my gent's bracelets. I think I like this gemstone because the two colours seem to clash with each other, but side by side, they work so well together.
Unakite Bracelet
5. Rainbow Fluorite
Rainbow Fluorite beads are mostly translucent, with shades of purple, green, yellow and some with a hint of blue. You can even get more than one colour in as single stone, giving a rainbow like effect. I bought these rainbow fluorite chips last year in the hope of making them into a piece of jewellery for the summer, but I never got round to using them. I like the soft transulcent shading, I can imagine making them into a necklace, they would add just a hint of colour, against the skin. You can also get rainbow fluorite beads in other shapes such as tubes, barrels, rounds and cubes. As well as rainbow fluorite, there is also multi-coloured, green, blue, purple and yellow fluorite beads, for a closer look. http://www.jewellerymaker.com/en-gb/search.aspx?parentcategory=gems-and-beads&gemstone=fluorite&page=1
Rainbow Fluorite
That's it for my top five gemstones, let me know what are your favourite gemstones are and what is it about them, that you like when working with them.
If you would like to see more of my handmade jewellery and accessories on my websites, head over to www.michelleshandcraftedjewellery.com
Bye
x
