Glory of the Sea - Amazing Aquamarines

"Fascinatingly beautiful!"  "Loved by women the world over"  ".... shine over a beautiful range of mainly light blue colors."  All this and more is how Aquamarines are described at International Colored Gemstone Association and I agree with every single word.

Image from Mtn Mines

Image from Bangkok Gem Mart

 Aquamarine, the name derived from Latin 'aqua' for water and 'mare' for sea, means the stone of the sea.  Trust me when I tell you they live up to their name.  The amazing set of colors that aquas come in can range from the green toned blue of a tropical shallow, through the delightful water blue that is nearly white, to the outstandingly rich tones of the Santa Maria, is a prime example of how mother nature just loves to play with the subtleties of color.

Image from Valuable Stones

So what makes them... well, them.

Aquamarines are a form of Beryl.  All Beryls start out as a silicate mineral with the chemical formula of Be₃Al₂(SiO₃)6.   They all form prismatic or tabular crystals of columnar, radial or granular nature.  They form mainly in granitic pegmatites. They all have a wonderful hardness, in the 7.5 to 8 range, but they are not all that tough.  Hit one wrong and it can fracture or splinter.  (information paraphrased from both 
Wikipedia and Mindat)

Beryls:  Morganite, Aquamarine, and Heliodor. (from Wikipedia) 

  

Aquamarine from Shigar Skardu, Pakistan (Wikipedia)

So what does all that rather unreadable information mean?

Okay... It means that beryls are made from the kind of stuff that our earth is made of, silicon.  It means they also contain aluminum and beryllium, both heavy metals that are common in the earths crust.  They form what look like long, six sided needles, pencils and columns in the places where they grow and those places are normally in rocks that have cracked under pressure of hot lava that has not actually broken the surface, in magma that cools very slowly forming just tons of crystals.

Aquamarine from Quy Chau District (Image Marin Mineral)

Aquas are hard, which makes them perfect candidates for faceting, since they will not wear down the sharp, clean edges and points that form when they are cut.  They are brittle though, so you do need to be careful not to hit one too hard, though the clearer your stone, the harder it is to fracture.  As you can see in the image, aquas form with inclusions and cracks in the crystals.  You can also see that not all aquas are clear.  The opaque form is often referred to as silky because of the nature of the crystals that form a sort of directional sheen, similar to silk.  The deep blue is found in Vietnam and is simply amazing! 

So what does all of this have to do with me?... with EyeCandy Chainmaille?  Well, I use stones in my work.  I use both faceted gems and beads, and indeed some of those stones are Aquamarines.

Aquamarine Classic Elegance

This is my Classic Elegance Bracelet.  The Aquas in this one were cut my D Elizabeth Dewolfe of Prescott Arizona.  They were actually found in Wyoming.  Yes, Wyoming USA.  The stones can be mined there in Johnson.  There are other places in the US that aquamarine is mined as well, such as the Sawatch Range in Colorado and in Franklin County, North Carolina.  I think you can see that in the hands of a Master Cutter, the stones are nothing less than amazing!

Kiya Earrings

	Here you can see some beads.  These are silky style stones, with the opacity that silkies are known for.  The are pretty and at various times, the stones do really show the blue tones Aquas are known for.

I hope this will help you to understand just a tiny bit more about these fabulous gemstones.  They are stunning, whether they are the water clear faceted stones or the silky cabochons and beads.  You will find both in my work as well as many other fabulous gemstones.  Stop By and have a look at all the fabulous pieces of jewelry we have to offer.  Who knows!  You may find something you simply can not live without!

All Blessings!

I'm Back......

To blog or not to blog, that is the question!  Yes, I ripped that off Shakespeare... sorry, Will.

Okay, so as some of you may know, and will see if you look back, I have not done this in a long time.  More than a year, actually.

 "Why," you may ask, "do you not blog, Candy?"

 "Good question," I reply.

"Okay, so what is the answer?"

"Uhm.... "

See, the thing is that there is no simple answer that does not sound like complaining.  Blogging is hard work.  It requires tons of time and more effort that is sometimes possible from someone who channels their creativity into the work I do.  It also requires content and quality, and all that requires large chunks of time searching and copying, editing, linking... yada yada.  See, complaining.  But I am not sure that is the whole thing.

To blog you should have something to say.  Something that will either enrich or change or at least add to someone's day... their existence... IMHO, anyways.  But I guess not everyone sees it that way.  I had a conversation recently with someone who was making some recommendations for getting my new site noticed on the web and the search engines.  I am paraphrasing and uhm... cleaning some parts up... but this is the essence of it.

Consultant:  "You need a blog.  Tell folks about yourself!  Where you grew up, about your adventures, you family.  Let them get to know you!"

Me:  "Well, I grew up in Brooklyn, NY."

Consultant:  "Stop!  Don't you live in rural PA now?"

Me: "Yes!"

Consultant:  "Nix on the inner city thing.  Not sure you having been born their and leaving 30 years ago will be all that relatable.  What about your family?  Got a kid?"

Me:  "Yes.  I have a son.  He is 19YO and he is graduating soon.  He will be certified in carpentry... "

Consultant:  "Got any funny stories?"

Me:  "He got lost when he was little and told the store clerk his mommy was lost."

Consultant, with rolling eyes:  "Yeah, yeah.  Typical kid antics.  Nothing like lost in a airport for a few hours and he ended up found sleeping under a ticket takers podium all safe and sound.  Happy reunion thing.... Nothing like that?"

Me, getting annoyed and a bit discouraged:  "No, no airport horror stories.  Sorry to blow your sensationalistic angle."

Consultant, eyes wide:  "Just a suggestion, geez lady!  What about hobbies?"

Me, a bit more enthused again:  "I garden.  I grow most of my own veggies.  I do not like to consume Franken-food and things with pesticides and such in..... "

Consultant:  "Wait, wait.  No politics!  While we are at it, no religion, not controversial topics like women's rights... none of that.  We are selling YOU!  Folks want to know who YOU are.  They don't want to know your opinions and attitudes.  Substance, dear."

Me, confused, upset and now angry:  "You are an idiot!  You get paid for this?  I make gorgeous, top quality, handmade jewelry using techniques that combine old world craftsmanship, fabulous hand cut gemstones... with pedigrees for many of them... with my own vision of what chainmaille can be.  I am trying to learn how to get them sold and you get paid for being an a...."

Well, you get the picture.  I guess I must be boring.  I have a normal life... well, at least as normal as being a single mom of a way too spirited 19YO can be.  He is graduating HS this Thursday.  We took him for his graduation clothes yesterday.  He whined and bitched and cursed and complained the whole time.   He did, however, pick out and outstandingly nice and appropriately colored tie.  On his own... with no prompting.  Sometimes I think he is a brat... sometimes I think it is all bull**** so he does not have to act grown up.  What do you think?

I am mostly seen with my mom in public places cause I take her here and there.  She really loves shopping.  Me, not so much.  In fact, as I am typing this she is asking "you wanna go out?"  She does not know where she wants to go, but she wants to go.  Can you see me smiling with resigned patience as I sit back down to finish typing?  Thought so!  I can hardly wait to see where I will end up today.  <Insert sarcasm here>

I grow food... all kinds of veggies and herbs... flowers too, but mostly food... partly to supplement our diets with healthy nutritious things that we would otherwise not really be able to get, but also because I am appalled at the current state of our food supply in this country.  I want to eat food that makes me healthier, not sicker and fatter.  I also can, freeze and dehydrate that food.  You have to store it somehow, right?

Yeah, I know, that is politics.  Well folks, I'm here to tell you, I am an Independent.  I also like Obama... or at least think he has a better vision for America than Romney does.  I also think that if the Republicans were not such panty wastes they would have at least given him the chance to make things work.  Instead they are busy doing nothing for us but everything in their power to simply get rid of the POTUS.  Yes, I think it is racial.  Yes, I can hear the horror of the N-word behind each word the Republicans say.  No, I will not apologize for having an opinion.  I sell jewelry, my opinion is free, and offered as a separate entity.   If my lack of hatred, general inclusion-ism, and openness to those around me offends you so much that you will  not buy jewelry from me then I have one thing to say.  Okay!  I doubt you really know what beauty is anyways.

But I am slipping from the topic at hand... Me.  Yes, that was a cringe.... sorry.  It is not my best thing talking about me.  I end up talking about things that folks, apparently, don't want to hear about.  Religion... yes, I have one.  Some would say more than one, actually.  No, I am not going to talk about it.  You win, consultant person, you win.

I am a handicapped person.  You would not really know to look at me.  Its one of those things that folks think you are lying about, you know.  I am in pain all the time.  I am bipolar.  I have neurological issues.  You can not see nerves, so, of course, some folks will say, you don't look sick.. why are you.....  Yes, there are some choice words that flow through my head when that happens.  There are times when I feel ashamed cause I am not 'like' everyone else.  Then again, no one else in the world really is 'like' anyone else, so, what really does that mean.  Who knows!  I am just me.  I have issues that can put me in a chair for months at a time.  Nuff said.

I also make gorgeous, top quality, handmade jewelry using techniques that combine old world craftsmanship, fabulous hand cut gemstones... with pedigrees for many of them... with my own vision of what chainmaille can be.  The stones I use come from miners, cutters and sellers who deal ethically... as often as it is possible for me to check these things out.  I can sleep at night.  Many of the stones I use are mined right here in the USA.  Did you know that there is a diamond mine in the US?  They produce great stones and 40 other gemstone minerals as well.  I have a fabulous friend who is a cutter.  She is also compromised health-wise and found a way to function and participate in the world.  She cuts world class stones.  Check out the Aquamarine bracelet on my site.  I also do my best to use recycled silver... and gold, when I use it.  I am eco-conscious when I work, things like the chemicals I use are all bio-friendly and never toxic.  I do what I can.

I guess what I want to say is this.  I am here.  I have a website of my own now.  It is called www.eyecandychainmaille.com and it is pretty great!  I work hard on my jewelry and I worked equally hard setting up the site.  I hope you will stop in.  You most certainly ARE invited.  I will try not to take so long to have something to say this time.  Maybe information about the work I do and the stones and such... What do you think??

Let me hear from you!

All Blessings!