The Beading Gem

In our time, travelling is a breeze in many ways. But think what it must have been like for people who lived in centuries past when there were no credit cards, no ATMs, no checks, no international banks. What did they do with they were out of coins to pay for various necessities whilst on the road?

The wealthy wore jewelry including gold chains for fashionable and social reasons but those unsoldered chain links also came in handy when travelling. Individual links could easily be opened and removed to use as payment as required - another example where jewelry had a practical function other than the decorative variety.


Picture Source : Atocha Treasure Company
Picture of gold chains recovered from the Spanish 1622 treasure wreck, the Atocha, which sank off the coast of Florida. More about the Spanish Treasure Fleet here.

Reference


The Official Catalog : Armada (1588-1988) An International Exhibition to commemorate the Spanish Armada. Penguin Books in association with the National Maritime Museum.

Jill's necklace was simple in design but what she chose gave it a rather antique look. She used unakite nuggets to flank a window bead. Unakite is a green gemstone with pinkish mottling - not an easy gemstone to work with given its colour combinations.

However, here we see Jill capitalising on its ability to go with coppery hues.The window bead is aptly named for it is copper-framed with a clear interior. This designer kept the copper theme throughout with small coppery seed beads and copper-lined clear larger seed beads. The beads were from Widget's Beads' Collection.

Beader Design # : 192
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In fashionable circles, Tara would be termed as a "Winter" where rich, strong colours like red, royal blue and hunter greens suit her colouring. She wears lots of black which is a great neutral colour for the Winters and wanted a necklace that added more colour to her wardrobe.

Red was her choice even though there weren't a lot of gemstones in this colour. She mixed some amethyst chips with irregular flat garnet discs, both of which were more purplish. The round red agate beads she added were indeed red. The combined effect gave this necklace enough subtle differences to make it truly one of a kind.

Beader Design # : 191

We think of amber in terms of honey yellows and rich oranges but this organic gemstone also comes in other colours such as green, red, violet and even black. The most famous source of amber is the Baltic area, notably along the coastlines of Poland and the former USSR.

This gorgeous green Baltic amber necklace was designed by a Lithuanian artisan represented by Signature Gems. The closeup shows the amber's depth of character - it is no wonder the designer kept the design simple yet strong and bold. The necklace style reminds me of Celtic lunulae (gold crescent-shaped necklaces). A worthy design for both men and women.

Photos with kind permission from Caroline of Signature Gems who also writes a blog.

Reference

Cally Hall (1994)Gemstones (Smithsonian Handbooks)

Mookaite (the correct spelling), is a type of jasper named after a place, Mooka Creek, in Western Australia where it is mined. According to Glen Archer of Australian Outback Mining, the Aboriginal word "mooka" means "running waters". The pictures of the raw multistone show such a play of varying colours that the chunks resemble a good chunk of steak!

Susan has grown very fond of this gemstone - seen here as the larger round beads as it comes in various warm shades ranging from cream to a lovely brownish-red hue. She mixed in various gemstone chips including mother of pearl shells. To reflect the earth-tone selection she made here, copperish seed beads were used as spacers which matched her copper clasp.

Beader Design # : 190
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Savannah who is 13, breezed through her design although the same cannot be said for this photographer! Her very pale bracelet took a few attempts and much adjusting on a photo editing program so that the picture could do some justice to her design.

She choose only a few beads with a hint of pink - the shell heart dangle, disc (heishi) beads and tiny pink seed beads here and there. There are four large crystal beads which add a touch of class to her delicate bracelet.

Beader Design # : 189
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Poison rings originated from India and the Far East and were popular in Renaissance Europe. The other names for them are locket or compartment rings implying that their actual use was far from sinister.

They were meant to carry small and precious objects - perhaps a lock of hair from a beloved, a miniature painting, a folded scrap of paper with a prayer or even a lesser relic from a time when religious relics were prized. They could also have contained a tiny pomander - something sweet smelling to counter what must be a terrible stench in the days when people disdained baths and when streets doubled as sewers.

References
The History of Poison Rings
Ernle Bradford (1967) Four Centuries of European Jewelry

For more tutorials check out my Jewelry Making Tips and Earring Design Ideas

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Susie created a neutral-toned necklace that is sure to go with any outfit. The large shell pendant was a creamy shade with light brown swirls. For the straight sections of her necklace, Susie used off-white short tubes nearest the pendant to balance its size, then very long thinner bugle beads. Groups of glass chips gave the necklace a little more substance. The final touch were the gold coloured seedbeads placed in just the right places to add interest.

Sometimes simplicity in a design is the way to go.

Beader Design #: 188
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Thirteen year old Kelsey's birthstone is the garnet. So she chose a small garnet briolette (faceted drop) gemstone and hung it in front of a pink shell heart.

Kelsey's design is mainly pink tying in with the pink heart, with turquoise glass bead accents. The pink hue is muted so her special garnet is definitely the centrepiece. I've been taking pictures of jewelry by themselves. Kelsey thought that her design would look better worn in the picture as she was wearing clothes that matched. And she was right.

Beader Design #: 187
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Marika ia a jewelry designer who hails from Nicosia, Cyprus. She creates beaded jewelry but does a number of lovely chain maille bracelets. Chain maille jewelry is made from tons of jump rings. Believe me, opening and closing rings at the same time as maintaining a weave pattern can be challenging at times.

What I liked about this pair of earrings is how she used the chain maille style to weave a 3-D pattern that resembles a fuschia flower. And that is exactly what she called this design. For more chain maille adventures, check out her blog, Marika's Musings.
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When Widget's Beads first got the tree agate nuggets, she was aghast as she did not like this agate's dark green mottling and she wasn't used to wearing larger beads.

So the gemstone nuggets sat neglected for months until one day, she decided to team them up with bright orange striped oval glass beads with metal spacer beads in between. The brighter hue of the glass warmed up the green gemstone. The size of the nuggets mattered little once she put on her creation and loved the look!

The moral of this jewelry making story is not to dismiss any unappealing beads outright. Sometimes, it's best to let ideas precipitate out on their own.

Beader Design # : 186
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Thirteen-year old Courtney, like many other girls her age is a whiz at jewelry making. Whilst many adults hesitate and perhaps agonise a little over their designs, teenagers have no such hold over their creativity outlet.

Courtney used four large clear crackle beads - made to look like they have internal sparkle - and mixed them with smaller clear but faceted crystal beads. Blue and clear seed beads made up the rest of her creation. A perfect assessory for denim outfits.

Blue is a gender-neutral colour and the top choice for many people, no matter what their ages. Almost all of us like some shade of blue. No wonder, as blue is calming and subtly reminds us of blue skies and seas.

Beader Design #: 185
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Pearl diving has to be one of history's most dirty jobs. Difficult and dangerous, this occupation was at times forced upon slaves. And yet, the Ama or "Sea Women" of Japan have been diving successfully for perhaps 2000 years and still are very proud of this tradition. In the past they were after pearls and seafood until Mikimoto cultured pearls came along. Today, this gemstone is but a bonus secondary to the abalone, sea urchin, sea-snails and other Japanese delicacies.

They free dive which means that without modern scuba gear, they have about a minute or so to swim down, find the seafood, often wriggling upside down in small crevices to get at the abalone, lever it out and ascend. Women likely excel at this because they are able to withstand the cold better than men and with their smaller size, able to fit into tighter spots. Thinking of synchronised swimmers, there may be some truth to the belief that women can hold their breaths longer than men. The season is short - from bone-chilling March to September with strict controls on how long they can dive per day - and yet, they make a very good living, far better than their husbands or other salaried workers. The best divers are usually middle-aged.

Over the past century, they have tried using better equipment but these were abandoned to avoid overfishing. They do wear some light clothing today although the white, near transparent suits are worn only by divers working in the tourist areas. Up until the 1950's, they wore usually not much more than loincloths. Not surprisingly, the Ama have appeared in various Japanese woodblock erotica such as the one shown here by one of Japan's most famous artists, Hokusai (1760-1849). The Ama naturally made it into a James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice, (1967) where the ridiculous plot involved 007 marrying a bikini clad Ama!!! But it is no fantasy that they are a dying breed today as young women are no longer attracted to the profession.

Picture Source

References
The Ama : The Women Divers of Japan by Sandy Lydon
Women Divers of Japan by Bethany Leigh Grenald
Modern Times for Ama Divers by Ruth Linhart

The starting point for Deidry's design were the two salmon pink drop beads. She placed them in the most pleasing fashion on either side of large wooden painted beads. I like her approach as the drop shaped beads act as a tapering bridge to the smaller beads in the rest of her necklace.

Both the drop and wood beads work together to add a distinct focal point to her creation. She then added copper rondelles and mixed in round copper hued beads. Notice those tiny pewter daisy beads next to the drop beads? It's those kinds of little details that helps make a design more attractive. Naturally, Deidry designed drop earrings to go with this pretty necklace which have already been shown here.


Beader Design #: 184

Alilsumptinsumptin aka as Eva, is a California based artisan whose favourite themes for her jewelry designs are flower gardens and dogs. Indeed, it was her whimsical black and white doggy creations that first captured my attention.

In the end though, I chose her Turquoise Garden bracelet because it clearly shows her attention to detail and flair for putting it all together. The beautiful lampwork blooms are the work of her favourite bead artist, Dawn White. Notice how she has added silver and turquoise coloured Swarovski crystals to enhance the flowers. Karen Hill Tribe silver leaves were added in keeping with her garden theme. Turquoise gemstones appear as stacked faceted rondelles, beautiful heartshaped cabochon clasps and a single cabochon flower charm seen at the bottom left. All in all, she has packed just the right number of pretty dangles to make this a truly "charmed" bracelet.

Picture with kind permission from Alilsumptinsumptin whose design blog is located here.

This pair of earrings designed by Alana has got to remind us all of the Swingin' Sixties. The lovely green square mother of pearl shell beads were holed diagonally with round empty spaces in them just begging to be filled. So after some experimentation, Alana chose some red tiger eye chip beads to spice up the earrings.

Definitely a go-go design, Alana!

Beader Design #: 183

Ruth is one of those uncommon women who can just about wear any colour. (Yes, I am green with envy). Her colour choices are often bold but here we have a neutrally-hued design.

Susan couldn't resist buying these wonderful art clay silver beads made by an unknown artisan. They are stunning in this all white/silver design. Notice how Susan used pearly white seed beads as spacers. Their duller tones are the perfect foil to shinier beads in her design and yet still keeps to her main theme. Susan made this for herself but we thought that it could be a lovely bridal bracelet too.

Art clay silver consists of real and almost pure silver powdered and mixed with nontoxic binders. Jewelry artisans use it to create beads which are then fired in a kiln to burn away the binders, leaving behind truly one of a kind beads!

Beader Design# : 181

Those of us who make jewelry, do it because we enjoy it but also because we appreciate the chance to make each item exactly how we like it. So I was suitably intrigued when I came across this Engagement Ring Builder software program from Abazias, an online diamond jeweller. It allows people to customize diamond engagement rings to suit their pocket and their tastes.

The software does address the 4 C’s of diamond selection. As you can see from my try out picture, I chose an emerald cut diamond weighing in at a modest 0.50 carat. I could then select the setting I liked. The range of acceptable clarity can also be personalised – from IF, internally flawless down to I1 which will have inclusions (flaws) noticeable to experienced eyes. The colour selection for white diamonds is determined by a lettering system from D to Z. This particular jeweller sells mostly colourless (D-F) or near colourless diamonds (G-J). K diamonds would have a faint tint and Z ones will have a noticeable yellow tint. These hues are not to be confused with fancy coloured diamonds which have their own colour grading systems.

I propose two more C’s. The fifth C should really be cost as what this nifty little software does is let individuals conveniently decide what factors they value above others to meet their budget. For instance, some may prefer near perfection in colour and clarity but will compromise on a smaller diamond. The sixth C is optional and it stands for certificate. A certificate is not an appraisal to determine value. A certificate is a report confirming the diamond’s statistics after assessment preferably by an independent laboratory such as the Gemological Institute of America’s Gem Trade Laboratory.

ReferencesAbout.com's How to evaluate diamond clarityAbout.com's How to evaluate diamond colour
GIA Gem Trade Laboratory

Erica created this bracelet - her very first design effort from quite a while ago. Like all designers, inspiration can come from many sources and in this case, it came from one of my creations using double-holed beads.

Many women prefer smaller pieces of jewelry (designers take note!). Krista is one of them. She singled out only one type of glass beads for her design - purple rainbow twisted tube beads. Rainbow sometimes called iridescent or AB (aurora borealis) is a type of bead coating that diffuses light to rainbow hues on plain glass beads.

As these are rainbow beads, Krista needed only some metal bead accents to complete her design. I like the daisy rondelle metal spacers she used for the earrings as they suit these tubby little beads.

Beader Design #179
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Glass beads are often used to simulate the more expensive gemstones. However, lampwork beads are an example where man-made glass clearly outdo gemstones. For those who like strong design elements in jewelry making, lampwork beads are the way to go.

Thatgirl aka as Sue Booth from Australia is an amazing lampwork bead artist. I had enormous difficulty trying to find the one design that stood out amongst all her gorgeous lampwork creations. All were incredibly detailed and richly coloured which shows off her skill at this craft. She called this creation "Whirlpool" and a number of people fairly drooled as I did at this picture on her Flickr page.
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Martial, a 1st century Roman poet famous for his epigrams, wrote what could be an epitaph for an insect trapped and preserved in amber :





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Sheila is an experienced beader who now purchases clothes to match her jewelry designs - not the other way around. Now that is the hallmark of a true beadaholic!!

She created this necklace using all purple beads in different shapes and shades. Her focal beads were lavender twisted petal beads which she also used for her hoop style earrings made from beading wire and clamshell findings. The very dark purple drop beads that flank the petal ones add an extra punch to her design.

Beader Design #178
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The shape of beads is a design element that is often exploited by beaders. Cube beads like those used by Erin are rather fun to use as an alternative to the common round beads. Cubes impart a modern look.

Erin chose peridot coloured ones teamed with silver-lined grey seed beads with coordinating rectangular dangles. Her earring and matching pendant design uses the ever popular "stiletto" or long and skinny look which portrays a certain daintiness and helps feminine necks appear slender.

Beader design #177
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This ancient beaded collar necklace dated anywhere from 1380-1350 BC shows the absolute mastery the ancient Egyptians had for the making of beads and for this style of spaced beading.

The Egyptians invented faience beads made out of quartz silica - arguably the earliest form of glass-like beads. They simulated the more expensive gemstones. The beads in this design, from top to bottom, show mandrake fruit, date palm leaves and lotus flower petals. The spacing of these beads occurs in two dimensions. They were first spaced from each other in an upright fashion and then, the different types of beads were tiered. The original triangular connectors separating the strands have also survived although not without damage.

References

Hugh Tait (1986). Jewelry : 7000 Years. British Museum

Egyptian Faience by Marie Parsons

There are two things I've grown to love about blogging. Firstly, I get to write about design and the little stories behind each creation, beads and the person who makes or wears the jewelry. Secondly, I have "met" many new friends who share an interest in jewelry making. Kimberly is one such person, an American beading enthuasist who sent me this picture. She is already experienced in other crafts and like me, she values crafting traditions.

She recently created these sweet blue earrings for her boyfriend's mother who in addition to being an avid birdwatcher also appreciates handmade glass. She tailored her design to the recipient using handmade glass birds she had bought - these are very small, a testament to the good eyesight of the lampworker! The other beads from her bead collection matched the blue of the bird,its tiny yellow beak and black eyes!

I agree with Kimberly that a handmade gift means so much more as it is a gift that took time to make, is unique and constitutes a thoughtfulness which is in short supply these days.

This dainty cherry quartz chip necklace shows Elizabeth's light touch in jewelry design.

She got the inspiration from one of my designs where the groups of beads are isolated by crimp beads. An additional short wire was threaded through the middle dainty metal leaf bead and crimped accordingly after threading all the required beads and crimp beads. This treatment not only made Elizabeth's design more substantial but yet kept it delicate. It's also a great way to use up those left-over wire trimmings!

Beader design #176
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Lady Diana Beauclerk (1734-1808) was born Lady Diana Spencer, daughter of the 3rd Duke of Malborough. As a noblewoman, she served as Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte. Her first husband, Viscount Bolingbroke, was notoriously unfaithful and she herself became pregnant whilst in an adulterous affair. A scandalous divorce resulted in 1768. She next married Topham Beauclerk, her lover and later endured further public scrutiny as her son from her first marriage had an incestuous relationship with one of her Beauclerk daughters.

Topham Beauclerk mingled with an artistic and literary crowd such as Joshua Reynolds and Samuel Johnson. She not only was a warm and witty hostess to those luminaries but she was a gifted artist in her own right. She was one of Wedgewood's most popular designers and a talented book illustrator. Her artistic endeavours were not publicly acknowledged in her time for she eventually had to depend on her art to make a living, another scandalous mark against her.

Her portraits show a woman who either eschewed jewelry or wore very little with the exception of this portrait ca. 1760 by an unknown artist. Here she wears a simple but elegant pearl necklace with matching earrings.

References
Wikipedia : Diana Beauclerk
Carola Hicks (2001). Improper Pursuits: The Scandalous Life of an Earlier Lady Diana Spencer. Pan Books

Black and white designs have always been popular. There is a timeless and elegant quality about them - think about black and white photos still popular today and the old black and white movies.

The colour combination works because they are directly contrasting design elements. Susan demonstrates here how effective using black and white (including the silver) can be with her stunning bracelet design. She uses different black and white lampwork beads as the main focal beads. Smaller metal beads are also included as are the humble seedbeads - the spacer workhorses of jewelry designs.

Beader design # 175
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