Bejewelled 9,999 Carat Wedding Dress

Would you spend more than $130,000 on a wedding dress? This one costs that much, seen here in a jewelry store in Eastern China. It was created by a Hong Kong designer.

Four pounds worth of gemstones in blues and purples decorate the dress. The carefully chosen carat value of 9,999 assumes that a one carat ring from the groom will make it an even 1o,000 carats.

Wait a minute. That doesn't seem fair. SHE springs for all those carats for a one carat ring? Unless HE scours around for a one carat rare gemstone! A pretty dress and a good gimmick but I doubt there would be any takers.

Source via ChinaView and Trendhunter

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Chris' Pietersite Pendant and Goldstone Chip Necklace and Earrings

Chris is a first time beader who really did not know what to expect when she first came to a workshop. It didn't take long to get her hooked!

Her necklace featured a large, eye-catching and angular cut pietersite gemstone pendant. Chris then used goldstone chips to sandwich wooden discs for the secondary focal areas of her necklace. Burnished copper leaves were chosen for her earring dangles for the colour matched the pendant. Careful seed bead choices tied in all the earth tone and gold colours of her creation.

Chris received many compliments when she wore it for the first time and no doubt will receive many more.

Beader Design# : 210

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Cindy's Blue Wire Crochet Necklace

Cindy considers herself a beginner but she actually has been dabbling in jewelry making on her own for some months now, largely self-taught. She says she loves working with wire.

Her forte is clearly in beaded wire crochet jewelry as you can see from this very pretty blue creation using all types of beads. Although some beaders may not enjoy working with wire, this crochet technique is actually very forgiving as it does not require perfect stitches. The beads are incorporated with each stitch as you make a chain. Three chains are needed to braid together, forming a necklace or bracelet. The designer's skill comes from the choice of beads, their spacing and the colour palette.

A good tutorial for this technique can be found in the project article called Gossamer strands by Stephanie Riger.

Beader Design #: 209

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Baltic Amber Cabochon Pendant Necklace

Feature Designer

Szarka is a 16 year wire-twisting veteran who deeply appreciates the gemstones she uses. She confesses to fondling gems and lets each piece dictate how the design unfolds rather than the other way around. Mother Nature is her muse. Szarka hopes each design is a work of art and they are indeed.

Her designs are gorgeous. No wonder I had the near impossible task of trying to select the one design that speaks most about this artisan. In the end, I chose her Baltic amber cabochon because, it shows her skill at wire jewelry making and her unerring eye for unusual focal beads. The amber had been cleverly carved to showcase flowers against a black background created by burning the amber from behind. Szarka emphasised the garden theme further with turquoise rondelles.

This is but one design among many. Her sampling of her latest collection for the season shows her versatility as an artisan. She may call it wire twisting but this pendant in a piece she aptly calls Kaos shows her technical skill in turning wire into cascades down one side of the pendant. Another collection of her work features a lovely carnelian necklace - Szarka loves carnelian as do many people.

Tempted? Go do some serious drooling on her blog.

Picture with kind permission from Szarka.

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Graham's Bronzite Necklace and Bracelet

Those of us who choose to make jewelry do it for a variety of reasons. Designing one-of-a-kind jewelry for ourselves or for others because we enjoy it has to be the top reason. A fondness for beads to near addiction levels also spurs on designers. Many go on to sell their beautiful work and thereby earn if not a living, a little extra on the side.

But Graham has a unique incentive. He designs virtually all for his lucky wife in order to buy himself "credit" so he can go off to enjoy HIS passion, model railways! The miniature scaled hobby explains why Graham is adept with the smaller tools and materials.

Graham picked large bronzite tiles for this necklace and bracelet set. Copper-framed black window beads and bronze potato pearls complimented the colours found in the gemstone tiles. But for contrast, he chose yellow picasso beads and red glass beads. His wife loves what he makes. I am sure, this set bought Graham double credits!

Beader Design #: 208
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Verdura Exhibition : Life and Work of a Master Jeweler

Fulco Santostefano della Cerda, Duke of Verdura (1898-1978), a Scilian aristocrat, better known as just Verdura created some of the most original pieces of jewelry ever. Sought after by royalty, Hollywood stars and the simply wealthy, his jewelry has remained popular for the past 70 years.

His talent in creating whimsical and truly innovative jewelry designs will soon be celebrated in a special exhibition of his work at the Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault of Houston's Museum of Natural Science from November 16- February 17, 2008. So if you live near Houston, or are visiting, this is one special treat not to be missed. A close-up gallery of some of the designs on display can be seen here.

Verdura started his career initially as Coco Chanel's textile designer. They both shared an interest in jewelry. Byzantine jewelry designs inspired their most famous collaboration. Verdura created the multi-gemmed and asymmetrically patterned Maltese Cross brooches AND mounted them on hinged cuff bracelets in white enamel. The black and white photo shows both of them looking at one of the bracelets which she wore often. Coco Chanel went on to reinterpret the design in many forms.

There is none like his amoeba brooch (middle small picture) with its radiating bejewelled arms. The blossoms of very first Lily of the Valley brooch was supposedly crafted from the baby teeth of the Rothchilds' children in France with the top of each tooth covered with diamonds. But my favourite has to his signature piece, the Wrapped Heart Brooch. The 1949 version in the exhibition is 18k gold and platinum set with 62 cabochon rubies and 232 round diamonds. Another version can be seen here. The design was originally created in 1941, a Valentine's Day gift for the wife of one of Verdura's clients. The husband said "I want to give her my heart – make something fantastic.” And so he did.

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Designing with Cloisonne Part II

Cloisonne beads can be tricky to design with. Part I showed Deidry's design where she chose to go with the opposite approach - pale pearls to the cloisonne beads.

Here the designer, Erin went with the concept "like attracts like". She used equally ornate gold filigree beads to augment her cloisonne beads. She adores oriental style beads and was determined to use plenty in her necklace and bracelet set. The gold beads add a bright punch to the black cloisonne beads she chose.

Suggestions for a Part III, anyone?

Beader Design #: 207
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Designing with Cloisonne Part I

Cloisonne beads are beautifully intricate metal enamelled beads. This type of bead making has been a Beijing-based craft for centuries. Their ornate style though may make many beaders hesitate. What do you do with cloisonne beads?

Here we have a designer, Deidry, who chose to show off the cloisonne by using pale pink pearls for the rest of the design. The pink colour is picked up from the pale background hue of the cloisonne beads. Like all good designers, Deidry pays attention to detail. She used metal beads to bracket the cloisonne beads which in turn matches the metal elements of her focal beads and the metal clasp. Tiny teal seed beads at the clasp end also compliment the green parts of the cloisonne beads.

The next post will highlight a different approach to working with cloisonne.

Beader Design # : 206
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How to Search This Blog

I have been blogging for quite some time resulting in about 3000 posts with tons of information. I was prompted to write this post by some readers who aren't exactly sure how to find those little nuggets of information.

Here are the six ways you can look :

1. SEARCH BOX
There is a search box at the top of the rightmost side bar. Type in what interests you and click on "Search Blog". If I have blogged on it, the relevant posts will magically appear.

If you have stumbled upon a themed series and can't find the other posts, use the search box. Type in the theme title I used for example "For the Younger Set" as for this post and then the other post in the series should appear in the search results.

If you are a beader from a workshop or party, just type in your name and all the posts with that first name will appear. Mind you, there may be more than one say, Cathy, but you'll know which is yours.

2. BLOG ARCHIVES
Also on the right bar further down is the Blog Archive. All individual posts in the current month are shown as titles. To open up a past month's post listings, click on the directional triangle.  I've also got the blog's archives expressed as a Table of Contents page for those who wish to sample.

3. POST HUBS
The best tips, techniques and resources are now gathered together on my hub page called JEWELRY MAKING TIPS. This is the best way of searching via technique.  Jewelry artisans might also find my JEWELRY BUSINESS TIPS useful. The EARRING DESIGN IDEAS hub is great for those stumped for ideas.

4. PICTORIAL VIEW
A neat way to search is to view my blog through just the images.  Clicking on an individual image will open up that particular post.

5. VISIT MY BLOG
Subscribers only receive individual posts, so please do visit my blog itself to do some serious panning and digging for those nuggets!  Here are some of the ways to explore the back posts.

Enjoy!
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips 

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Sherri's Gold Foil Bead Necklace

Sherri quietly but assuredly beaded her way to this lovely foil bead necklace design. She may have sweated buckets along the way but no one could have guessed!

Her final design used three flat square gold foil beads strategically placed in the front, including one pendant. Taken altogether, this collection of beads gives the illusion of a large focal bead. Other foil beads also featured in the rest of the necklace with small silver-lined gold seed beads as spacers. The black bicone beads cinched her design as they were her chosen contrasts against the rest of the gold tone beads.

Beader Design #205
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Fiesta Flamingo Bead Bracelet

Feature Designer

Lamp work artists are not the only creators of stunning focal beads. Beadweaving artisans such as Noeasybeads from New Orleans, use tiny seed beads to build up designs. If we find stringing these beads hard enough, then we can surely appreciate the technical skill of bead artists like her.

This gorgeous beaded bracelet was inspired by the neon lights outside the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas! What fun she must have had making it. The eight cabochon centres were Swarovski crystal vitrails (rivoli cut) with seed beads woven around them using peyote stitch. Not only is she good with design and colour but Noeasybeads also takes beautiful pictures of her work.

Check out Noeasybead's blog for more fabulous designs and THE inspirational Las Vegas photo.
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Melissa's Eclectic Necklaces

Melissa struck me as someone who is comfortable with who she is and is confident of her eclectic sense of style.

She had previously favoured long rope necklaces doubled up. But at her first beading session, she decided that it was time to change to shorter "princess" length (~18") necklaces. She created these two necklaces with the option of wearing both of them together.

Melissa chose peridot green pearls to go with flat round beads and white seed beads for the upper necklace. The green baroque brick pearls and glass beads used for the other necklace shows her flair for mixing colours - blue, green, rust and white all going together. Note her asymmetric use of the rust-coloured bicones. Not many beaders try this uneven trick. It can make a design less ordinary and speaks volumes of the designer's eclectic taste.

Beader Design # : 204
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What to make? Google Trends for jewelry makers

Google offers a whole suite of applications besides their famous search engine. Although Google Trends is still "in the lab", this fun tool can be useful to show what people are searching for and when they do it.

1. Gold or Silver?

Anyone who sells hand-made jewelry will know that silver sells better. I put it to the test by searching for "gold jewelry, silver jewelry" worldwide for the last four years. Lo and behold, the first graph (click for a larger image) shows that silver (red)does interest people more than gold (blue) and that the highest search volume is the last quarter of each year, shown by the spikes. Spikes are sometimes labelled. For instance the blue "A" was related to an article by Goodhousekeeping entitled : "Gold Jewely : You may not be getting what you think". Interest in the subject was no doubt due to the Christmas season.

2. Necklaces, Bracelets or Earrings?

Next, I tried to see what interested people more - necklaces, bracelets or earrings (Graph 2). People searched for necklaces (blue) more than bracelets (red) and earrings (yellow) for the last quarter of 2005 and 2006. I always thought earrings sold better as people could afford those more often than necklaces and bracelets. This may still be so. All the Google data shows is greater search interest in the more expensive necklaces and bracelets, presumably for gifts.

However, the last quarter of 2004 showed an anomaly - there was a large red "hill" for bracelets due to Lance Armstrong's Livestrong bracelets sparking the charity bracelet fad back then.

3. Can Google Trends work for different regions and years?

Google Trends allows the user to select countries and sub-regions such as cities for any given year since they started the service. To test this, I limited the search for necklaces, bracelets and earrings to just Canada and the last graph really shows up the data gaps in the past when Google Trends did not update regularly or maybe not as widely. Google only very recently started updating daily. Perhaps with time, and if there is sufficient search volumes, localised data would be more meaningful.

What Google trends show are just broad search patterns, fun to do to get a general idea but as they say themselves, don't base your PhD dissertation (or entire marketing plan) on the results.

But what do the jewelry business think? Check out lia sophia, the Fashion Jewelry company's forecast of 2007 Holiday Jewelry Trends

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Chris' Fossil Stone and Picture Jasper Necklace and Earrings

Nova Scotia's Joggins Fossil Cliffs on the Bay of Fundy is a significant palaeontological site where the high tides constantly erode the rock, revealing new specimens. Trying to find the fossils though is not easy.

But Chris didn't have to tramp any beach to find her fossil stone pendant - she just dug into my gemstone boxes and there it was! Fossil stone is a type of limestone from the carboniferous period bearing the impressions of marine fossils abundant in what was then a warm sea. Each fossil stone is uniquely patterned - there isn't another like it.

Chris chose black beads as her contrast because she loves that colour but she added small picture jasper round beads to match the fossil stone. Her resulting design is a timeless beauty.

Beader Design #: 203

References

Wikipedia : Carboniferous limestone

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Myrna's Bronzite Necklace and Earrings

Burnished copper jewelry must be to Myrna's liking as she chose burnished copper lever back earring findings over silver or gold ones. The vintage look is new again!

Therefore it is to no surprise that Myrna also chose bronzite for this gemstone has the colours that so appeal to her. There are flecks of black in bronzite. She capitalised on this using shiny black cigar shaped glass beads. They added a shape contrast to the rectangular bronzite tiles. Small bronze and black seed beads were the spacers used in both her necklace and earrings.

Myrna took her time experimenting on her design. The final result is worthy of that effort!

Beader Design #: 202
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Artful Paper Jewelry by Papier Colle

Papier collé is French for pasted paper. This painting and collage form of art was first introduced by Cubist artist, Georges Braque and later Pablo Picasso around 1912. The International Museum of Collage, Assemblage and Construction currently has a wonderful online White on White exhibition showing exquisite artwork using this technique.

The added pieces of paper create depth and body to the work, a 3-D look to what would otherwise be flat paintings. The art community would describe this as "bridging the gap between art and life".
So I was delighted when I came across hand painted paper jewelry, a miniature form of this technique. I was also not surprised to learn that Susan Jo, the American designer is a Fine Arts graduate, the daughter and granddaughter of jewelers.

Her tiny papier collé brooches, pendants and earrings are gorgeously colored and layered. Every single design is unique, never to be repeated. The jewelry has been doubly laminated against rain and will last.

She divided her gallery into three collections : fan, ribbon and curls and swirls. Her fan angel earrings are my favorite for they are a standout right down to their Swarovski crystal centers. Perfect for the upcoming holiday season. The ribbon pendants and brooches are also noteworthy because a portion of the sales from this collection goes to the American Cancer Society in honour of her late husband. For more designs, check out her website appropriately named Papier Colle : Hand made paper jewelry.

References
Tate, London: Perspective, Viewpoint and Cubism


For more tutorials check out my Jewelry Making Tips

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A medley of beadweaving creations

The younger set are no less keen on jewelry making than adults. But any one who has ever organised beading sessions for girls will notice one thing. They bead very fast! One sure way to slow them down at beading parties is to introduce beadweaving using seed beads only.

What also amazes me is the assured way these young beaders pick their pretty colour combinations - without any hesitation. Not everyone is into pink as you can see. Perhaps we can pick up a few tips on colour sets from these creations?

Shown here are the work of eight girls ages 9-13 which adorned six necks, two wrists and one ankle. The designers are as follows:

1.Kate 2.Zoe 3&4. Amanda 5.Bethany 6.Georgina 7.Grace 8.Taylor

Beadweaving Collection #1
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Cathy's Shell Pendant Necklace

Sometimes I wonder if designers are subconsciously inspired, in this case by nature. Cathy's floral design shows both summery and fall influences. There are indeed still many green leaves on the trees as I write represented by the green and yellow seed beads she used for her necklace. The hint of blue on the seed beads might be the sky peeking through the leaves?

A large mother of pearl shell pendant carved in the shape of a flower anchors her garden theme. Cathy chose a small, single burnished copper leaf to rest gently on top of her shell pendant - just a reminder that fall is indeed well on its way.

Beader Design # : 201
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Empress Eugenie's Diamond Obsession

Eugenie de Montijo (1826-1920) was a beautiful woman and she knew it. A Spaniard by birth, she had a great sense of style and was a fashion trendsetter of her day. She was known for her huge crinolines, tight fitting riding habits, Worth gowns and her diamond jewelry.

Louis Napoleon was the Beast to this Beauty - a short bow-legged unattractive man afflicted with tobacco-stained teeth and a strange lop-sided gait. His mother was the daughter of Empress Josephine by her first marriage before she married Napoleon Bonarparte and his father, the nephew of said Napoleon. What he lacked in looks, he made up in ambition as he succeeded in getting the French, who already threw out Louis Phillippe in the 1848 revolution, to accept a second Bonaparte empire and him as Napoleon III.

Louis lusted after Eugenie and she lusted after fine clothes and jewelry so the marriage was mutually beneficial at least in the beginning. Once Empress, she could afford to launch her career as a compulsive bejewelled clotheshorse. Diamonds were undoubtedly this girl's best friend. The Eugenie diamond, a perfect oval 51 carat diamond that once graced Catherine of Russia's hairpin was named after her. She wore it as the centrepiece of a diamond necklace. Amongst the French Crown Jewels is her brooch with Mazarin yellow diamonds. So obsessed was she with diamonds, she even once had a copy made of the Hope diamond.

As a foreign bride, she was not popular with the French and tried to curry their favor by turning down a gift of a 600,000 franc diamond necklace from the City of Paris. It must have choked her to have to spend the money instead on building an orphanage. It didn't work, as the French still derisively called her "The Spaniard". In the end, they got tired of Napoleon III too and proclaimed France a new republic.

The French government auctioned off her official jewels in 1887, many of them bought up by Tiffany of New York including the celebrated 222-diamond Mazarin necklace and hence into the hands of wealthy Americans. Her private jewels were also sold off to keep her in some comfort in her old age. By then, her interest in clothes was long gone.

References
Wikipedia : Eugénie de Montijo
Marian Fowler (2002). Hope: Adventures of a Diamond
Marian Fowler (1996). The Way She Looks Tonight: Five Women of Style
JJ Kent (2004) History of the Eugenie Diamond

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips 

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Jen's Gemstone Chip and Paua Necklace

The lovely colours of this gemstone chip necklace were put together by Jen. She used just one oblong double-holed Paua (New Zealand abalone shell) as her starting point. The oblong tile was only threaded through the top hole, giving her design an elegantly simple focal area.

Paua is prized because of its beautiful iridescent hues of purple, blue and black. So Jen's choice of amethyst, blue lace agate and snowflake obsidian gemstone chips was just right for this necklace. I liked how she picked what are bead caps and added it as the metallic contrasts resulting in a very different kind of design.

Beader design #200

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Jewelry Tales : Hugs and Kisses Copper Bracelet

Feature Designer

Cynthia Daniel calls her jewelry design business CND Jewelry Tales. Her original chain maille jewelry are all handcrafted and every piece comes with its own short story hence the "tales"!

This charming and novel approach is to me, best illustrated with her "Hugs and Kisses" copper bracelet. The tale here is one of a mother anxiously awaiting the first letter home from a son in college. When it comes, the letter ends with very large crosses and noughts, made big because the son knew the mother would be crying. The handmade copper bracelet design does indeed represent hugs and kisses; the hugs with the large jump rings and kisses with the chain maille woven knots. Cynthia had been thinking about her friend's son who just went off to college when she made this piece.

Cynthia also participated in the September 27 Stop Abuse Campaign, a blogdom event when many bloggers simultaneously posted about abuse. Her contribution on spousal abuse was her "Heart's Ease" sterling silver chain maille necklace with sapphires and a heart-shaped lamp work bead by Gail Kops of Beadles.

I found it rather fun to see what inspired the short story for each of her designs. For more stories and designs, check out Cynthia's blog.

Picture with kind permission from Cynthia.

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Ashley's Turquoise Jasper and Shell Necklace

Ashley might be new to jewelry making but she has an innate sense of colour. Her bead choices here show this talent.

She was drawn to turquoise jasper, a gemstone that has the bright hue of turquoise but is so much more interesting. Turquoise jasper is mottled with the prettiest greens and greys - the photograph here does not do the gemstone justice.

The large turquoise jasper disc served as her pendant but I was delighted to see how Ashley picked first the turquoise coloured square mother of pearl shell tile beads thus brightening up the rest of the necklace and bracelet. The pièce de résistance of her design were the lovely bi-coloured faceted crystal rondelles in green and blue which tied all the colour elements together. A very pretty result, don't you think?

Beader Design#: 199
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Natasha's Bronzite Necklace and Earrings

Bronzite is truly a lovely, earthy gemstone and can be dressed up in so many ways. It has been a popular choice but every single design has been different.

Take Natasha's design here. She used the bronzite tile in the vertical position as a pendant. One thing I often talk about in jewelry design is contrast and that is exactly what Natasha did choosing to team the bronzite with gold metal and seed beads. And yet, she still tied in the brown tones of the bronzite with brown glass beads scattered throughout her necklace and earrings.

The resulting design flattered Natasha's complexion and colouring. She quickly realised the benefits of creating one's own jewelry. Not only is it fun, but the pieces truly "fit" the person in every way.

Beader Design #: 198
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Genny's Spiral Bead Necklace with Peyote Cuff

Feature Designer

Genny Smith currently living in sunny Florida started her bead addiction the usual way - trying out a new craft and got hooked immediately. Much as she loves to design jewelry, she enjoys teaching the craft too. She is presently developing classes for the over-55 in her community. I agree with Genny, that teaching is not only fun but we get to meet so many lovely people.

Genny has written a few free beading tutorials on her website, called New Bel Chain & Bead LLC. Tutorials such as hers are invaluable to the beginner who wish to learn on their own. I am sure we can expect more tutorials in the future from this generous teacher.

I have picked her purple spiral stitch tutorial because it is an attractive and popular beadweaving stitch suitable for beginners. Spiral stitch is actually very easy yet looks complicated to the uninitiated. The seed bead colour combination chosen by Genny here is strikingly pretty. There are thousands of other possibilities. The peyote cuff adds a lovely focal point to the necklace, like a lamp work bead would do. The peyote stitch is one of the classic beadweaving stitches that beadweavers use a great deal to create beautiful designs with humble little seed beads.

Picture with kind permission from Genny.

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Burma's Blood Rubies

No one could possibly miss the ongoing news reports about Burma's cruel military regime's crackdown on protests led this time by the country's revered Buddhist monks. Nor the resulting global rallies calling for sanctions against the government, if you could call it one.

Burma has been ruled by the military since1962. The current junta brutally put down a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 and refused to recognise the election win of Nobel Peace Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi's party in 1990. The economy is in shambles, the people are struggling. The junta has been particularly harsh against the non-Burmese hill tribes like the Padaung (Karen subgroup) who want greater autonomy, forcing them to flee into neighbouring Thailand.

What has this got to do with jewelry? Plenty, for 90% of the world's supply of rubies come from Burma. The famed Mogok valley yields fabulous rubies - deep red pigeon's blood rubies - prized for centuries. Other fine gemstones like sapphires and imperial jade also come from Burma. The state controls the mines and sells the gemstones to fund their regime. Like the better known blood diamonds, these gemstones destined to grace many a pretty ring, cost many lives along the way for the conditions at the mines are truly horrendous. Young miners are deliberately and forcibly hooked on heroin to make them work harder. Many die because they contract HIV from sharing needles. Debbie Stothard of Alternative Asean Network on Burma said " These rubies are red with the blood of young people".

The only way to stop a unjust regime that won't listen is to choke their income source. People around the world are pressing their governments to support or beef up sanctions. There are already moves to stop buying Burmese gemstones. Three Canadian companies, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., Jet Gold and Leeward Capital have ceased dealing with the regime, more will likely follow. In the US, the Illinois jeweller, Brian Leber, leader of The Jewellers' Burma Relief Project stopped dealing in these gemstones years ago. He shows his customers other alternatives and sleeps better at night.

Note : Myanmar is a name imposed by the military regime whose hold on power is not by the people's will. The people prefer to be called Burmese and their country Burma. Activist organisations also do not use Myanmar.

Picture source : Wikipedia : Ruby

References

Canadian Press, October 6, 2007 : Canadians rally across Canada in support of Myanmar dissidents
US Reuters, October 4, 2007 : Move over, blood diamonds by Carmel Cimmin
The Times (South Africa), Oct 7, 2007 : Calling Burma Myanmar is insulting to the Burmese
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