Jewelry Articles
An Emerald's Heart - Deep Green Beauty
Traditionally, when talking about Emeralds, you consider the properties by which we grade a gem, or its history, or the emeralds made famous for their size or style or exorbitant price. Let's try a different approach. Let's talk about why an emerald is so achingly beautiful!
Green. Rich, relaxing, and inherently tranquil, green is the most abundant color in the natural world.
Something Beautifully Blue -- Handmade Anklets
Your big day is coming! You have everything in place and every detail thought through. Venue, check. Officiate, check. Invitations, check. Gorgeous dress, check check! It may sneak up on you, but have you thought of the "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, a silver sixpence in her shoe" tradition?
Where did this tradition come from? It dates back to Queen Victoria in Great Britain around 1840. Each part of the saying is a reference to some part of family, future, and fortune. You can go to our website for a detailed description of each part.
My Beaded Jewelry, Your Body: Beautiful Art!
Art is the wonderful expression of our creative skill and imagination. Usually, we picture a painting or a sculpture or a work of music, but I offer this thought -- jewelry, too, is art, appreciated for its beauty and emotional power.
The beaded jewelry I make is singular, each piece rising from the blending of my imagination with my skill in selecting and combining the perfect elements to create a specific piece of jewelry. Like all artists, I do it for the simple joy of creating.
Handmade Jewelry - Playing With Sparkle and Light
Jewelry loves light and light plays with it in return. After all, the word jewelry comes from the word jewel, the anglicized form of the Old French word "jouel". That came from the Latin word "jocale", which actually means plaything!
The History of Czech Glass Beads in Beaded Jewelry - Part 2: Post-War
In our previous post, we took a look at the origins of the history of Czech glass beads in beaded jewelry; now let's find out about bead-making families and the effects of the two World Wars on the Czech bead industry.
Even though mass production allowed Czech glass beads to be exported around the world, it was still families in villages making beads rather than factories. Families would buy glass molds and the necessary machinery, then produce the beads in their own small homes, which were equipped with tall chimneys and large roof vents - a telltale sign of a bead-making family.
The History of Czech Glass Beads in Beaded Jewelry - Part 1: Origin
Czech glass beads are considered to be some of the finest in the world. The history of Czech glass beads for use in beaded jewelry takes a few twists and turns, but Bohemian glassmaking is actually centuries old, going back earlier than 400 AD.
North Bohemia, a region in the current Czech Republic, has been the hub of European glassmaking since the 1200s - this is why you sometimes hear Czech glass beads referred to as Bohemian glass beads. Most of the items produced were for rosaries and household use, but this was soon to change.
Why Handcrafted Jewelry is More Thoughtful
Apatite Gemstone: Chameleon of the Gem World
The History of Beaded Jewelry - The Genius of Swarovski
Famous Gems and Beaded Jewelry: Queen of Kilimanjaro
More Interesting Facts About Gemstones
Over thousands of years and back to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Christians, precious and semi-precious gemstones have been revered for their mystical and spiritual properties. As well as cultural and religious affiliations, they have always also represented the outstanding wealth of their owners.
In more modern times, the connection of particular stones to birth months was formalized in the United States in the early 1900s although assigning astrology to birthstone jewelry was first observed in Poland in the 15th century.
The Three C's of Beaded Jewelry: Cost, Color, and Creativity
But enough about the cost, let's talk color! Winter is here, which means fashionistas are looking for holiday hues like gorgeous emerald green or spunky Hyacinth red, both of which can be found in Swarovski's huge collection of seasonal colors.
