SWCreations - Jewelry Articles, Beaded Jewelry Articles

The History of Swarovski Crystal

Chances are the name Swarovski conjures images of dazzling, brightly-hued stones in your mind’s eye. For nearly 70 years, the Swarovski name has been synonymous with sparkling jewels, but the real story begins long before that.

April 13, 2013 — Leslie Patrick

Famous Gems and Beaded Jewelry: The Hortensia Diamond

How do famous gems and beaded jewelry pieces get their names? Many are named after their owners, or after a famous place or incident. The Hortensia Diamond was named after Hortense de Beauharnais, a French woman who led an adventurous and illustrious life… but she never owned the Hortensia Diamond. There’s no record of her having even worn it!

April 13, 2013 — Leslie Hedrick

Tags: famous gems Famous Gems & Jewelry famous gemstones hortensia diamond

Diamonds Fit for a Queen: The Jewels of Marie Antoinette

Pomp and extravagance, political dissent, and undeniable terror – these might be good words to describe the period of the French Revolution. Calm and self-assured, outspoken, yet highly fashionable might be a few adequate adjectives to describe Marie Antoinette, who was indisputably one of the most fascinating figures during this period. She ruled as Queen of France from 1774 to 1792, when she was ultimately and quite unfortunately beheaded during the Reign of Terror.

January 04, 2013 — SWCreations Jewelry

Famous Gems and Beaded Jewelry: The Curse of the Black Orlov Diamond

Let’s add the Black Orlov Diamond to the growing list of gems and beaded jewelry rumored to be stolen from Indian statues. I’ve featured several others on this blog.

The Black Orlov is also known as the Eye of Brahma, since legend has it that a renegade monk stole it from a statue of Brahma. At the time it was 195 carats, before being cut down to 67.50 carats, faceted, and set in beaded jewelry.

January 02, 2013 — SWCreations Jewelry

Famous Gems and Beaded Jewelry: The Ruspoli Sapphire

Not every amazing gem is faceted, polished and set in beaded jewelry. We’ve already discussed the uncut Bahia Emerald, and the near-deadly, super-expensive battles surrounding its ownership. This month, let’s talk about the Ruspoli Sapphire—one of the most unique, priceless sapphires in the world.

December 01, 2012 — SWCreations Jewelry

Famous Gems and Beaded Jewelry: The Orlov Diamond

Though it’s said to have come from India, like so many rare beaded jewelry pieces and gems, the Orlov Diamond’s story really takes place in Imperial Russia.

In the 18^th century, Grigory Orlov was quite the ladies’ man. He wasn’t of noble birth, or particularly well educated, but he was strong, handsome, and rich enough to give women expensive beaded jewelry whenever he liked. There came a time, however, when his eye fell on the wrong woman.

November 16, 2012 — Leslie Hedrick

Tags: famous gems Famous Gems & Jewelry famous gemstones orlov diamond

Famous Gems and Beaded Jewelry: The Bahia Emerald

The story of the Bahia Emerald isn’t one of women flaunting dazzling beaded jewelry, but of Las Vegas heists and near blood baths in the desert. It is the largest emerald stone ever found, and the single largest emerald crystal ever discovered in embedded in rock. It weighs 840 pounds. That’s about 1,900,000 carats. It’s worth about $400 million. Chump change, right?

After it was found in Brazil, it exchanged hands several times between gem and beaded jewelry custodians, until it wound up stored in New Orleans—at exactly the wrong time.

October 16, 2012 — Leslie Hedrick

Tags: famous gems Famous Gems & Jewelry famous gemstones famous jewelry

Jade Gemstones - Two Gemstones for Two Empires

To tell the story of jade is really to tell the tale of two ancient empires: the Chinese and the Mayans. Both cultures prized jade's beauty above all other gems and precious metals. Both the Mayans and the Chinese used carved jade beads to make jewelry and they also carved jade into tools and weapons. These two ancient empires prized not just the green stones that are popular today, but also black jade, purple jade and blue jade too.

October 12, 2012 — Stephanie Dray

Tags: jade beaded jewelry jade gemstone jade jewelry nephrite gemstone

Button Jewelry - The Perfect Unique Gift

Button jewelry is a surprisingly attractive type of handcrafted jewelry that you can get today that is custom designed and look like designer pieces of art. These items make incredibly thoughtful quality handcrafted jewelry, and those you give them to will be impressed with their quality. You can get button items crafted in the form of bracelets and pendant necklaces. These items, when combined together in the hands of a fine jewel and artist, make incredible gifts for those you love and certainly are conversation pieces for those who own and wear them.

October 08, 2012 — Stephanie White

Tags: beaded jewelry trends button jewelry jewelry articles

Famous Gems and Beaded Jewelry: The Rosser Reeves Star Ruby

Do you believe that special stones and beaded jewelry can bring you good luck? Many people do. Star rubies, in particular, were often treasured by knights, who believed the jewels kept them safe on the battlefield. Some stories from India say the power of a star ruby can drain an enemy’s courage, especially if it’s worn on a crown or headdress, or as a beaded jewelry pendant.

September 17, 2012 — SWCreations Jewelry

Tips To Caring For Your Sterling Silver

As women, we love our jewelry. We admire it. We wear it, and we always want it to look as terrific as the day we first bought it. Every type of jewelry, including gold and gemstones, needs to be cared for properly if it is to last a lifetime and sterling silver is no different. Also a precious metal, sterling silver is both durable and strong. When combined with the strength of cubic zirconia, jewelry lovers have one sparkling duo that is sure to last for years to come.

September 10, 2012 — SWCreations Jewelry

Tags: jewelry care jewelry care tips jewelry cleaning tips

Famous Gems and Beaded Jewelry: The Star of Africa

The story of the Star of Africa starts with the largest diamond crystal ever found. It came from a South African mine in 1905. The crystal weighed about 1 1/3 pounds, and was 3,106 carats. It was dubbed “The Cullinan,” after the owner of the mine. The entire Cullinan was sold to the Transvaal government in the Republic of South Africa.

September 04, 2012 — SWCreations Jewelry

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