Aquamarine & Green Beads For Spring
25th February 2017
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Content:
Aquamarine – March’s Gemstone
Spring Beads
Chalcedony – A Graceful Stone for Spring Jewellery
Spring Bead Fairs
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Aquamarine – March’s Gemstone
Aquamarine is March’s stone – a blue-green gemstone from South America, meaning Water of the Sea. The stone of sailors, believing it protects them. Folklore also says that aquamarine protects against gossip, but will pick up spirits. It is an excellent stone for meditation, bringing great peace and serenity. Use it for your spring jewellery designs.
Aquamarine is the treasure of mermaids, and those legends have it that for aquamarine to be truly powerful, it must be immersed in sea water and bathed in sunlight. The gemstone is also supposed to have powers that reach to land too, helping married couples solve their problems and drive off evil.
Aquamarine is associated with the thymus gland and is very soothing worn as a necklace. It will also help coughs, reduce fluid retention and calm the nerves. The Romans used aquamarine for stomach troubles and believed it could cure liver and throat problems. Aquamarine brings courage, aids quick intellectual response, and gives peace while protecting the aura.
Colour ranges from a very light turquoise blue to a bluish green. Darker blue colours are the best with greener being less valuable. Check the clarity of the stone. Because aquamarine has a light pastel colour, it is important that it be free of flaws or inclusions.
Examine the cut and check light reflects evenly off the surface of the gem and that there are no scratches. Look at the stone from several different angles to be sure. Aquamarine is usually heat treated and sometimes irradiated. However, it will become paler if left out in the sun.
Clean aquamarine in with warm soapy water and a soft bristle brush. As with all gemstones, protect from scratches and sharp blows.
To see all aquamarine at MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com
Spring Beads
Spring is a time of resurrection and birth – this means flower beads, and yellow, green and light colors.
Make a bright and matching spring necklace, bracelet & earrings. Green is this years colour – so choose lots of green beads to use in your designs.
Other spring colours to look for are yellow citrine, light green chrysoprase, chrysocolla, Chalcedony and chalcedony. See all our categories at MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com.
Chalcedony – A Graceful Stone for Spring Jewellery
Chalcedony is another excellent gemstone to use for graceful spring jewellery. Its delicate, silky light-blue colour reminds of early morning mountain sky. If you design handcrafts, try making matching chalcedony earrings and a bracelet. Use small beads with subtle silver spacers for style. Sell them in a white or light-blue box.
Romance
Chalcedony is ideal for the lady you love or to use on wedding jewellery. Some people even use chalcedony wedding rings. Set in white gold or silver, it creates just the right look.
What is chalcedony?
Its name is said to come from an ancient Greek town called Chalkedon, now in Turkey. It is a fine-grained variety of quartz with a waxy luster and microscopic compressed crystals. Because of this structure, chalcedony is usually semi-opaque – which creates a soft glow as the light diffuses through the stone, ideal for graceful jewellery.
The Romans made seals from chalcedony, and the stone has been carved into ornaments for thousands of years. And in the past its heavenly blue colour explains why it had been called Mecca stone and St Stephen’s stone.
Colour
Chalcedony comes in every colour, but for jewellery it’s usually light milky blue with a hint of pink. Being porous, it’s been dyed blue and pale minty-green for centuries – and today sometimes its colour enhanced to emerald green and even tangerine and peachy pink.
Formation
Chalcedony is formed in volcanic rock cavities where silica-rich water flows through. Traces of iron oxide in the water create the pinkish and sometimes red colour.
The gemstone can be seen in the Arizona Desert, where petrified trees have formed from chalcedony replacing the ancient forest. Native Americas there called the stone sacred as they believed it brought stability to the tribe.
Properties
Chalcedony is a feminine stone, full of yin energy. Said to balance the emotions, bring stamina, and promote kindness and charity. It is also believed to be good for love as it lowers anger, depression and melancholy. The gemstone also absorbs negative energy and promotes a feeling of enthusiasm. It is also believed to lower blood pressure with its anti-inflammatory properties and heal the lungs, so being good for smokers.
History
Because there is so much chalcedony in many countries, it has been carved into arrowheads, tools, knives, cups and bowls for tens-of-thousands of years. Years ago sailors wore it as a talisman, and it is the birthstone for those born under the star sign of Sagittarius.
Source
The best chalcedony is mined in Chalcedony are from India and Madagascar, but it can also be found natural all over the US, plus in Burma, Brazil and Mexico.
For our chalcedony beads at MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com
Spring Bead Fairs
- Sat & Sun 25th-26th Feb – Harrogate Gem ‘n’ Bead Fair, Great Yorkshire Showground, HG2 8NZ – Details here.
- Sat & Sun 4th-5th March – Kempton Park Gem ‘n’ Bead Fair, Kempton Park Raceway, Staines Road East, London TW16 5AQ – Details here.
- Sat & Sun 18th-19th March – Brighton Park Gem ‘n’ Bead Fair, Brighton Racecourse, Freshfield Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 9XZ – Details here.
- Sat 25th March – Norwich MrBead Show, The George Hotel, Arlington Lane, Newmarket Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR2 2DA – Details here.
- Sat 1st April – The Big Bead Show, Sandown Park, High Street, Esher, London KT10 9AJ – Details here.
- Sat 23rd April, Beads Up North! Haydock Racecourse, Newton-le-Willows WA12 0HQ – Details here
- Sat 6th May, Luton MrBead Show, The Stockwood Hotel, 41-43 Stockwood Crescent, Luton LU1 3SS – Details here.
- Sun 7th May, Great British Bead Show, Beadworkers Guild, Staverton Park Hotel, Staverton, Daventry, NN11 6JT – Details here.
Rest of fairs and full 2017 Bead Fair List (more to follow!)