Special Date Jewellery, Golden Leak Beads, Diamond & Quartz
2nd April 2022
See us this Sunday at Norwich Bead Fair, Best Western George Hotel, Arlington Lane, NR2 2DA. Free entry & free refreshments!
Then 9th-10th April at Newark Gem n Bead Fair.
For the full list booked so far click 2022 Bead Fairs. New MrBead Shop: https://mrbeadshop.com
Content:
Special Date Jewellery
Brighton Gem n Bead Fair Report
Chrysoprase & Chrysocolla – Spring Golden Leaks
Diamonds For April
Cubic Ziconia
Quartz Crystal – Alternate Stone For April
2022 Bead Fairs
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15% Off All From MrBead
Enjoy the new shop with 15% off anything with no minimum order. This is £15 off £100 worth of beads – the more you spend: the more you save! Only once per customer.
Shipping is free too on UK orders over £30 – under this UK P&P is just £2.50. International shipping from £5. Can only be used at the NEW shop & not with any other coupon.
To get the discount Key CRYSTAL at checkout now, as offer ends Friday 8th April. Use at https://mrbeadshop.com.
Special Date Jewellery Sells!
If you sell jewellery, you need to grasp any opportunity to market your designs.
Notable dates like Mother’s Day or St Patrick’s Day are great for limited edition jewellery because they’re not available all year – and therefore have a sense of exclusivity and urgency. The same technique can be used for the seasons or anything limited.
Plan ahead. Choose dates from the below list, and Google the date for marketing ideas. Drive up excitement before you release these styles, so the anticipation creates demand. Design jewellery themed for these special dates.
Use specific colours, like green for St Patrick – or shapes, like heart for Valentine. Stretch your imagination. Little starfish spacers for summer jewellery, leaf beads for autumn, Union Jack earrings for St George’s Day.
Dates for 2022 in the UK:
April 15th: Good Friday – Start of Easter
April 23rd: St George’s Day
May 24th: Chelsea Flower Show
June 1st: Pride Day
June 19th Father’s Day
June 21st: Summer Solstice
September 23rd: Autumn Equinox
October 4th: Grandparents Day
November 1st: All Saints Day
November 5th: Guy Fawkes Day
November 13th: Remembrance Sunday
December 25th: Christmas Day
January 1st: New Year’s Day
January 25th: Burns Night
February 14th: St Valentine’s Day
March 1st: St David’s Day
March 17th: St Patrick’s Day
March 20th: Spring Equinox
March 27th: Mother’s Day
Use the Search Box on our front page at MrBeadShop.com to find specific beads.
Brighton Gem n Bead Fair Report
The Brighton show is slowly getting less and less visitors. However we all love it in Brighton – it’s exciting to see the distant sea from where we unload at the racecourse!
No exhibitor actually stay overnight in Brighton itself as it’s too expensive, but after the Friday setup, MiMi and I stayed there at a seafront hotel. Fantastic – the city is really buzzing! Even swimmers in the sea at 6pm mid-march. The best bit was eating good seafood outside. However, Saturday night cost double – so we were then back to the usual Newhaven Premier Inn!
The Sunday saved the day, but if we don’t do better in November there, we may cut this one out. The Gem n Bead Fair’s are getting too expensive for the number of visitors.
Click To See The Video
Chrysoprase & Chrysocolla – Spring Golden Leeks
The name chrysoprase (rhymes with bliss and craze) is from a Greek word meaning Golden Leek. It is the rarest of the chalcedony group of gem quartzes and its bright even colour and texture is ideal for beads.
Chrysoprase was popular in the time of the Greeks and Romans when it was cut into cameos – the Egyptians used it with lapis jewellery and even to decorate beads.
In Europe until the middle of the last century it was used lavishly, until deposits exhausted and it became expensive. The Book of Revelations (21:20) describes the holy city of Jerusalem with its 12 walls decorated with precious gemstones, the tenth being chrysoprase.
According to a 11th-Century Byzantine manuscript, chrysoprase strengthens vision and relieves pain. Metaphysically, it brings a sense of grace, helping meditative, calmness and acceptance of oneself and others.
It’s believed to encourage positive outcome, help to heal a broken heart, the heart itself, reproductive organs, and fertility. And in the East, Chrysoprase is said to balance yin-yang and encourage the heart chakra bringing energy to the physical body. Astrologically, chrysoprase is associated with the zodiac signs of Gemini and Cancer.
Chrysocolla is very similar to chrysoprase, but usually has more blue colouring. Both stones look great beside turquoise in a necklace or bracelet – giving a bright natural appearance.
Click to see Our Chrysoprase & Chrysocolla Beads
DIAMOND APRIL’S GEMSTONE
April’s birthstone is diamond – a wonder of nature. Their cold sparkling fire has held us spell-bound for centuries with myths of romance, power, greed, and magic.
Ancient Hindus, finding diamonds after thunderstorms, believed they were from lightning bolts. Today, the diamond is a symbol of enduring love and the hardest naturally-occurring substance.
Diamonds are similar to graphite, both crystalline forms of carbon. The difference in their properties is because of the way carbon atoms are bonded together. Graphite atoms are in sheets that easily slide past each other. Diamond crystals, are a tight-fisted network of carbon atoms securely held in four directions.
Diamonds were formed over 3-billion years ago deep within the Earth’s crust. The majority are extracted in Africa using extreme labour, with miners paid less than a dollar a day.
Ukraine Conflict
The second-largest miner of diamonds is Russia – so new economic sanctions on Russia will effect diamond prices. Especially as the world’s largest rough diamond producer, Alfrosa, is a Russian company. Prices must increase. However, the world’s largest jeweller, Pandora, switched from natural to lab-grown diamonds last year.
More Ethnical Diamonds
Up until a few years ago De Beers controlled all the worlds diamonds. By stockpiling, they increased the value of a relatively-common crystallized rock. However, we can now artificially grow diamonds, similar to how they’re formed in nature. Using high pressure and temperature in growth chambers, the size of a washing machine.
A sliver of natural diamond is bathed in molten graphite with a catalyst at 1,500 C. Slowly, carbon precipitates onto the diamond seed. A gem-quality, 2.8-carat rough yellow diamond grows within three-and-a-half days. This can then be cut and polished to over 1.5 carats.
Chemically these’re identical to mined diamonds – but have different growth patterns and a lack of inclusions that would draw suspicions to a jeweller. However, a lack of inclusions can be a good thing.
CUBIC ZICONIA
A cheaper way of making a stone that looks like diamond was created by Russian scientists. Cubic Zirconia is a dense clear material through which laser light can be reflected.
When melted at high-temperature with electrical current, the compound crystallizes, forming chunks similar to rough diamonds, which can be cut and polished.
Using the naked eye, even a trained jeweller can’t detect the difference between good cubic zirconia, genuine or cultured diamonds. All are faceted, cut and polished the same.
Click for our cubic zirconia rings.
QUARTZ CRYSTAL – APRIL’S ALTERNATE GEMSTONE
Diamonds are too expensive for most to make jewellery, but a gemstone with similar characteristics for April is quartz crystal. You can benefit from the same metaphysical properties as diamond, by using quartz beads in your jewellery.
The Mayans, Druid priests, and Tibetan monks all knew the spiritual power of crystal. The ancients used it to strengthen the sun’s rays to bring heat, and the Chinese science of feng-shui teaches that arranging crystals around the home retains positive energy.
Crystals became important to these people because of the belief in their capacity to store and amplify any power source fed into them – physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.
Today’s crystal therapists say that the stones’ ability to work as a conductor allows energy to be focused via a person’s thoughts to stimulate healing.
Many people use crystal to focus attention on what they want. With a little imagination, you too can use crystal’s energy to access a higher level of consciousness and turn a desire into reality.
All types of crystal have this magical power, but individual colour crystal is believed to have other uses too.
Rose quartz, the stone of unconditional love, is great for emotional healing. Red, yellow, and orange stones are said to produce energy; clear and aquamarine stones are healers; and lavender and blue-violet are calming stones.
Pure rock crystal is clear, but usually quart comes in a variety of opacity. Rutilated quartz has tiny inclusions inside the rock.
Milky quartz is cloudy because of fluid embodied in the crystal – creating an attractive effect of a crystal within a crystal, giving the interior a ghostly appearance. Smoky Quartz is caused by natural radiation from nearby granite rocks.
Click for our Crystal Beads
Our Quartz Beads
2022 Bead Fairs
We’ve booked 28 fairs so far this year – with at least 3 more yet to plan.
This year we’ll be holding more of our own shows, at new locations requested by customers. If you feel there isn’t any bead fairs near you, let me know and I’ll consider your request.
Next Bead Fairs:
Sunday 3rd April: Norwich Bead Fair, George Best Western Hotel, Arlington Lane, Norwich NR2 2DA
Weekend 9th-10th April: Newark Gem n Bead Fair, Newark Showground, Winthorpe, Notts NG24 2NY
Sunday 24th April: Cambridge Bead Fair, Harston Village Hall, 20 High Street, Harston CB22 7PX
Saturday 7th May: Luton Bead Fair, Stockwood Hotel, Castle Street, Luton LU1 3SS – just 1/2-hour up the M1 & only 5-mins from M1 J10.
Sunday 8th May: Essex MrBead Bead Fair, Great Bromley Village Hall, Gt Bromley CO7 7JA
Sunday 22nd May: Beads Up North, Haydock Racecourse, Newton-Le-Willow WA12 0HQ
For the full list click 2022 Bead Fairs
15% Off All From MrBead
Enjoy the new shop with 15% off anything with no minimum order. This is £15 off £100 worth of beads – the more you spend: the more you save! Only once per customer.
Shipping is free too on UK orders over £30 – under this UK P&P is just £2.50. International shipping from £5. Can only be used at the NEW shop & not with any other coupon. To get the discount Key CRYSTAL at checkout now, as offer ends Friday 8th April. Use at https://mrbeadshop.com.