Gems and Stones

A friend of mine always has a visceral reaction to every stone she picks up: it feels hot, cold, etc. I don't have a reaction to stones through touch, so I don't understand it, but I do believe it works for many people.

Humans have adored and adorned themselves with stones through the ages and have assigned them various meanings, whether as healing stones or birthstones. I react to stones through my eyes, deciding on what they mean to me intellectually, so I am more interested in what they make me feel when included in a design - their shape, colour, refraction and opacity excite me.

As often happens to me, synchronicity brought several gemstone-related resources under my nose all at the same time this week, and it occurred to me that this blog would be a great place to round them up and create a one-stop reference for those of us who are enchanted by the lore, beauty and excitement of gems and stones. 

Earlier this week, Kate Richbourg posted a link to this long but very complete and easy to read article on how different treatments are applied to and affect gemstones. When you read it you will understand better how these treatments affect the quality and appearance of such things as pearls, coral, topaz and even diamonds. From coatings to dyes to foil backings, you will learn how gemstones can be manipulated and you will be an informed and more cautious buyer after reading this. Here is a link to this article.

This morning, I watched a segment from Beads Baubles and Jewels that reviewed birthstones and included projects to showcase those stones. It's lots of fun to create thoughtful birthday presents for friends using birthstone gems. Molly Schaller also offers low cost alternatives to some of the semi-precious gemstones traditionally associated with some months.

It's trendy again to wear stretchy bracelets featuring one or many different types of beads that are assigned certain healing powers. There are a lot of web pages reviewing the medicinal or healing qualities of crystals but often the information is wrapped in new age concepts and obscured by bad web page design/layout. So I went through quite a few references to bring you the best of them. 

This site offers a good and fairly complete alphabetical listing of the healing powers of gemstones.

This online list of gemstones and their meanings is easy to read, is presented in alpha order and is accompanied by wonderful pictures of some stunning jewellery.

This list is not as beautifully presented, but it is one of the most complete lists I've come across.

Necklaces by Cindy Goldrick

I've been making these simple and elegant gemstone necklaces with matching earrings, and now I'm inspired to add their gemstone stories to them for buyers. You can easily wire wrap gemstones and use jump rings to assemble the components into these simple pieces that require very little time to make yet carry a big impact. I think I'll wear my clear Quartz drop version today to take advantage of the clarity of thought they bring as they unblock my body and allow energy to flow through me.