About The Jewelry

All of the jewelry on the site has been hand crafted personally by me, using the best materials appropriate for each piece. Please see the materials guide below for more detailed information on common treatments and grading for stones, plus descriptions of some of the other materials I use.

Several of my pieces are one-of-a-kind creations made with beads or pendants I happen to come across and which inspire me. Others are made with beads which either I have more of or can find more of.

It's worth noting that because different monitors and software display web images differently, it is never possible to produce 100% accurate color representation. (This is true of every image you see on the internet.)

A Guide to loop Jewelry Materials

Agate, a form of chalcedony (like jasper and carnelian), is an excellent gem material because of its attractive colors, hardness, and ability to take a brilliant polish. Available in a variety of patterns, agate ranges from transparent to opaque, and occurs in many beautiful colors.

Agate is named after the Achates River in Sicily, now known as the Drillo River, which remains a major source of this gemstone. Yellow agate is said to strengthen the heart and endow courage on the wearer.
Amethyst is the best known and most valuable form of quartz. Its name is derived from the Greek amethustos ("not drunken"); ancient belief held that anyone wearing an amethyst could not become intoxicated. According to Greek legend, Bacchus, the god of wine, created this beautiful purple stone. To avenge an insult, he vowed to have a tiger devour the first person he met. That person happened to be a beautiful young maiden named Amethyst. The maiden cried out for the goddess Diana to save her and was turned into a brilliant white crystal. When he saw what he had done, Bacchus was full of remorse. He poured wine over the stone maiden, turning her a lovely violet.
A member of the quartz family, the usual color of aventurine is green; it is less commonly found in orange, brown and blue shades. Sometimes confused with jade, aventurine generally has inclusions which create a speckled and sometimes shimmering appearance called "aventurescence". It is named after a Venetian glass in which copper particles are suspended to give it a shimmer. The actual word stems from the Italian a ventura, meaning "by chance," because it was discovered accidentally in the 1700's.
Bali silver is .925 sterling silver. Bali silver beads, in a myriad of intricate designs, are expertly hand-made by Indonesian silver crafters.
Carnelian, a type of chalcedony (like jasper and agate), gets its name from the Latin cornum (cornel berry or cornelian cherry). Its light to dark reddish brown color is due to the presence of iron. This lovely gemstone was popular in ancient Egypt. It has been carved into insignia seals because it won't stick to wax. Today, carnelian is worn for good luck in the Near East.
Cat's eye beads are fiber-optic glass. The glass is expertly shaped into round forms by fusing quartz fibers together. The colors are so brilliant because the beads refract light. Sometimes referred to as "fiber-optic," these man-made beads changes hue as they capture the light at different angles, and have a shimmery band running through their centers that resembles a "cat's eye."
Cherry quartz is not actually quartz, but is actually man-made from clear glass and pink inclusions. The glass is melted in a furnace, combined with the coloring agents, and allowed to cool once it attains just the right color. Some people call cherry quartz "strawberry quartz," but true strawberry quartz is actually a naturally occurring (though somewhat rare) red-pink stone with sparkly hematite needles.
Citrine belongs to the quartz family (although it is often mistakenly called topaz). Its yellow color, ranging from light to medium gold, is due to the presence of iron. The name citrine comes from the French citron (lemon), which refers to its color. During the first and second centuries A.D., the Greeks and Romans used citrine for intaglios and ring cabochons. This gemstone was worn as a protective talisman and used for medicinal purposes; it was thought to aid in digestion and cleanse toxins from the body. To some, citrine symbolizes lightheartedness and joy.
Created by skilled artisans, each cloisonné bead can take up to four hours to produce. Dozens of tiny cells are arranged on the bead's surface, filled with enamel color, and fired. Then each bead is polished, revealing intricate and beautiful designs. Since each bead is handmade, colors and styles may vary.
Treasured by many cultures for thousands of years, coral is one of the world's few organic gems. Coral is the branching exoskeleton of polyps, tiny marine animals that live in huge colonies; these polyps exude calcium carbonate (mineral calcite) deposits to create a protective home.

Many colors and varieties of coral are found in warm coastal waters around the world. The two most popular are oxblood coral, deep red in color, and salmon coral which is salmon pink in color. The oldest known coral used for jewelry and other ornamental objects is red coral, which was used by the ancient Mesopotamians as early as 3000 B.C.
Swarovski crystal, made since 1892 by the Austrian family company based in Wattens, Tyrol, has been the world's leading manufacturer of cut crystal for over a hundred years. Each bead is machine-faceted, optically pure, 32% lead crystal with facets that have a brilliance and sparkle unmatched by other crystal beads. (Lead crystal by definition must contain at least 24% lead.) The rumor is that Swarovski adds silver to the crystal—but whatever they add, it certainly makes these beads more brilliant than any other crystal beads.
Czech Firepolish beads are imported from the Czech Republic. They are glass beads that have been faceted and then polished by glazing at extremely high temperatures. This process gives them a slightly softer look than crystal, while retaining their sparkle and brilliance.
The garnet family of gems can range from deep reds to bright orange and lime greens. The most well-known color is deep maroon or dark red. The name comes from the Latin word for seed or grain: granatus. Some say such a name was given to the red garnet for its resemblance to a pomegranate seed. The garnet beads I use have been treated with a dye to intensify the stone's natural color and to improve color uniformity. (This is a commonly used treatment for this stone.)
Moonstone, named for its semblance in color to the moon, is one of the best known and most valuable varieties of feldspar. This translucent gemstone is soft milky white in color and features a grey and blue iridescent sheen called adularescence.. Moonstone was used in Roman jewelry around 100 A.D. It was also a popular stone with the Art Nouveau jewelers. In India, moonstone is still a sacred gem; East Indian tradition holds that moonstone is a symbol of the Third Eye and clarifies spiritual understanding.
Jasper is an opaque variety of chalcedony, occurring in all colors. (Other varieties of chalcedony include carnelian, onyx and agate. Jasper is sometimes impure, containing organic material and or mineral oxides such as iron oxide, giving it wonderfully interesting colors and patterns.

Jasper is said to be a stabilizing stone, grounding its wearer in the "real world." Different forms of jasper are believed to contain other properties, ranging from calming the mind (poppy jasper) to protecting the wearer during travel (yellow jasper). Some of the many types of jasper are picture jasper, ocean jasper and leopardskin jasper or leopard jasper.
Lapis lazuli, or lapis, is an opaque blue gemstone which at its best is a rich shade of ultramarine. It often has inclusions such as pyrite (which looks like flecks of gold) and calcite (which appears in milky white veins). Lapis got its name from the Arabic word allazward, meaning sky or blue. This stone was sacred to Laz, the Babylonian goddess of love.

Egyptians used the stone extensively, in jewelry, or ground up in cosmetics, paints, and medicines. They also buried it with their dead, believing it would protect the deceased and guide them in the afterlife. It was also thought to calm the wearer.

Afghanistan—where lapis has been mined for over 6000 years—is the largest provider of lapis today.

Lapis lazuli is somewhat porous and should be protected from chemicals and solvents. Warm soapy water is the best way to clean it. Lapis is not very hard and should be protected from other jewelry when stored, to avoid scratches.
Mookaite (also spelled "moukaite") is an unusual Australian jasper that unites the lighter colors of yellow and red jasper. It is formed as a sediment in erosion zones and as a filler in cracks. In Australia, mookaite was and still is considered to be a healing stone that bestows strength.
Pearls are characterized by their translucence and luster and by a delicate play of surface color called orient. All pearls used in my work are graded either A or B and are genuine freshwater pearls. Freshwater pearls are cultivated (cultured) in mussels and oysters that live in freshwater pearl farms in the Far East. Their chemical makeup (lustrous nacre) is the same as saltwater pearls—which are also typically cultured in Asian pearl farms—though they tend to have more variation than saltwater pearls because of the methods used in cultivating them. I hand-select and sort my pearls to match color, size and surface quality.

Pearls—and freshwater pearls in particular—are not commonly perfectly round; they come in many shapes. Expect slight variation (these variations help give some jewelry its natural, "real" look).

Please note that several of my pieces feature beautiful white Czech glass beads, which look somewhat like pearls.
Peridot is a variety of the mineral olivine, and mining for the stone occurred as early as 1300 b.c. on St. John's Island. Peridot is a gem that has been connected to superstition throughout the ages. In ancient times, mariners and pirates believed that peridot would glow in the dark whenever it was near buried treasure or hidden ore veins, particularly of gold or silver. Medieval alchemists used peridot in amulets to protect the wearer from demons, but by Renaissance times, peridot had become a love stone, worn to attract romance.
The name quartz is derived from the Slavic word kwardy (hard). Translucent rose quartz is just one of the many beautiful varieties of quartz. The soft, milky pink color comes from the presence of titanium and other inclusions. The Assyrians and ancient Romans were among the first to use rose quartz.
Tiger's eye is a variety of quartz with very fine, similarly-oriented fibrous inclusions. When this gemstone is properly cut into cabochon or bead form, it sometimes produces a chatoyant effect (changeable luster). Tiger's eye typically displays a series of lustrous alternating honey yellow and brown bands. Its color comes from hydrous oxide (limonite).
The turquoise I use in my work is stabilized, unless noted as untreated natural stone. Stabilized turquoise is soaked in a plastic resin to harden it and to help it retain its color. (Most turquoise on the market today is stabilized.)
Vermeil is a process in which a thick layer (thicker than that of gold plating) of karat gold (usually 22 or 23 karat) is plated to .925 sterling silver.

How to Care for Your Bead Jewelry

Like all jewelry, bead jewelry needs to be cared for. Here are some guidelines that may be useful: