Grand opening!

My beautiful re-vamped website www.blue-almonds.eu is now officially open and working :) It not only has new smarter design but most important: it has a cart so you can buy more than one item at a time! Tempting :)

Brand new

New, fresh and re-designed Blue Almonds website is coming very soon! Stay tuned next week :)

The Kiss

I fell in love with Topaz as a gemstone when I first saw it in one jewellery shop in Warsaw. It was a large honey-golden Imperial Topaz set in a very pretty gold ring. I wanted that ring so badly, it was almost like the stone was talking to me "buy me, you have to have me"! But... I couldn't afford it, it was extremly expensive and I don't think it would suit a teenager's look ;)

Later on I discovered White or Silver Topaz - the colourless, transparent variety that is much more common and not so much expensive but still full of sparkles, charm and this very special Topaz magic. And one day a miracle happened: searching for gems for a commissioned piece I came accross Rutile (or Rutilated) Topaz. Why miracle, you ask? Because the inclusions, the golden needles, are almost of the same golden hue I loved so much that day years ago AND the stone price was within my budget! So I got the beautifully hand cut oval and for over a week I waited impatiently for my mail.

When I saw the stone in a daylight, on my palm, I knew it deserved a very special design. Personally I don't like gold jewellery and to me Topaz looks very good when set just in in Silver but the golden needles were asking for gold... so I combined the metals together. On a Sterling Silver frame I wrapped 14K Goldfill wire and setting the stone I used the opposite technique: on a thin golden wire I wrapped the Sterling Silver. A added a few little Freshwater Pearls for more oldfashioned feel and to make the ring look like an old jewel.

Please let me introduce Il Bacio (The Kiss)

One last commission...

...before I go on my maternity leave :) Inspiration behind the "Black Velvet" set is a rock song written by Canadian musicians and recorded by a Canadian singer Alannah Myles in 1989. According to Wikipedia the song refers to the soulful black sound of Elvis' voice and the many African American recording artists and singers he emulated to create his special brand of rock’n'roll.

I weaved and wrapped the ring and hoops using only Sterling Silver in a design with little hearts – sweet and gentle like so many of Elvis’s songs. I oxidised the set heavily and only delicately polished to keep the soft black patina, to give the jewellery the romantic aged look.

the hoops are 4cm in diameter, the ring is UK size O 1/2