Waiting for Godot

Some month ago we were impatiently waiting for our first baby to be born. We didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl, it was to ba a surprise. The due date had came... and it passed... and still nothing happened! To kill the time I sat one day in my studio and started creating a new necklace for myself. My hands would choose only delicate hues: soft pinks and roses, pearls and yellows and we started laughing that it must be a girl we were expecting and that it was her telling me the colours. Then a week later and... we welcomed our baby son! Well, one day I'll give him a very special necklace with a story to tell his fiancé ;)

Featured in Vogue!!!

I'm thrilled to announce that my jewellery is featured in the October issue of Vogue (the UK edition)! Look at my Midsummer Sky ring - at the first page of the jewellery section themed Beautifully Bespoke :)

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

Ice cream...

This time the inspiration came from... food! And to be precise from a certain, very special type of ice cream: Straciatella. This Italian "gelato" with a white base and chocolate shavings is similar to the American chocolate chip ice. I love the snow white and coffee black colour combination - it's the most elegant yet simple you can imagine (well, maybe except just pure black!). In the newest Straciatella Ice necklace a large briolette of Black Rutile Quartz combines these two colours: natural white translucent Quartz with black needles of Rutile. The pendant shape was inspired by the Art Nouveau, Art Deco and also a little bit by the mysterious Inca jewellery.