Julie Vos @ Cliptomania.com

Spencer Pearl Drop and Chloe Open Bangle with Delphi

Jewelry designer Julie Vos began her business in 2006 filled with anticipation as she embarked on living out her dream to create jewelry using gemstones and 24k Gold patina as her mediums. (Each jewelry piece is 24K Gold electroplated over nickel free brass.) Vos is also careful about which gemstones she chooses to use in her jewelry because she strives to make each piece as affordable as she can. 

Her hard work paid off! By 2014 Vos has over five hundred boutiques that carry her jewelry.  And she has received praise from editors of Marie Claire, Instyle, Vogue.com and more for melding rich textures and vibrant colors in each piece of jewelry she designs.  Vos has also been featured on the covers of Oprah Magazine and Real Simple.  

 At cliptomania.com, beauty of Vos’ jewelry and affordability of it that drew me to want to add it to the website.  Check out the sets in our new section Jewelry Sets.

Aquamarine @ cliptomania.com

Aquamarine Solitaire Ring & Aquamarine Earrings

The gemstone aquamarine is blue-green to blue and is a variety of the mineral beryl.  This group of minerals is most famous for the green emerald.  Yet despite this association aquamarine is transparent and full of clarity whereas emerald tends to be hazy and have inclusions.  Also aquamarine gets its color from iron impurities within colorless beryl crystals whereas emerald gets its color from trace amounts of chromium and vanadium.  

Most aquamarine comes from Brazil with smaller deposits found in Australia, Myanmar or Burma, China, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nambia, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as in several US states. 

Aquamarine Spring Loaded Hoops & Gold Ring

The more saturated the color of aquamarine is, the more valuable it is in price. The most popular cut for the gemstone are round, oval, pear and cushion.  Aquamarine can be heat treated to enhance its color but most times when you see aquamarine it is in its natural form.

Aquamarine gemstone jewelry can safely be cleaned with warn soapy water with or without using a tooth brush.  After cleaning the gemstone wipe it with a soft cloth.  And be sure when wearing this jewelry to avoid contact with household cleaning chemicals and keep it away from intense heat to prevent permanent damage to the gemstone.  

Always store gemstone jewelry inside a fabric lined box or wrap it in a soft cloth then store it separately from other gemstones.   

References: gemselect.com  and, minerals.net

 

Metalsmith an Jewelry Artisan: Lauren Blais

Sterling Silver Earrings, Necklace & Ring

As future metalsmith and jewelry artisan Lauren Blais grew up in Rhode Island, she became hooked on fashion and design. With the goal of becoming a fashion designer in her sights, she took several courses at the Rhode Island School of Design to achieve it.  However, when Balis took a Beginning Jewelry course her plans slowly changed and by the time she worked with Providence artist Boris Bally; jewelry became her career goal. 

After RISD, she enrolled at the Massachusetts College of Art to study small metals and how to be a metalsmith. After graduating in 2008, Blais opened her own studio. The jewelry she makes is influenced by Victorian Mourning jewelry worn by Queen Victoria of England upon the death of her beloved husband Albert.  She wore black dresses and jewelry to match often made from jet or another dark material like tortoise shell.  This spurred others in the country and across Europe to want their own mourning jewelry to celebrate loved ones they lost too.  

 The mourning jewelry of the time was intricate in detail and held great beauty some pieces were made from the same elements as Queen Victoria’s and others were created from human hair, featured photos of a loved one, or a carved cameo likeness set in gold or silver. Blais wants her jewelry to have the same feel and to tell a story. Only she wants the story to continue beyond creation but keep going as the jewelry passes from one customer to another family member and then to another and so forth each generation.

The materials Blais uses are leather, fur, silver, raw gemstones, and gold – often pairing two or more of these elements together into a piece or pieces of jewelry.  She also makes each component of the jewelry as much as possible by hand whether it is the links that create a necklace chain or the clasp of a bracelet. Blais strives overall to ensure her jewelry blends the old and new together to create unique pieces of jewelry.  

Last year I found Lauren Blais jewelry in a happy accident surfing the Internet and I knew I had to add her pieces to the cliptomania.com website.  You can see them by clicking on Gemstones and choosing the sub category Jewelry Sets.