Any excuse to go to the local bead store!
I was able to indulge this favorite pastime when a sweet customer at my etsy shop (
http://www.suzyrocksdesigns.etsy.com/) requested a custom order of EarHugs. She's looking for a pair of white stones, not pearls, topped with pretty pieces of labradorite. A quick scrounge through my stash produced the right-sized beads of milk opal, or opalite, but little else. So off I went to see Cherie at her wonderful bead store.
Opalite is a synthetic stone; I use very little synthetic. I love using glass, wood or ceramics occasionally, but most of the man-made stones don't particularly appeal to me. There's some mystique surrounding the miner or rockhound off discovering an astonishing stone far beneath the earth's surface, or even lying there on a rocky slope, winking at him, that makes each natural stone so intriguing. That's just me. Now, I'll give cubic zirconia a pass, because it's so pretty (coming soon to my shop), or even synthetic alexandrite, which can be amazing, though it has in the past broken my heart... But that's another story!
Anyway, opalite tends to show a lot of yellow, and these little rounds are no exception. They can be very pretty, though, in the right circumstance, and the lab looks quite nice with it.
The two types of stone I found at Cherie's were white jade and an off-white Peru opal. Both are very nice indeed. The white jade is very smooth, cheery, and clean-looking, a little more expensive; the Peru opal tends to be creamier in color, with more inclusions, and interesting to look at. The moonstones I have are oval beads; they're paired with aquamarine in my shop and could easily be made with a lab topper instead.
Here's what these future Hugs would look like, approximately (they will be on sterling silver wires, not the goldfilled shown):
Opalite, left; Jade, center; Opal, right.
Opalite, a/k/a Milk Opal
Peru Opal with smooth lab bead left, flat faceted bead right.
White Jade, faceted lab, left; White Jade, smooth lab, center; head-on comparison, jade vs. opal.
Moonstone ovals, faceted aquamarine bead.
Any of these stones look great with either the smooth or faceted lab; that's just a matter of personal taste. Whichever the customer chooses, I would use stones with good flash and vigor.
(How many times have I mentioned that labradorite is my favorite stone? Hmmm? That many? Oh well, here I go again... I always think of lab as a stone one must buy only for oneself to see and admire, because to most eyes, most of the time, it looks like a dull, grey stone. But when you hold it in the palm of your hand, and let the light in, its magic presents itself. If others see the flash while you're wearing this stone, that's just a bonus, as far as I'm concerned. Because whether they can see it or not, you
always know it's there. A secret, hiding in full sight.)
I hope you enjoy looking at these pieces!
Best, Suzy
www.suzyrocksdesigns.etsy.com
