Clare's Cool Crystals of the Week — 22 October
Two deliveries landed this week - a box of carvings and a big tray of gemstone rings and earrings - so I've split this week's ten right down the middle: five crystals and five pieces of silver. There are some proper one-offs in here, including two stones that come from only one place on earth. When they're gone, they're gone!
Tap any photo or name to see it on the website.
1. Firestone Pumpkin on Stand
Why I love it: The showstopper of the whole delivery. A big Firestone pumpkin carved with a proper grinning jack-o'-lantern face, crisp right down to the ribs, on its own black metal stand. Shine a UV torch on it and the whole thing lights up orange, pink and purple - that glow comes from fluorescent minerals scattered through the rock, so by day it looks like speckled grey stone and in the dark it is something else entirely. Rather good timing for the end of October, too.
£129.99 — Shop it here
2. Kunzite Emerald Cut Faceted 925 Sterling Silver Ring (P/7.5)
Why I love it: The dearest piece in this week's tray, and worth it just to look at. A big step-cut kunzite in the softest blush pink, set on a split sterling silver band so light comes in from underneath as well as the top. Kunzite was only identified as its own gemstone in 1902, and was named after the gemmologist who described it, George Kunz. It is also strongly pleochroic, which means the pink looks deeper down the length of the stone than across it - tilt your hand and it shifts. Size P/7.5.
£189.00 — Shop it here
3. Clear Quartz Sphere
Why I love it: The largest of the three quartz spheres that came in, and the one I would take home. Polished to a mirror shine, with misty veils drifting through the middle and little rainbows that appear and disappear as you turn it in the light. Those rainbows are fine internal fractures splitting the light like a prism, which is why no two spheres ever flash in quite the same way.
£139.99 — Shop it here
4. London Blue Topaz Marquise Faceted 925 Sterling Silver Ring - 9.10ct (M/6)
Why I love it: Nine carats of deep steely blue, cut as a long marquise so it lies right across the finger. The sparkle is extraordinary - it throws light in every direction. London Blue is simply the trade name for topaz in this dark, slightly grey-toned blue, as opposed to the paler Sky Blue and Swiss Blue sitting next to it in the cabinet. Size M/6.
£159.00 — Shop it here
5. Chevron Amethyst Crescent Moon on Stand
Why I love it: A big crescent moon with rich purple chevrons running through it and bright white quartz flashes in between, on its own black stand. Those V-shaped bands are exactly where the name comes from - layers of purple amethyst and milky white quartz laid down in stripes as the stone grew, then cut across to show the pattern off. It looks wonderful with a lamp behind it.
£119.99 — Shop it here
6. Charoite Teardrop 925 Sterling Silver Ring (Q/8)
Why I love it: A bold polished charoite teardrop, full of swirling violet and lavender that looks almost feathered, framed simply in sterling silver so the pattern does all the talking. Here is the bit I love telling people: charoite comes from one place on the whole planet, a small area near the Chara River in Siberia, so every piece of it in the shop has travelled a very long way to get here. Size Q/8.
£89.99 — Shop it here
7. Volcano Agate Goddess
Why I love it: A striking goddess carving with a glossy jet-black body and soft cream and grey markings across the shoulders and hips, so the pattern almost reads as drapery. The polish on this one is properly glassy. Agates like this form when silica slowly fills gas pockets in old lava flows, layer upon layer, which is how they end up with such bold banding.
£99.99 — Shop it here
8. Melody Stone "Super Seven" Long Drop 925 Sterling Silver Earrings - Super Rare
Why I love it: Long, slim sterling silver bars finished with faceted Melody Stone teardrops in a smoky violet-brown that catches the light beautifully as they swing. Super Seven gets its name because it is seven minerals grown together in one stone - amethyst, clear quartz, smoky quartz, cacoxenite, rutile, goethite and lepidocrocite - and it comes from the Espirito Santo region of Brazil. Genuinely hard to get hold of.
£79.99 — Shop it here
9. Larimar Round 925 Sterling Silver Drop Earrings
Why I love it: Dreamy sea-blue larimar rounds with soft white patterning, hanging from simple sterling silver drops - they really do look like little pieces of Caribbean water. Larimar is a blue variety of the mineral pectolite and, like the charoite above, it comes from only one spot in the world: a single mountainside in the Dominican Republic. That is why you so rarely see it.
£79.99 — Shop it here
10. Moss Agate Snowflake on Stand
Why I love it: A snowflake carved from Moss Agate, deep green and full of sparkling crystal patches, on a little gold-tone stand. One for the shop trivia: there is no moss in Moss Agate at all. The green is mineral inclusions, usually chlorite or hornblende, caught in clear chalcedony as it formed - and that mossy look is why it has long been known as the gardener's stone.
£44.99 — Shop it here
See everything that's just landed in New Arrivals, or pop into the shop at 61 South Street, St Andrews to see them in person. Free UK postage on orders over £29.98.
Lots of love, Clare x
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