Clare's Cool Crystals of the Week — 5 October
Well, this has been a week and a half at the shop. A whole case of Moldavite and Libyan Desert Glass arrived on my counter — two natural glasses that were both born in meteorite strikes millions of years ago — so cool. And there are three lovely new crystal pieces at the end too: a pink-flash labradorite, a wee peach blossom goddess and a pair of rainbow fluorite butterfly wings. Nearly everything below is a one-off, so do have a wee look while they are still here.
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1. Moldavite Genuine and Rare 925 Sterling Silver Pendant
Why I love it: This is the finest piece of Moldavite we have ever had in the shop, and I am not exaggerating. A large raw nugget in a deep forest green, set simply in sterling silver so nothing competes with it, and the surface is deeply rippled right across the face. Moldavite is a natural glass formed around 14.8 million years ago when a meteorite struck what is now southern Germany, splashing molten rock as far as the Czech Republic — it is found almost nowhere else but Bohemia and Moravia. Every Moldavite piece from us comes with a declaration of authenticity and a piece of selenite.
£799.99 — Shop it here
2. Moldavite 925 Sterling Silver Ring - Rare (Q/8)
Why I love it: At 3.8 carat this is the biggest stone of all the rings that came in, and it has been left completely unpolished so you get the rippled texture and that iconic forest green colour collectors look for. It sits up off the finger beautifully. Fun fact: Stone Age people used moldavite for tools and amulets — a piece was found beside the 29,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf. Size Q/8.
£249.00 — Shop it here
3. Moldavite 925 Sterling Silver Drop Earrings - Genuine
Why I love it: Two teardrops of raw Moldavite, unpolished and full of natural character, hanging from sterling silver. Moldavite earrings hardly ever come our way, so a matched pair like this is genuinely unusual — and the colour of the two stones is beautifully close. The stone takes its name from the river Moldau, the Vltava, which runs through the area where it is found.
£189.00 — Shop it here
4. Moldavite 925 Sterling Silver Studs - Genuine
Why I love it: A lovely oval pair in a rich forest green, again left unpolished so the natural surface is on show. These are the easy-wearing option if a drop earring is not your thing — small, understated, and nobody would ever guess they began as molten rock flung out of a meteorite impact.
£139.00 — Shop it here
5. Libyan Desert Glass 925 Sterling Silver Pendant - Natural and Genuine
Why I love it: A generous raw piece of Libyan Desert Glass held in a claw setting, with a wonderfully sculptural natural shape and a soft honey gold colour. It is translucent enough that it fairly glows when the light comes through it. Libyan Desert Glass formed around 29 million years ago when a meteorite exploded above the Sahara and melted the sand into golden glass, and it is found only in a remote strip of the Great Sand Sea on the Egypt–Libya border.
£79.99 — Shop it here
6. Libyan Desert Glass 925 Sterling Silver Earrings - Natural and Rare
Why I love it: A matched pair of golden desert glass in simple sterling silver — warm, honey-toned, with that slightly frosted sea-glass look the tektite has all by itself. Fun fact: a carved scarab of this very same desert glass sits at the centre of Tutankhamun's pectoral in the Cairo museum.
£89.99 — Shop it here
7. Libyan Desert Glass 925 Sterling Silver Ring - Natural and Rare (O/7)
Why I love it: Golden desert glass set in sterling silver, and the colour against the metal is lovely — a pale warm gold that shifts as you move your hand. A nice alternative if you want a ring with a bit of a story behind it rather than a clear stone. Size O/7.
£109.00 — Shop it here
8. Labradorite Pink and Purple Flash Freeform
Why I love it: Hand polished, and it stands up on its own, which I always like. The flash on this one runs pink and purple rather than the usual blue — that comes from light bouncing off microscopic layers inside the stone, an effect mineralogists named after labradorite itself: labradorescence. Tilt it a few degrees and it switches on. Labradorite was first found in Labrador in Canada in the 1770s, and in crystal lore it has long been the stone of transformation. A proper one-off.
£34.99 — Shop it here
9. Peach Blossom Goddess
Why I love it: A wee carved goddess in soft blush pink with flecks of yellow-green running through her. Peach blossom stone is a form of jasper and not something we get in often. She sits in the palm of your hand, and she is exactly the sort of thing people come in to buy for a friend and then quietly keep for themselves. Traditionally associated with new love in crystal lore.
£19.99 — Shop it here
10. Rainbow Fluorite Butterfly Wings
Why I love it: Banded green and violet, carved into wings and polished to a lovely glassy shine. Fluorite is calcium fluoride, and it is the mineral that gave us the word fluorescence — a good deal of it glows blue-violet under UV light. It is also soft, about 4 on the Mohs scale, so these want to live somewhere they will not get knocked about. In crystal lore fluorite is the study stone, traditionally associated with a clear and orderly mind.
£29.99 — 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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