Featured
Gemstones
At Studio
Jewelers, your dream piece can start with a one-of-a-kind
gemstone. Our inventory includes hundreds unusual and fine
colored gems, pearls and diamonds, as well as fine examples
of the lapidary arts. Here is a small sampling of some of
the newest treasures. Check back as we add more to this
page, or stop in to search for a particular stone of
inspiration.
In addition to our in-house stock of gems, you may also
search through the online catalog of one of our gem
suppliers at www.gem2000.com. If you
find a stone you are interested in, please note the
information and give us a call!
(Photos do not show stones at actual size! It is difficult
to photograph gemstones, and there may be slight variations
in color when you see these stones in person.)
Here
is a beautiful Dragon necklace “Seeking Wisdom” by
Elizabeth Beunaiche. It is an 18K yellow gold necklace
featuring a dragon carved out of Sleeping Beauty turquoise,
and surrounded by Mexican and Lighting Ridge opal that is
backed with gold leaf.
Treasures from the Tucson International Gem
Show
These
lovely earrings feature Ethiopian opal with diamond accents
set in mountings of 22k and 14k yellow gold and sterling
silver.
Four
strands of color-change garnet rondele beads weighing a
total of 362 carats, strung on a 20k yellow gold clasp and
accented with handmade granulated 22k
beads.
Just
one of the stunning gemstones brought back from Tucson,
this fabulous blue-green sapphire weighs in at just under 3
carats.
Necklace of tumbled black tourmaline beads
20
inches in length, this strand of black tourmaline beads
from Patrick Murphy is punctuated with four spheres of
sterling silver, each sphere studded with faceted rainbow
moonstones.
40.95 ct rainbow pyrite
This magical,
sparkling drusy stone measures 35.9 x 29.0 x 5.4 mm and
exhibits metallic copper and gold tones, peacock blues and
purples--the result of natural oxidation of the tiny
crystals that comprise the surface of the stone . (Tiny
crystal growth on the surface of a host rock is called
'drusy', regardless of the mineral type.) Immersing a
rainbow pyrite in acid will strip the color away and reveal
the more typical metallic gold surface responsible for the
moniker "fools gold" that has been applied to pyrite.
Pyrite itself is named for the Greek word for fire "Pyr,"
as it produces sparks when it is struck with steel. It has
a hardness of 6 - 6.5 on the Moh’s Scale, so it's best set
in pendants where it won't get knocked around.
Freeshape green tourmaline bead strands; by weight
These beads were
made by slicing up raw tourmaline crystals and tumble
polishing them. They range in color from moss to hunter
green, and some of the beads are chatoyant, owing to
microscopic needle-like inclusions of rutile. Rutile is the
inclusion that makes catseyes in both tourmaline and
corundum (sapphire).
3.43 ct. golden beryl
Beryl is the
mineral family that includes emerald, aquamarine, and the
ethereal pink Morganite. This untreated 11mm trilliant cut
gem is exceptionally brilliant and completely free of
eye-visible inclusions.
This lovely garnet is an oval Malaya Garnet. It is 10.20
carats, and is a natural colored, untreated stone.
11.96 ct Bi-colored Tourmaline
This natural
bi-color tourmaline is unusually large and fine. It weighs
11.96 carats and measures 13.36 X 11.52 X 8.9 mm. The color
is evenly divided between strawberry pink and moss green
and there are no eye visible inclusions. Tourmaline is 7 to
7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale, so it's good for setting in
all types of jewelry. Recognized as a separate gemstone
family for less than 250 years, the beautiful Tourmaline is
blessed with the widest array of colors of any species.
Because it occurs in so many shades, it was long mistaken
for Emerald and Ruby. Tourmaline is one of the birthstones
for October.
5.13 ct Imperial Topaz
This untreated
natural imperial topaz weighs 5.13 carats and measures
13.65 X 9.1 X 5.93 mm. This stone is an 8 on the Mohs
hardness scale, so it's good for setting in all types of
jewelry. Topaz derived its name from the Red Sea island of
Topazos. It is the traditional birthstone for
November.
0.75 ct Demantoid Garnet
This lovely bright green demantoid garnet weighs 0.75
carats and has a slight oval shape, measuring 5.25 x 6 x
3.3 mm.
Garnet use in jewelry can be traced to the Nile Delta in
3100 B.C., where Egyptian artisans crafted the gemstone
into beads or inlay them into hand-wrought jewelry.
2.38 ct Zambian Aquamarine
This gorgeous oval blue aquamarine weighs 2.38 carats and
measures 7.9 x 10.1 x 5.25 mm. Aquamarine is in the Beryl
family, and is 7.5-8.0 on the Moh's scale of hardness.
Aquamarines are found in a range of blue shades, from the
palest pastel to greenish-blue to a deep blue. While the
choice of color is largely a matter of taste, the deeper
blue gemstones are more rare.
3.59 ct blue sapphire 8.8 mm native cut round
stone
The picture
doesn't accurately represent the color of this beautiful
gem, which is almost tanzanite blue--definitely a violet
blue, not a sky blue. Hanna considered recutting this stone
but decided to retain its slightly funky personality (it's
what we call "roval"-not perfectly round but not oval,
either.) Besides, it sparkles like crazy just the way it
is! The photograph on the mirror shows both the exceptional
clarity of the stone and the wisps of concentrated blue
color that reflect evenly around the stone when it is
viewed from the top.
A gorgeous green, this oval-cut sapphire is 6.44 carats,
and measures approximately 11.9 x 9.6 mm. Mined in
Madagascar.
1.13 ct. cushion cut Padparadscha sapphire (AGTA lab
certified)
This natural Sri
Lankan sapphire fulfills the gemological criteria to be
called Padparadscha: it is intensely pink and orange, in
close to an equal ratio of the two colors. Hanna
photographed it on a mirror to reveal the source of color,
an orange color pocket that radiates throughout the
otherwise pink gem. True Padparadscha sapphires are
extremely rare.
5.05 ct. octagonal emerald cut pink spinel
This fine gem
spinel has been in Hanna’s personal collection for nearly
20 years. The source is likely the gem gravels of Myanmar.
This was one of a number of collector gems Hanna bought
from the late Barney Goff, a gemologist and stonecutter who
helped launch the studio jewelry movement in the 1970s and
1980s. Goff pioneered unusual cuts for colored gems (the
arch and bullet cuts, among others) and introduced them to
independent jewelry designers across America. He was a
lifelong champion of the fine and the rare in the world of
gems and minerals.
This cushion-cut beauty is a natural Demantoid garnet,
which weighs 2.53 carats.
31.47 ct triangular rutilated quartz cabochon
We love our
“funky” gems at Studio Jewelers! This unique stone was
mined in Brazil. It features sprays of golden rutile needle
inclusions emanating from a ribbon of silvery-black rutile
that seems to light up as the stone is
rotated.
4.90 ct. phenomenal sapphire cabochon
Very unusual
(for sapphire) earthy, green moss color with straw colored
undertones with a shimmering blue chatoyancy. At first look
it resembles catseye chrysoberyl, but Hanna verified its
corundum identity with a refractive index test in our gem
lab. This would be an ideal ring stone, because it is very
durable.
(Stones are not shown actual
size.)