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Rutilated Quartz Rutilated quartz, aka Venus' Hair Stone, Cupid's darts, and Fleches d'amour (arrows of love) is a type of rock crystal containing long, fine needles of golden rutile crystals. The best specimens are very clear with highly patterned gold needles, usually from Brazil.Venetian Glass Often imitated but never duplicated, genuine Venetian beads are hand-made in Italy from Murano glass and renowned throughout the world for their superb craftsmanship and distinct styles. For many centuries, generations of Venetian glass artisans have passed their ancient handcraft of working glass down from master to apprentice. Today in Venice, the art of hand fusing molten glass into beautiful multi-colored beads continues in the strict traditional manner; using only copper wire, colored glass and a simple gas flame (lamp). The iridescent foil bead is particularly prized (24K gold or sterling foil is layered around a clear glass core and then surrounded with tinted or patterned glass). Often 24 KT Gold and Copper dust are imbedded in the glass or sprinkled on the surface for an appliqué effect. Tiger's Eye  Tiger's eye is a yellowish-brown to reddish-brown gemstone that has a silky luster with bands of alternating color. Viewed from the opposite direction, the colors are reversed. Tiger's eye is usually highly polished to display the stone's chatoyancy (light reflected in thin bands within the stone). Most tiger's eye is mined in South Africa, but it is also found in Australia, Brazil, Burma (Myanmar), India, Namibia, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), and the USA.
Mother of Pearl Mother of pearl is the iridescent coating on the inside of oysters and other shells.
It closely resembles pearls with its sheen and thick luster. More coming soon ... |