Sardonyx as Jewelry

 I have added a few new features to my jewelry business this month.  One, is to offer at least one birthstone of the month in the form of finished jewelry, and two, is to begin a new line of Healing Jewelry.

They kind of work together since most stones have a meaning behind them anyway, so these are great new goals to have.

This month, for August, is the Sardonyx, alternate birthstone for the month.  It was actually first introduced to me by a friend who requested a custom necklace for her granddaughter's birthday.  I began a little research and was very fortunate to find a supplier with fabulous finished beads of this stone.  I bought a lot!  Several sizes so I could make jewelry pendants as well as earrings.

In the first photo are also a string of Black Tourmilated Quartz and Onyx for filler beads.  The second photo are the earrings in progress.  I did purchase a second order of Sardonyx beads as well.

I tried to match up their interesting lines as best I could, but you know, sometimes you just have to color outside the lines!  Thus the middle pair with opposing lines.

I used my go-to reference book Love Is In The Earth, by Melody, from 1991,  Still the best reference for metaphysical meanings as far as I'm concerned.  Now her copyright states that her work cannot be reproduced, so I had to find some other similar examples and generalize the meaning.  As an artist I fully understand copyright, so I have collected data from the Internet as well.

My research tells me that this stone is a mix of Onyx and several other stones.  As an agate, it will have bands of white or other colors.  I found one in my shipment that had a delightful swirl of caramel!  

Metaphysically it is a stone of courage, virtue, and was worn by Priests and Shamans.  When I ship out an order of a gemstone I always try to include a card with it's meaning, because I believe that people choose the stones they are attracted to and need in their lives.

So here are the finished pieces in the first run.

This last one is a good capture of the caramel swirl.

These are all available now in my Etsy shop and affordably priced.  Shop now at J Gray Design .

I'll get a few more pieces done before August is over, so check the shop often, or favorite it so you'll see notifications in your Etsy account when you visit there.