2 questions

[lparker]

Hi. I can't tell from the photo: are the loops at the bottom of the French hook ear wires (34-523 in sterling and 34-623 in GF) open or closed?

And, I purchased a handful of your mixed-stone barbell pre-strung bracelets at your last trunk show in Cincinnati. I THINK the pink ones are rose quartz and the black-and-cream speckled ones are dalmatian jasper (am I correct?); do you know what the black ones are, beyond the description "black stone"??

Thanks for your help. Linda

[marym]

Hi Linda,

The loops on the earwires are not soldered, so they can be opened quite easily.  

To answer your second question, I'm going to point you to our Gemstone Bead Index, a wonderful resource we now have available on-line.  

Here is the link for specific info on black stone

Let us know if you need anything else!

-Mary

[lparker]

You guys are great - as always. thanks!

[Jarrod]

I'm betting you're right about the rose quartz and dalmation jasper on your mixed stone bracelets.

The dark stones could be black stone or possibly black onyx (which is more shiny).  But, we've been unable to verify the true classification of "Black Stone," so we don't have much more information about it.  "Black Stone" is any black stone we can't truly identify, or any stone our vendors call "black stone."

[lparker]

Thanks, Jarrod - got any ideas what the pale teal-colored (I'd call it turquoise, but that conjures up the wrong stone), semi-translucent beads are in the mix??

[Jarrod]

Hm, amazonite, blue topaz, green aventurine?

Could be a few of the jades.

Unless you think you might be looking at glass, in which case it could be one of the glass "quartzes."

[marym]

Ok so I got curious and went a grabbed a few strands of our multi-stone barbell beads.  I'm STILL not sure what the "teal" bead could be, but I wanted to let you know that there are a few "quartz" beads through out these strands.  The "Quartz" beads (blueberry, strawberry, opalized, pineapple) are actually a really fine Chinese glass.  Use a loupe or magnifying glass and check for "air bubbles" in the stones.  That's the tell-tale sign of a glass "stone".  The blueberry "quartz" may be mistaken as teal, but it's a very clear glass  

We listed these quartzes in our gemstone index as well, because a lot of vendors use the "quartz" name (like we do) but fail to tell the customers that they are glass.  

Hope this helps!!

-Mary

[lparker]

Thanks, Mary (I approve of all staff wonderwomen!!). I purchased several strands of blueberry "quartz" barbells - they're quite lovely. I'm now making jewelry to sell and the barbells look great in stacks of three as earrings, with a tiny gold-filled or silver ball in the center. I'm busily comparing my teal stone to the pix in your catalog, and will make an executive decision about what to call it. I KNOW it's not blueberry "quartz" (at least it's not at all like the barbells I purchased that were thusly labeled) and I may land on amonizite, with a caveat to any buyers that I'm not certain. '> Thanks to you all. Linda

[Todd]

Hi Linda,

If you can get a digital pic of those beads on line that could really help us indentify it.

Some of the stuff we sell on Road Shows are exclusives to the Shows. Partly because we can't buy it on a consistant basis to be able to make it permanant stock but would make excellant additions to our road show. There are other  reasons as well, but most of the time that is the main one. So there may be no physical representations here to compare it to, and only the buyer (or Russ) will be able to adequately identify it.

I don't claim what I've said is 100% accurate, I'm just the webguy. :'>

[lparker]

Thanks, Todd. I haven't been over here in a long time; over the weekend, I'll try and scan those teal-colored barbells and maybe you guys can take a guess at them. thanks much, Linda