I've recently noticed a bit of an evolution taking place in my work. Chalcedony, garnet, citrine, and certain turquoise have always been a mainstay in my handmade jewelry collection. More recently though, all I want to work with is aquamarine. I’ve gone through many phases where I prefer to be working with a particular gemstone for a time, but it comes and then goes. In the past 6 weeks though, I've had to force myself to incorporate stones other than aquamarine into new designs. I've always thought it is a very aesthetically pleasing stone. Often, aquamarine has a "ruff cut" to it and so it is unique that way and seems to add a natural feel to whichever piece of artisan jewelry it is a part of. But, there are dozens of beautiful stones with unique traits.
The Tucson Gem Show, one of the biggest gem shows in the world, starts this week. There you will find multiple warehouses filled with tens of thousands of different stones. I was completely blown away the first time I went there. I had no clue that a production like this existed and would encourage anyone with even a slight interest in gemstones or making handcrafted jewelry to try and make the trip to this show just once. By the way, the Tuscon Gem show is going on right now. It lasts for 2 or 3 weeks. I typically try and knock it out in 2 or 3 days. But, if it is your first time, give yourself at least 5 days. It is spread throughout the entire city, and so there is a bit of navigation involved. What I’m getting at is that I’m far from limited to aquamarine when it comes to selection. So, I decided to investigate why.
I spend the majority of my day surrounded by gemstones. I’ve always been aware of the healing and spiritual properties of stones. In fact, the majority of the jewelry pieces on my website have those properties listed for the main stones featured in the piece. I’ve always loved the properties associated with rose quartz and smoky quartz. I’ve had one of each on my work desk for quite some time. Truthfully, most every stone has some amazing qualities and I like to think that I receive some of the benefits from being so closely associated with them.
My recent love affair with aquamarine got me thinking that I should pull out my trusty gemstone book and see what aquamarine is all about. I was pleased to find out. Obviously, I didn’t expect all of aquamarine’s properties to apply to me specifically. Some definitely caught my attention and were very applicable and some were a bit of a stretch, but were fun to explore nonetheless. ‘
One of the first properties that caught my attention is that aquamarine “increases psychic powers.” I’ve never considered myself much of a psychic, but would definitely not be opposed to tapping into that energy that we all seem to possess at different times, situations, and forms
Aquamarine is also said to “help identify liars.” This also isn’t at the top of my list of priorities, but I definitely would mind always knowing when someone is pulling my leg (I think). This seems like it would definitely benefit someone in a profession like a judge, cop, or middle school teacher. I have two 3 year olds and it doesn’t require any extra powers of discernment to know when one of them isn’t being completely forthright with me. I’m typically faced with situations where I am asking them “Who painted the wall” while they are standing there covered in the same paint.
Now, a bit more applicable to me is that aquamarine is said to “encourage creativity.” In early December, a nasty flu was running through my son’s elementary school. My son caught it a week before Christmas break and by Christmas our whole household was stricken. It lasted a week or so, but once it was over I had a really difficult time getting back into a jewelry groove. I’m sure that some of the problem was that I simply hadn’t worked for a few weeks, but I still felt like I was in a rut after getting back to work. This isn’t the first time I’d had this happen, but I still began to wrestle with the thought of “what if I never get my groove back?” Happily, I can say that I soon began to emerge from my holiday fog and have actually been having as much fun creatively as I can remember. Thanks aquamarine!!
“Aquamarine will also help you stay focused until you complete the project you've conceived with its help.” Same as everyone else, I’ve always got projects to complete and focus is the key ingredient to success. Whether it’s filling a large order for Sundance or trying to come up with the perfect line to land a new account, I’m usually doing so with something else tugging at me. This has been the story over the past 3 weeks and things have been running fairly smooth. It makes me think that I have been craving aquamarine for this purpose as well. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner which means things are about to get very chaotic on the website. I think I may just wear a piece with aquamarine around my neck….permanently!
Aquamarine is about confidence, serenity, peace and tranquility. I don’t know of anyone, including myself, who wouldn’t benefit from an extra dose of these attributes. I do consider aquamarine a very tranquil stone to work with. It is beautiful, but not overbearing. While designing a piece of handmade jewelry, I find that aquamarine does a nice job wherever it is used. If placed as a center stone, it becomes a beautiful focal point without swallowing the entire piece. If used as supplemental stone, it lends balance to a piece wherever needed. I believe that the aesthetic balance of aquamarine comes from the properties within the stone itself. Hopefully these properties do get transferred to the wearer as well as the maker (that’s me). This is the problem. Right now, I would like to use aquamarine for everything! Ok, it’s not that bad, but I wouldn’t mind if I really had to.
Who knows what the future will bring and what stone I will be swimming in next month. I definitely think that aquamarine is what my soul needs right now. I guess that I could browse my little book of gemstone properties and try and foresee what stone might benefit me, but I think I would rather go with the flow and let things take their course!