Materials

Jade

Jades come in an amazing array of colours; yellow, gold, burnt orange, white, lavender, grey, black, brown, tan, and many different greens such spinach, apple green, emerald, moss and celadon. Antique jades I buy whenever I can, but they are becoming more scarce and expensive. Burma jade has a beautiful lustre and can be interestingly carved. Sometimes the carver chooses a jade stone combining 2 or 3 colours which he highlights in contrasting tones, such as a monkey in celadon jade, hiding behind a burnt orange banana leaf. Even the reproduced antique jades are a delight, but for the best choice, it means China. The jades always have an appealing story within.

Buckles and Thumb Guards

The Chinese relished the use of belts, and with belts, a buckle is essential equipment. The buckle, especially antique ones, can make stunning pendants. Jade thumb guards were used by archers or simply as thumb decoration

Turquoise

For pendants, I am always drawn to the antique stone because of its warmth, variety and shading. Turquoise has a surprising range of colours, from the various blues to greens, yellows, black and even browns. Some turquoise comes from China and Tibet, others from the US, Iran, and Mexico to name a few. I mostly use natural turquoise and what is called ‘stabilized turquoise’, which is natural but too porous to hold its lustre, so it is then infused with a clear resin. Under pressure, the resin is absorbed into the rock and permanently hardens and deepens in colour. Very occasionally I will use treated turquoise mainly for its colour, carving or shape

Amber

Once, the resin from pine trees, it takes 45 million years to create this rich, light organic substance, found mainly but not exclusively in the Baltic countries. I use natural and antique amber. Copal is much more recent resin, between 100 and 1000 years old. It has a brighter, brasher look, effective for certain designs and combinations.

Ivory and bone

As for Ivory, only the antique is used for my necklaces. Similarly with bone. However, bone, in particular cow bone, is not an endangered substance, so contemporary designs are quite useful.

Wood

The wooden elements come mostly from China, being hand carved and rich in patina, particularly when in the detailed shapes of the tiny boxwood netsukes. Antique sandalwood when available not only gives a wonderful colour but scent as well.

Pearls

I only use the cultured freshwater variety of a good, lustrous quality and size. The freshwater oyster produces 30 pearls per oyster thus reducing the cost of pearls. But the nacre on the pearls I choose is every bit as good as the salt water variety. Colour is usually achieved by placing the pearls in a sealed jar of water and dye with a tiny electric current. This slowly takes place over a period of time, changing the pearl to the delicate pastels now available.

Silver

At times I use Victorian silver, but more often I work with hand made silver from the Karen Hill Tribes in Thailand. Each bead is hand worked or woven and is a tiny work of art in itself. I also use rhodium silver from Korea, made from moulds and hand worked, and silver from Indonesia and India.

Vermeil, gold, antique bronze and brass

I love the yellow antique gold from Afghanistan and India but the use of gold makes a necklace much more expensive. Vermeil is 14kt. gold plated over silver. As the vermeil ages, it takes on a lovely gold/ silver worn look. The antique bronze and brass comes from West Africa and is made by the lost wax method.

Shells, seeds and horn

I use the polished seeds taken from the Bodhi tree under which Buddha was said to have sat. Occasionally I work with treated shells and natural horn from cows.

Glass

I cannot resist the hand blown glass the Chinese are now making, along with the Venetian glass, hand blown Indian glass, antique re-cycled glass from Ghana, antique Peking glass and Victorian hand blown glass.

Stones

On the whole I choose natural colours, vibrant or subtle. But occasionally I will use heat treated materials because of their stunning shades. The following semi-precious stones are less familiar but are frequently used:

Amazonite

a blue green feldspar from Russia and the US

Apatite

a green, blue, grey or yellow crystalline phosphate from Mexico

Aventurine

a green quartz, with small mica crystals, it is sometimes also in yellow, orange, blue, mainly from India

Chalcedony

a white to sky blue fibrous quartz, even green, it has a waxy translucent lustre, and comes from India, Burma, Brazil, Mexico and the US

Chiastolite

a brown island silicate of the andalusite family with a cruciform inclusion, from Chile

Chrysocolla

a blue/green ring silicate from the US and Peru

Chrysoprase

an apple green translucent quartz of chalcedony which obtains its colour from nickel traces. It is from Australian but is a rare stone

Kyanite

a blue island silicate from Brazil

Fluorite

a calcium fluoride crystal, quite delicate and soft, in green, blue, violet, yellow and clear, found in the US, Germany, Kenya and Mexico. It gets its name because under ultraviolet light it is very fluorescent.

Labradorite

a tan/grey iridescent feldspar from Madagascar

Mookaite

an oxide quartz in red, yellow and beige marbled, from Australia

Moss Agate and ladorite

a clear quartz with moss green inclusions and a clear crystal with coloured inclusions, sometimes called landscape agate because it looks like a window view of a landscape.

Prehnite

a grey/green silicate from India

Rhodonite

a chain silicate in pinks from the US

Rutilated Quartz

clear quartz crystal with gold, copper red or brown fibre inclusions

Sugilite

a ring silicate, in violet colour. Very rare, found in Japan and South Africa

Tourmaline Quartz

a rock crystal with black tourmaline needle inclusions, from Brazil

Unakite

a pistachio green and pink silicate from the US