Spiny Oyster & Jewelry

Some of the most incredible Southwestern and Indian jewelry is made with Spiny Oyster beads. The colors of these beads vary from pink to purple and from light to deep orange. Spiny oyster beads come from the spiny oyster shell, or Spondylus, harvested from the Sea of Cortez, Baja California and Mexico. Different types of Spondylus may also be found in the warm waters off the coasts of Central and South America. Spondylus is Latin for “spines on its back,” which is appropriate for this beautify and difficult to harvest shell.

It was hard to find information about just the beads, but I did find out about the Spiny Oyster Shell from the Wikipedia. “Spondylus is a genus of bivalve mollusks, the only genus in the family Spondylidae. As well as being the systematic name, Spondylus is the most often used common name for these animals, though they are also known as thorny oysters or spiny oysters.

There are many species of Spondylus, and they vary considerably in appearance and range. They are grouped in the same super family as the scallops, but like the true oysters (family Ostreidae) they cement themselves to rocks, rather than attaching themselves by a byssus. Their key characteristic is that the two parts of their shells are hinged together with a ball and socket type of hinge, rather than a toothed hinge as is more common in other bivalves. Spondylus have multiple eyes around the edges of the shell, and they have a relatively well developed nervous system. Their nervous ganglia are concentrated in the visceral region, with recognizable optic lobes, connected to the eyes. Spondylus shells are much sought after by collectors, and there is a lively commercial market in them.

Archaeological evidence shows that people in Neolithic Europe were trading the shells of Spondylus gaederopus to make bangles and other ornaments as long as 5,000 years ago (Varna necropolis). The shells were harvested from the Aegean Sea but were transported far into the centre of the continent. In the LBK and Lengyel culture, Spondylus shells from the Aegean Sea were worked into bracelets and belt-buckles.

Spondylus princeps are also found off the coast of Ecuador, and have been important to Andean peoples since pre-Columbian times, serving as offerings to the Pachamama as well as some kind of currency. In fact much like in Europe the Spondylus shells also reached far and wide as pre-Hispanic Ecuadorian peoples traded them with peoples as far north as present-day Mexico and as far south as the central Andes. The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped animals and the sea and often depicted Spondylus shells in their art.


Browse our online shop to purchase designs in spiny oyster!

*Parts have been reprinted from the Wikipedia.

Mix of Natural Stones & Crystals

These two new designs are a mix using natural stones and crystals; creating a twist on both natural stone and bling of crystals for lovely statement pieces.

This first piece (to the right) has a unique focal pendant in dragon skin jasper with shades of pink-peach-red-tans. It is highlighted with medium colored round peach aventurine, lime green magnesite (dyed/stabilized), small smooth round silver beads and mixed with faceted crystals of smoky and pink/peach rondelles. The dangle earrings match perfectly in the same stones/crystals with a handcrafted swirl of non-tarnish silver wire.

Piece number two (to the left) shows of a very lovely murano glass pendant with a flower configuration inside; colors of peach, blue, green, and cream against a black background; highlighted by light peach aventurine rounds, sodalite disk rondelles, and chunky green prehnite. The crystals are faceted iridescent rondelles in clear and peach/pink. The dangle earrings are of the same stones/crystals with swirl handcrafted in non-tarnish silver wire.

Browse our online shop for these and many other unique mixes from stone, crystal and metals.

Dolomie to Dolomite

Named after French mineralogist D. de Dolomieu (1750-1801), who described it in 1798 during a visit to Egypt with Napoleon Bonaparte. The mineral’s original name was dolomie. It is used in manufacturing of refractory bricks for furnace linings. The mineral is composed of calcium and magnesium carbonate, being similar to calcite. Dolomite is found in metamorphic marble rock and occurs as a gangue mineral in veins with sphalerite or galena. Its most important occurrence, however, is as a rock-forming mineral in carbonate rocks. Crystals are commonly rhombohedral or tabular, and often have curved faces. Dolomite can be coarse to fine granular, massive or fibrous, which is rarely seen. Pearl spar is a variety with a pearly luster and colored white, gray or pale brown. Bitter spar is an iron-bearing variety, colored brown by ankerite.




This piece is a touch of Indian Southwest design using a beautifully cut and polished Dolomite pendant; accented with Arizona Pipestone and Ivoryite with a touch of silver/pewter throughout.


Find this and many other unique designs available for purchase from our collections.
*Research from various gem/mineral books and website.

Fossil Ammonite Turquoise

Ammonites are absolutely beautiful fossils and they come in a vast array of color combinations from cool black to crisp fall colors of green, beige, brown and anything in-between. This new design features a handcrafted with brass non-tarnish wire nicely sized Ammonite pendant that has a fiery (slightly red) shimmery backside, which just adds to the dimension of the fossil as a focal pendant in this piece. To bring out the brilliant colors, I paired it with Arizona Turquoise chips and Ivoryite, a hint of faceted light Topaz crystals and gold spacers. A gold vermeil textured toggle and dangle teardrop hoop style earrings to match.





















This and many other custom handcrafted designs are available at our website.

Unusual Old World Style

A great find from our Tucson trip in a Madagascar Goniatites; but it’s not in the usual black/brown/white colors. This one is cream/brown shades and has a small amount of ‘fiery’ opec reflection that catches the light every now and again and a very tiny amount of dark green leafy patterns on the one side. There is also some ‘ribbing’ on the fossil, giving it a nice texture in such a large sample. To accent and bring out more of the earthy tones, I paired it with very nice colored ceramic Tibetan beads that are filigree bronzy/coppery end-caps and Coral chips (dyes) in a variety of earthly tones; the wiring is handcrafted in non-tarnish brass to highlight the entire stone and necklace.





This piece along with many others is available on our website for purchase.
Coral is known to protect against negative energy while also preventing loss of energy; it also symbolizes joy and happiness, to bring enjoyment in life to the wearer.

A Stone of a Different Horse

Discovered in the mid-90’s near the Globe copper mine in the Gila wilderness area of southern Arizona, Wild Horse is naturally striking and beautiful. It is often called “Wild Horse Turquoise” however the composite is not the same as Turquoise. It is a mixture of Magnesite and hematite, generally white with brown or purple matrix veining; no two Wild Horse stones are the same retaining a high value and making it remarkably popular among jewelry designers and mineral collectors.



This design highlights the magnificent colors of Wild Horse Magnesite, deep shades of purple and a little bit of black matrix, capped with swirled pewter end-caps. For sparkle we’ve added Swarovski faceted Crystals in a pale shade of pink/purple and finished with freshwater cultured Pearls in a matching pale color of purple and bronze/copper.


Browse our collections for this and other custom designed jewelry pieces in natural stones.

Petoskey Fossil Coral

Homegrown and commonly found along the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron in the United States is the water stone Petoskey Fossil Coral. A Petoskey stone is a rock and a fossil, often found in the shapes of pebbles and composed of fossilized coral, Hexagonaria percarinata. These corals colonized Michigan in the Devonian period, about 350 million years ago when most of Michigan was submerged under water. The stones were formed as a result of glaciations, in which sheets of ice plucked stones from the bedrock, grinding off their rough edges and depositing them in the northwestern portion of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

The name of the stone is a derivation of the name Petosegay, the name given to the son of a Frenchman who married an Ottwa Indian princess and later became the tribes’ chief. According to legend, Petosegay was the child of a descendant of French nobleman and fur trader, Antoine Carre and an Ottawa princess. Petosegay, meaning "rising sun", "rays of dawn" or "sunbeams of promise", was named after the rays of sun that fell upon his newborn face. In keeping with his promising name, Petosegay was a wealthy fur trader who gained much land and acclaim for himself and his tribe. He was remarked upon to have a striking and appealing appearance, and spoke English very well. He married another Ottawa, and together they had two daughters and eight sons. In the summer of 1873, a few years before the Chiefs' passing, a city began on his land along Little Traverse Bay. The settlers christened the newborn city Petoskey, the English translation of Petosegay

This new piece is made from Petoskey Fossil Coral and Denim Lapis with many silver spaces in-between. The website has this and many other custom pieces available for purchase.




*From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and various lapidary websites.

Heard of Polyhedral Agate

My father-in-law at Jewelry by CnC researches and collects some of the most unusual, unique and awesome mineral and rock specimens. Here is one that he found at Tucson a few years back and is now hitting the market at incredible prices, due mostly in part because it difficult to get and also for its unusual form and uniqueness.

A very unusual form of Agate comes from Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is known as a Polyhedral Agate and is formed by silica replacing the normal calcite resulting in a highly angular form within the rocks instead of the usual sub-spherical forms as normally seen.

These polyhedral quartz pseudomorphs without calcite were mined during the 1970’s and have since then become increasingly uncommon in today's market, with most examples appearing as thin slabs, normally polished front and back to show off the natural beauty of the agate. It's sharp polyhedral form is entirely natural in origin.

Many of the beautiful Agates coming from Minas Gerais today, like the one seen here to the right, will have some slightly pointed sections to their designs, indicating that there is still some silica within the calcite in the Agate itself.

Collectors scramble to obtain samples of a Polyhedral Agate, especially one that still is made up of most of the rock as in this example to the right from an upcoming Australian mineral auction.


Thanks to Lee at Jewelry by CnC for the research and pictures.