JTV Blog

JTV World Tour: Mozambique - Aquamarine, Tourmaline, Topaz, Spinel, Amethyst and More

Hop on board the JTV World Tour as we take you to Mozambique! Join JTV all weekend long as we bring you incredible savings in the gemstones and jewelry from this prolific location. Senior Gemstones Buyer for Jewelry Television, George Williams, takes us behind the scenes in the Mozambigue gemstone trade.

From George: The Mozambique Paraiba tourmaline mine is about 3 hours drive from the city of Nampula, which is in the northern part of the country, about two hours by jet from the capital of Maputo, and about 350 miles from the Tanzanian border.  The particular mine I visited is now the only working Paraiba tourmaline mine in the country. The immediate neighboring mine, which was prolific a few years ago, has not been working legally for over a year, and has no washing capabilities. (View photos of the trip on the Jewelry Television facebook page.) Outside of the Brazilian Paraiba deposit, where production has been practically non-existent for years, this is the only copper-bearing tourmaline ever found that imitates those sought after tourmaline colors famously known as Paraiba. You can see why we are so excited to have the inventory of Paraiba tourmaline that we currently have at JTV, and why we are constantly on the lookout for more production of this rare gemstone.
 
Mozambique is also famous for its production of morganite, especially the fine pink to rich apricot colored varieties that we brand as “Cor de Rosa”. All of JTV's Cor de Rosa brand morganite must fit into a predetermined color quality range. Unfortunately, all the past production was a bi-product from a large tantalum mining project in an area called Marropino. The company has since made a cut into a new pegmatite which, to our sorrow, is not producing morganite of the same quality as Marropino, and it is not cost effective to go after the morganite only. We have secured enough “old” rough production to last through this year only, and we can only hope that changes.
 
Mozambique also produces aquamarine of good color, but more importantly, in bigger sizes (8x6 to 14x10) – similar to the Chinese Altai in quality, but much bigger in size.

 

Margot Potter for Jewel School by JTV: Controlled Chaos Bracelet Design

Fresh springtime colors make this freeform wire design pretty and feminine.  You can use any beads you choose; I’ve featured our deliciously bright cracked quartz beads.  This makes a fun bracelet OR if this doesn’t suit your fashion style, they make fabulous napkin rings!  Wire wrap some glass stems to match and bring your jewelry making skills into your table settings!  The key here is to let go and let this design happen organically.  I call this ‘intuitive design,’ this is like doodling with wire.  There are no patterns or rules, which can be a little scary but it’s very creatively freeing!  This is a slide on bangle style, so you’ll have to adjust the length (and bead counts) to fit your wrist. - Margot

"Controlled Chaos" Bracelet by Margot Potter for Jewel School by JTV

Materials List from Jewel School by JTV

JLW3355H 5 hot pink cracked quartz rondelles
JLW3355E 4 10x7mm green cracked quartz rondelles
JLW3355C 5 yellow cracked quartz rondelles
JSWR52S 20 gauge German style round wire 
JSWR52I 24 gauge German style round wire
JLW1782A 6mm silver plated jump ring

Tools List from Jewel School by JTV

PLIER27 2 pairs Round nose pliers
PLIER22 Chain nose pliers
PLIER25 Flush cutters

1.  Cut off a 3-4’ length of 20 gauge wire from spool.  Use your round nose pliers to create a small loop in one end of the wire.  Using the round nose pliers, begin bending and looping the wire in a linear fashion.  The bends and loops should be approximately .5” in width.  Continue bending and looping and allow yourself to just enjoy the process and not worry too much about how ‘pretty’ or ‘orderly’ this looks.  It’s meant to be like doodling.  Turn off the inner critic and say hello to the inner artist!

2.  When you reach a length that fits your wrist and can slide over your knuckles, loop the end and attach them together.  Make this a little large as the bead and wire bindings will tighten things up.  Unhook the ends to wrap the beads around the core design.

3.  To begin binding the beads to the base bracelet, cut off a 3.5’ segment of 24 gauge wire.  Wrap the wire around one of your first bends three times tightly.

4.  Cut of excess wire and tuck tail flush to core wire using chain nose pliers.

5.  Add a bead, wrap three more times.  The beads work their way along the bracelet, they should be spaced about .25-.5” apart.  The working wire will span segments of the core wire, this adds to the organic appeal of the design.  You can add more beads or fewer beads, but the more beads you add, the tighter the bindings become so adjust for that when you make the core bracelet.

6.  When you reach the end of your core bracelet, wrap the working wire around the core wire three times tightly, cut excess wire and tuck under with chain nose pliers.  Don’t leave either of your wire ends sticking out or it will be uncomfortable to wear this bracelet!

7.  Reattach the loops at both ends of your bracelet using the chain nose pliers to open a loop and slide it into the opposite loop. 

8.  Create three freeform dangles using one of each color of your beads.  Again, this is meant to be chaotic, so just bend and loop the wire a time or two, slide on your bead and working towards the widest end of your round nose pliers create a long coiled loop at the top of the bead.  Nip off excess wire and tuck under with your chain nose pliers.  Attach the three beads to a jump ring and slide this into one of the loops at the end of your core bracelet and secure closed.

JTV World Tour: Mozambique and Nigeria - Tourmaline Mining

Follow the JTV World Tour to Mozambique and Nigeria!  In Mozambique, the gemstone tourmaline is primarily an alluvial deposit and is mined near the surface.  Watch this amazing video for the whole process of mining precious tourmaline! Shop tourmaline gemstones and jewelry at JTV and JTV.com.

Jewelry for the Kids In Your Life: Easter Basket to Spring Formal to Wedding and Beyond

One of the many things I love about working for Jewelry Television is that I can shop for fine jewelry and genuine gemstones for my friends and family while I'm at work! It's only Tuesday, and already I have purchased a necklace for my grandmother, helped my friend pick out children's jewelry to go in her little girl's Easter basket, and helped my niece select real jewelry to perfectly accessorize her prom look--there's no need to settle for costume jewelry when JTV is around, right? Later this month, I will attend a co-worker's wedding, and I just may need to pick up a new pair of earrings to go with my dress. And I just cannot get enough of JTV's Spring Unique Jewelry Trend, Natural Charm. What's on your spring jewelry shopping list?  - Dana Sebby, JTV.com Online Community Manager

Here are few photos from this week's trend, Natural Charm:

JTV.com item number FAH008C, mother-of-pearl bangle, under $20.00

JTV.com item number JWN225T, watch and purse, under $25.00

  JTV.com item number FPW005E, mother-of-pearl sterling silver earrings, under $25.00

 

Gemstones That Can Fool You

Every year on April 1st we pranksters like to celebrate April Fool's day, tricking our friends into believing a tale that is, in reality, a harmless falsehood. We let the person squirm until the very last moment before we exclaim, "April Fools!" A good example is saying to a co-worker, in your best "sincerely concerned" voice, "Dude! What happened to your car?" As they rush to the parking lot to inspect the damage--you guessed it--call out "April Fool's!" Our friend laughs in relief, saves a trip to the parking lot, and all is well again. (Hard core pranksters let their friends run all the way to their car, only to find a note on the windshield reading "April Fool's".)

Gemstones have been playing "tricks" on us for centuries, and not just on April Fool's Day! History tells us that Cleopatra's famous emeralds were most likely the "evening emerald"--peridot. Even experienced jewelers can be fooled by a fine quality colorless zircon, mistaking it for white diamond. Most every gemstone enthusiast is familiar with "The Black Prince Ruby", which turned out to be a spinel, a gemological indicator for ruby sometimes found near ruby deposits. And apatite? It gets its very name from the Greek word "apate", meaning to deceive, because it was commonly mistaken for beryl and peridot. Some of JTV's Paraiba-color apatite give the much more rare (and much more expensive) Paraiba tourmaline a run for its money in color and beauty.

No one wants to be in the position of wishing it was just a harmless prank when they realize their ruby is actually a less valuable spinel, so it pays to educate yourself when it comes to buying gems. JTV does its best to educate our customers and arm them with the tools they need when navigating the "tricky" world of gems. Stay tuned all weekend long for more valuable gemstone information, plus Value Shipping and special pricing on diamonds, sapphire, spinel, as well as  fine jewelry only on Jewelry Television and jtv.com. - Dana Sebby, Online Community Manager, JTV.com