When it comes to making beautiful jewelry, gemstone beads are all the rage. There are a variety of precious and semi-precious stones to choose from. With all the shapes, sizes, and colors – from pale white to dark black – you can truly make every jewelry piece one of a kind.

Gemstone beads can be opaque, translucent, or clear. They can be used for necklaces, bracelets, anklets, earrings, hair accessories, and much more. They are simple to use and allow for a lot of customization. You can mix shapes, colors, and sizes for a contemporary look.

With so many types of gemstone beads to consider, which ones work best for beads? Here are some to consider:

 

    1. This bluish-green stone is made from the mineral beryl. It is often large in size. It is associated with tranquility and creativity.

    1. This beautiful green stone is linked to love and wealth. Emerald beads are believed to promote health by healing the immune system.

    1. Many jewelry makers love garnet for its warm red color. It works well with beads from other materials, especially gold and silver. Known for passion and love, garnet also matches most skin tones.

    1. Quartz comes in a variety of colors. Amethyst, smoky quartz, rose quartz, citrine, and rock crystal are all variations of quartz. These often come in round and chip shapes. These beads are often paired with sterling silver since that’s what customers have come to expect.

    1. Moonstone is another gemstone used for evoking passion. It is also associated with good fortune. Moonstone can be found in numerous colors, from blue, to green, to white, to peach, making it a perfect gemstone to spice up your jewelry.

    1. Onyx is known for banishing grief and bringing about marital happiness. It’s also useful for healing and relaxation, as well as breaking bad habits.

    1. Pearls are considered a highly feminine gemstone. They symbolize purity and innocence. Pearls have become trendy in recent years and are ideal for adding a touch of elegance and sophistication.

    1. Rubies embody passion, power, joy, and sexual energy. These red gems are also good for inspiring courage and protecting against bad luck.

    1. These gorgeous blue gems are known for helping wearers fulfill their dreams. They are also known to bring about joy and inner peace. In the past, they symbolized hope and suppressed evil thoughts.

    1. Beautiful topaz makes gorgeous gemstone jewelry. It comes in a variety of colors, such as yellow, gray, red, orange, green, blue, and pink. This stone promotes calmness and balance. It is associated with higher thinking, which made it a favorite among artists and scholars. Topaz also relieves tension and promotes kindness and compassion.


What to Look For


When it comes to finding the right gemstone beads, you want to look for the 4 Cs:

    1. While a smooth stone may look more refined, choose a bead that has more character – namely, more facets.

    1. Stones should be crystal clear. They should not be cloudy or black when under a microscope.

    1. Pale white stones sell for less than stones rich colors.

    1. The bigger, the better. Bigger stones cost more than smaller ones.


Working with Gemstone Beads


When using gemstone beads in your jewelry projects, consider the following.

    1. You can create necklaces and bracelets that contain just one color or multiple colors. When using multiple colors, consider beads in different hues or choose complementary colors instead of randomly stringing gems of a multitude of mismatched colors.

    1. While round shapes are the most popular for gemstones, there are many others to choose from. You can make an interesting piece of jewelry from cylinders, cubes, hexagons, squares, pyramids, teardrops, and other shapes.

    1. Beads typically range from 2 mm to 20 mm or larger. Instead of creating a necklace that uses beads of the same size, opt for an interesting look by using some smaller beads. You can use larger beads as the focal points and surround them by smaller beads.

  1. Facets are cut into the bead and allow it to sparkle more because of the refracting light. Facets add texture, which makes them more interesting, especially to consumers. Considering using them for the majority of beads on a bracelet or necklace.
February 22, 2017 — Arun Yadav