A Sunken Ship in Mobile Form

These nautical asymetrical earrings were made yesterday by taking some pieces from broken vintage brooches and earrings and combining them with various natural and man-made beads. The toughest part? Ah, what we all seek: Balance.

It definitely took some trial and error to hang the beads just so. I've decided to keep these earrings for myself instead of posting them up for sale. They can't be replicated without more vintage brooches to take apart, and I would hate to say goodbye to the only pair. Little whales, anchors, steering wheels--these charms exist somewhere in a beading store, but that would entail more time than I have to go look for them, especially considering all the jewelry I have to work on at the moment.

A naming of materials in this pair (in case anyone wanted to create a similar pair of earrings themselves, or was simply curious):

Gold plated French hooks and wire
Copper plated metal
Clear plastic faceted beads
Glass flower bead
Aqua terra jasper rectangular bead

Blue Agate stones
Cat eye beads of various colors
Metal bead

Although this pair is not for sale, I have visions of a collection of mobile earrings dancing in my head. A trend of mobile earrings would be amazing--not only because they are so fun to wear, but also because they are a ton of fun to make. Coming soon (perhaps?)...

California and the Serpentine Debacle

   Serpentine is a natural stone commonly used in jewelry making and carved stone art. It can come in many colors ranging from white to yellow to green to brown to black. Why is such a beautiful stone coming under attack in California? Because the word “asbestos” is being tossed around recklessly.

So, the more important question remains: Can one get sick from wearing serpentine jewelry?

The bottom line: NO! There is nothing wrong with or dangerous about wearing serpentine jewelry. Don’t let the yahoos who know nothing about geology scare you off from some really gorgeous works of serpentine jewelry.

Senator Gloria Romero of California is on a crusade against asbestos, prompted by a heavily equipped (i.e. with oodles and oodles of money) mesothelioma lobby. Which is fine, actually. Mesothelioma is a terrible cancer and we should not make little of the fact that asbestos is a known carcinogen. Nonetheless, her plan of displacing serpentine as the State Rock of California is a desultory move at best, because (and this is important now):

1) Not all serpentine contains asbestos. Moreover, not all the rocks with asbestos content can readily free asbestos fibers. The forms of serpentine usually used for making jewelry, many commonly found in California, have little to no asbestos content, or cannot release the asbestos as an airborne fiber. NON-FIBROUS serpentine is totally SAFE.

2) Serpentine can only contain crysotile, a less dangerous form of asbestos.

3) It is extremely rare today for someone to get mesothelioma outside of an occupational environment (mining for crysotile, for instance).

4) All the money used in legislation and bureaucracy regarding this symbolic dethroning of asbestos would be much better used to fund research into mesothelioma and programs for victims of this disease.

Discussion follows:

Antigorite is almost always the type of serpentine we see in jewelry. It is rare for antigorite (or lizardite, another form of serpentine that is used often for marble flooring) to form fibrous serpentine asbestos. Bowenite, a hard stone and a type of antigorite, is widely used in carving and formed into cabochons—it is also the State Rock of Rhode Island. Why not get rid of it as well because of its tenuous relationship with asbestos?

Two types of asbestos exist: crysotile from serpentine and amphibole from several types of rocks. Crysotile is far less dangerous to breathe because its curly/wavy fibers are less prone to being lodged in our bodies (amphibole asbestos is composed of straight, piercing fibers). The highly carcinogenic asbestos from the amphibole group has been banned from most of the western world since the 1980s. It should be noted, however, that almost all of the asbestos used in American buildings is crysotile (about 95%), and though it is difficult to get sick, it is absolutely possible to inhale loose fibers of asbestos from the crysotile found in older buildings. Non-fibrous serpentine exists, however, and it will never flake off asbestos and become lodged in your body—it is a shame that the Californian legislature does not understand that.

Some will say, did you know that tens of thousands of people have died from asbestos related diseases? Indeed, back when we had no idea of the problems it could cause, many people were over-exposed to the asbestos fibers (including the more vicious amphibole type of asbestos). Today, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has put into place many, many regulations to protect the health of miners and construction workers dealing with asbestos. Here’s some food for thought:

“In a 1999 National Academy of Sciences (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. vol. 96) study on the health effects on miners exposed to grunerite asbestos, the researchers concluded the lifetime risk of death by lung cancer and mesothelioma for the miners was similar to that of being killed by a lightning strike or by a plane falling from the sky (averaged over the entire U.S.).”

Also keep in mind that over-exposure to any chemical—even some of the most quotidien and useful ones—causes detrimental results. Gasoline contains many known carcinogens and ammonia gives you brain damage. Inhaling stone particles will never be healthy: quartz, the most common mineral we can dig up, can lead to silicosis if one breathes silica dust. There is no legitimate reason for anyone to attack serpentine alone.

California politicians have bigger things to deal with than rocks. Budget, maybe? Sheer foolishness.

The Low Down on Crystal, Part 5

What is Rock Crystal?
Part 5 of 5 on understanding crystal as a material

This is just a name for quartz stones. Quartz comes in a huge variety of colors, and it is not a particular clear material. The clearest quartz is often called Crystal Quartz. Rock crystal is great for jewelry as it can be cut into many different shapes, and larger pieces are found in nature so stunning pendants can be created. Often stones are simply tumbled and polished, and can give a very organic, earthy look to jewelry.

For chandeliers, however, or if you are concerned about sparkle and shine, this is not the crystal you are looking for. Rock crystal has no lead content, and even the Crystal Quartz mentioned above is not as clear as glass. Just keep that in mind if someone ever suggests you use rock crystal on your lighting fixture (I have seen chandelier crystal stores sell this stuff!).