New Arrivals at Beads of Cambay

WE SEARCH THE WORLD

At Beads of Cambay, we scour the world’s bead markets for the best products to offer our clients. With the variety available – from gemstones, to metal chains, to focal beads, to specialty beads – you’re sure to find the beads you’ve been looking for to complete that favorite beading project.

To help you feed your passion for beading, here’s a hint of some of the fantastic finds waiting for you at Beads of Cambay.

AUSTRALIAN OPAL

About 95 percent of the world’s opal mined for use in jewelry comes from Australia. There are a few other countries where opal can be mined but Australian opal is considered to be the finest in the world.

Opals are known for their rich glittering of color that gives them their unmatched mystique and splendor. The trademark iridescent color flashes change with the angle at which an opal is viewed. This phenomenon, known as opalescence, is even named after the gemstone. The color flashes can consist of individual, large flashes of color or much denser, tiny sparks. The distribution and intensity of these flashes of color is a major factor in determining the value of an opal.

TURQUOISE

Turquoise was favored by the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Aztec Kings of the Americas. It has been the gemstone most consistently prized by U.S. Native Americans of the southwest since about 200 B.C. Although the combination of turquoise and silver is generally believed to be the traditional look for “Indian style” jewelry, there is little to suggest this combination of gemstone and silver was practiced before the 1880s.

Naturally occurring blue minerals are rare, which explains the immense popularity of turquoise on the world’s gemstone markets. The sky blue or robin’s-egg blue is the most desirable color, and, therefore, the most expensive. The blue-green stones are second in popularity to the blue, with the yellow-green color generally the less expensive of the turquoise stones.

MOONSTONE

The most well-known member of the feldspar group is moonstone. Although the feldspars are a group of closely related minerals that are the most abundant in the Earth’s crust, it is the unique play of color from the moonstone that makes it a prized gemstone. The glow of a moonstone, technically known as adularescence, gives the stone a glowing sheen that seems to roll in waves across the gem’s surface as you change the viewing angle. This incredible radiance resembles moonlight. Hence, the name.

Since the earliest times of history, moonstone has been considered to be a connection to the magic of the moon. It was used as amulets of protection for travelers and a gift between lovers to honor their passion. It was seen as a stone for the channeling of prophecy and meditation with its luminescence as a path to wisdom.

Moonstone with a high degree of transparency is the most desirable and, thus, the most valuable. The color of the stone can also impact its value, with moonstones of a bluish color sheen consistently in demand and higher in value.

New arrivals at Beads of Cambay include white, gray, peach, chocolate, and rainbow moonstone faceted rondelles in silver and gold chain-link strands. We also offer moonstone pendants in various sizes and shapes, some with white CZ bezel and gold-leaf connectors. Moonstone is a popular gemstone for all bead shapes, from heishi to tube beads, to large focal beads, to bezel-encased cabochons. Our wide selection of moonstone beads is one of the best you’ll find.

AMETHYST

Amethyst is the popular purple-colored variety of the mineral quartz. It is the most valuable and sought-after variety of that mineral. The color of some amethysts from specific locales may slowly fade when exposed to light for a prolonged period of time. For this reason, amethyst used as gemstones today may routinely be treated with heat to deepen the color.

Amethyst has been a treasured gemstone throughout history. The early Greeks believed that the gemstone could protect a person from the effects of consuming too much alcohol. It was believed that one could drink wine from a goblet made of amethyst without experiencing wine’s normal inebriating effects. Amethyst bracelets were also worn as antidotes to poison and as protection against harm in battle.

Amethyst remains a popular gemstone for jewelry, from earrings to necklaces, bracelets to rings. Beads of Cambay’s new arrivals include amethyst strands in various sizes and hues. If chain-linked rondelles are your favorite, we have amethyst in silver, gold, and black gold chain in strands containing approximately 32 pieces each.

QUARTZ

Quartz is one of the most well-known and easily recognizable minerals on earth. It can be found in a multitude of forms and colors. Some forms of quartz may have their colors enhanced in the gemstone forms.

If you’re looking for focal beads or linking beads of clear, smoky, or black quartz, check out the new arrivals section of Beads of Cambay.

LAPIS LAZULI

This blue metamorphic stone is sometimes known simply as “lapis.” It has been used as a gemstone, as sculpting material, and carved and polished for inclusion in ornamental designs for thousands of years. Unlike other gemstones, lapis lazuli is a rock composed of several minerals rather than a pure mineral.

Afghanistan is the leading source for lapis lazuli and has been mined for thousands of years in some parts of that country. Evidence suggests lapis lazuli was used to make beads, as inclusions in small jewelry items and as the base for small sculptures, as early as 7000 B.C. It has been found in many Egyptian archaeological sites dating back to as early as 3000 B.C. Not only did the Egyptians use it in jewelry and ornamental objects, they used powdered lapis as a cosmetic and pigment.

For purposes of gemstones, solid blue lapis or solid blue with a few inclusions of gold pyrite are the most desirable specimens of lapis. It is still popular in jewelry and ornamental objects. In the new arrivals section on Beads of Cambay, lapis lazuli is available in gold leafed faceted tube connector beads, in round connector beads with black gold bezeled white CZ, and in strands of faceted beads in various shapes.

TOPAZ

The term “topaz” has been used as the identifying name for yellowish colored gemstones traded for at least 2000 years. About 200 years ago, gemstone traders began to realize that the yellowish gems they traded could be topaz, quartz, beryl, olivine, or other minerals. Today, gemologists can recognize topaz in its full range of natural colors.

Beginning in the 1970s, the most common color for topaz gemstones was generally a shade of blue. This blue color is not often naturally occurring, but rather produced by treatments that convert a less expensive colorless topaz into a more desirable blue hue.

Beads of Cambay offers you a selection of yellowish hues of Imperial topaz in strands of tube beads.

BANDED AGATE

Agate is a stone bound to human history. Some of the earliest primitive stone tools found in the Omo Valley in Ethiopia, dating to man’s ancestors 2.5 million years ago, were made of varieties of quartz agate.

It is the endless variety in the agates that helps keep them at the top of the list of popular gemstones. The many distinctive styles and patterns make each agate unique, with no two agates being the same.

Beads of Cambay offers a variety of banded agate and denim blue opal in strands of beads. There are multiple shapes, varying from coin beads, to pear shaped, to faceted beads.

RUBY

Rubies are a rare gemstone. Large-size rubies that are transparent are even rarer than diamonds. It has traditionally been a stone of nobility, even being named the king of stones and queen of gems. A ruby has historically been considered a talisman for passion, protection, and prosperity. It was believed to symbolize the sun because its glowing red hue suggests a flame within the stone that cannot be extinguished.

Natural rubies are one of the four gemstones that are considered “precious.” These stones are rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires. Today, rubies continue to be highly valued because of their rarity and beauty.

Ruby beads are available in the new arrivals sections of Beads of Cambay. They are available on a strand of approximately 50 round faceted beads. Strands of faceted cube ruby beads of about 30 pieces are also offered for your beading projects. Focal beads of faceted ruby with black gold and gold bezel are available in a variety of shapes.

CHAINS

Beads of Cambay offers a wide variety of gemstones in a linked chain that is available by the foot. Pink Peru Opal, amethyst faceted beads, faceted carnelian, and labradorite are only a few examples of the gemstone beads and rondelles you can get in chain-link lengths by the foot. 

QUALITY, VARIETY, EXCELLENT PRICE

Beads of Cambay can be the only beading supply source you’ll need. Check out our website and browse through our massive selection of quality gemstone beads, metal chains, and findings.

Whether you’re looking for a few special focal beads to complete a favorite beading project, or you’re in need of a length of chain with some gorgeous gemstone rondelles to accent a gemstone pendant, top it off with the findings to complete your project, and you’ve got everything you need from one source.

High quality, incredible variety, and excellent price. It doesn’t get much better than this.