Higher End Gemstone Products
As promised, we’ve been adding a LOT Of new faceted gemstone beads and pendants we picked up at the Tucson Gem Shows. We are shooting for a wide diversity of items and a wider range of quality than we have carried in the past.
For those of you familiar with buying gemstones, it is rather challenging. In any given shape, size and cut for a given stone, lets say Labradorite, there may 5 or more “grades” of quality. The quality comes from the cut and shape, the consistancy of the beads on a given strand, the color and transparancy, the overall size and drilling of the holes, and many other factors. As you pick up the highest quality strands at a show, even an untrained eye can tell some difference. But when you sell your products only online as we do, its very hard to convey the difference in quality in a picture and a description. Hence, people are hesitant to spend the extra money on the highest quality strands. The price range for a strand of 4mm Faceted Labradorite Rondelle may range from $3 to $30. When you wander into Emeralds, that range is much, much broader.
We’ve always tended toward offering items with more “value” in the middle of the quality spectrum. When we find acceptable lower end items we sell them as “economy” or “sale” offerings as appropriate. In our recent product surveys, we’ve been asked repeatedly to carry some higher end offerings in a wide range of stones. We are starting to dip our toes into those products, but we are going move up the quality chain slowly. You will see some of those offerings added to abeadstore.com in the next few weeks. We’ll also be creating a special category in the store to market the “best quality” gemstone, pearl, and metal items.
Here’s a few really nice higher end gemstone selections we added yesterday!
Multi-color Aquamarine Rondelles
Shortening a Long Pearl Necklace
We added a Sterling Silver Pearl Shortener Clasp to our stores about a year ago and have been amazed at the success we’ve had selling the product. We have not been able to keep it in stock because of the demand. We did not realize there were that many long pearl necklaces out there!
For those of you not famliar with these functional clasps, here is a brief explanation of why you may want a Pearl Shortener Clasp, and how to use one:
You may wear a long continuous strand of pearls as a chocker necklace using these special necklace shortener clasp findings. They are hinged and have a snap closure. They will not damage your pearls or beads. Some people also call these findings a twister clasp.

To use this type of finding, just fold your strand of pearls or beads in half. Collect each end of the folded necklace in the clasp ring, then clasp the doubled strand around your neck. Try the same approach with uneven lengths of the necklace for a long & short strand look! Example picture shows a sterling silver pearl shortener used with 5mm Potato pearls.
We just added a larger, Silver Plated Pearl Shortner and will soon be adding a Gold Plated version of the clasp pictured below. Check them out!
Beading Contest Winners
Thanks to everyone who entered and voted in our Winter 2010 Beading Contest. The number of entries (120+) and the number of votes (1000+) both exceeded expectations. We hope you all enjoyed the event and are inspired by the wide variety of fantastic designs! See all the winners and entrants.
Here are the winners:
First Prize Traditional Category & Grand Prize Winner - $200 Gift Certificate
“Take Me to the River” by Susan Doktor

First Prize Winner Eclectic Category - $100 Gift Certificate
“Emerald Cuff” by Yoshi Kato

First Prize Winner Contemporary Category - $100 Gift Certificate
“Taylor” by Nas Garces-Perlas

Random Prize Winner
“Ocean Dreams” by Pamela Raskin - $100 Gift Certificate

Hard to Find Items
One thing we love about the Tucson Gem Show is the opportunity to pick up hard to find items. An example is the Copper Stardust Curved Spacer Beads pictured below. We found these several years ago and they sold out instantly. Subsequently, we added simliar items in silver and vermeil which sold out instantly.
Then, as frequently happens in this industry, we could not find any replacements from any of our vendors. So, our customers were disappointed, we were disappointed, but we all went on to something else that is hard to replace.
Well, they’re back! This time we found them in both 8mm and 10mm sizes in Solid Copper. We also have them in Sterling Silver and Vermeil again as well. Find them all in our New Beads @abeadstore.com.










