CURRENT OBSESSION

Besides pinecones.... I'm obsessed with raw opal. The pinecones are a little easier for me to obtain, but hopefully in the future I will own a piece of opal jewelry. Be careful though, a lot of opal out there today is synthetic. I want the real deal!

JEWELRY SPOTLIGHT: NALLIK

Nallik is an artist based out of Berlin. She hand crafts necklaces using semi-precious stones and brass and they are STUNNING. I would love to own one someday.

JEWELRY MUST HAVE!

Dara Ettinger is a jewelry designer based out of New York who works with natural, raw, and semi-precious stones. She travels around the world to find her materials and hand picks each stone. I must say that I've been eyeing her rings for months now and I definitely will own one at some point in my life. To shop more of her designs click here. 

MAGIC ROCKS

The Opal is an amorphous form of silica related to Quartz. It's not actually considered a mineral but a mineraloid, which is a mineral-like substance. It's internal structure makes it diffract light. Depending on the conditions in which it is formed determines what colors it will end up. Opal is the national gemstone of Australia, which also produces 97% of the worlds supply. When it comes to jewelry, beware of synthetic opal. When held under magnification, synthetic opal will have patches of color in a pattern such as lizard skin or chicken wire so be sure to inspect the gem carefully before purchasing.