JILLIAN VO

 

~SILVER ARTISAN~

Brought To You By One Of Ebay’s Founding Members

This mosaic pendant is part of an original new series I’ve just completed, and am excited to share. They were very labor intensive being a mix of mosaic and inlay, but look stunning, so I think it was worth the time.

This sterling silver necklace features five stunning cobalt blue, genuine surf tumbled, sea glass gems. Each of these beautiful pieces I collected from Midland Beach on Staten Island over many years, and am actually able to date them to the 1800s after coming across two of the original little glass bottles that produced them, at an antique show. The bottles were “Bromo-Seltzer” from the “Emerson Drug Co. Baltimore”. After many were tossed into the sea long ago, they broke apart, and spent the next hundred plus years tumbling their way along the coast, all the way to my little beach on Staten Island.  The random shapes of sea glass have been created by nature, and I do not alter them in any way, so finding five with the perfect fit for a mosaic is like an inlay jigsaw puzzle. If you look closely, you will see granulation between the gems, that carries through to the outer frame. I’ve finished with a combination antique patina, and a high polish on the granulation. You will receive a sterling silver chain with this pendant, but it is not the Italian-made sterling chain pictured. The Italian chain is a perfect match, and is available in a separate listing. This pendant measures approximately 1 ½” L and 1 ¼” W not including the bail. I will be listing several of these with different color sea glass over the next few days.

Sea Glass

Since moving to the US from Australia, I’ve been walking the beaches of the north eastern coast collecting surf tumbled sea glass and antique pottery shards. From the moment I picked up my first piece of sea glass I’ve been in love. They are stunningly pretty with their soft colors and frosted finish, but are also a part of history as it takes a minimum of 50yrs for the tides and surf to toss and tumble them into little gems. Of course, fake sea glass is being “cultivated” overseas now, and whilst the bright colors and uniform shapes are attractive to some, it is fake and I don’t use it. Its value is zero, much like a lab created diamond. About 90% of the sea glass in my jewelry has been collected by me personally over years. I do buy a small amount of genuine sea glass from collectors in places like Hawaii because my local surf does not produce the rounded gem shapes found in those locations. I will always let you know the geographical origin of the sea glass in items I create. Unlike “cultivated” glass, real sea glass is shaped organically by the surf and tides so they are uniquely uneven, and present a real challenge when creating their bezels. They also often display tiny “C” shapes on the surface of the frosting. I do not remove these as they are the signature of genuine sea glass, like the inclusions in an emerald. Where I collect, I find more white pieces than any other color. Brown is next, followed by Kelly Green. Very rare are the seafoam greens, and soft blues, with cobalt blue being the rarest color of all. Sadly, only about 10% of my finds are jewelry quality and the rest is chipped and used for craft. I hope you too come to fall in love with genuine sea glass.

Please keep in mind, some of the items I list here on Ebay will also be on the Jillian Vo website, and at any markets I attend.  If sold, they will be removed from Ebay.

 JILLIAN VO…formerly Dont*Tell*Daddy*The*Price.

I am one of Ebay’s founding members and for many years sold vintage fabric pillows and totes. I changed focus a few years ago to jewelry, but will continue to please my past customers with vintage and antique textile creations as well as a selection of my silver jewelry. Thank you for taking the time to visit.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you find a special treasure to fall in love with here.

* All pictures, backgrounds, designs and TEXT on this page are the property of JILLIAN VO *