Do you have a travel bucket list? On my short list is a visit to a beautiful Mexican beach. We haven’t done that since way before the pandemic and it’s been way too long. On my longer list is Macchu Picchu in Perú. I’ve lived in Mexico, vacationed in Panamá, Spain and a number of Caribbean islands, but I’ve yet to get to that ancient city. It’s also been the inspiration for our newest collection of Pink Peruvian Opal Jewelry.
Pink Peruvian opals are what’s known as “common” opal. Their beauty is in their silky pink color, as opposed to the fire and flash of “precious” or “crystal” opal. The pink is a result of organic compounds in the stones known as quinones. According to folklore, this type of opal is said to be a gift from Pachamama, a goddess of the ancient Inca in the Andes who would also be known as Mother Earth.
In this collection the Peruvian opals are paired with other gems, as we like to do. There’s tourmaline, garnet, pearls, purple turquoise and black spinel. We find it a fun challenge to find other gemstones that work with opals. This necklace is a mixture of mostly Peruvian opal. Both the pink pendant and the round heishi purple beads are Peruvian. The one round bead is purple turquoise.
Pink is such a versatile color. It goes great with lots of different colors and stones. Black Spinel has a really nice shine to complement the pink and the small flecks of black you’ll often find in Pink Peruvian Opals. Tourmaline goes great too. Check out a couple of the new pieces below or explore the new collection here.
May our creativity add to yours!
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Of course if I didn’t make jewelry, I’d want opals. For me, the origin of the opal would be the hard part. Australian Black Opal, Mexican Fire Opal, Ethiopian Opal? Regardless of which one I ultimately end up choosing, here are a couple that would make the cut for my favorites:
Right Down the Middle Mexican En Cantera Opal Necklace
Ring of Opals Bracelet
They say good things come in threes, so what about the third part of the gift, the sweets? As a vegetarian and wanna be vegan, I’d be hoping for a box of vegan chocolates, heavy on the white chocolate, please!
Happy Valentine's Day!
From Red Moon to Sheila Marie Opals...
Here’s our story...just a couple months into the pandemic we came to the realization that there was no other decision but to close our brick and mortar store. Turns out it was the right one considering how long this has all been going on. Since opening the store back in 2011 we had molded the store into something new, something we had never imagined from the start. We did lots of adjusting to our product lines and are especially glad to have added the opal jewelry. All our jewelry, and in particular, our opal jewelry became a great seller and we realized we were on to something. As the pandemic rolled on we also became aware of how important it is to have an online product line when in person sales became challenging, and almost non-existent for us.
We decided Sheila Marie Opals is our new name. As we concentrate on a distinct selection of opal jewelry our goal is to offer the most diverse and extensive variety of opal jewelry you’ve ever seen. I am continuing to design my own creations with opals from around the world and have kept the great connections I have in Mexico and Australia.
If you’re plugged into Facebook and Instagram, you will be hearing more from us than ever before. Look for more frequent blog posts and lots more happening on Facebook and Instagram. If we ever had the chance to chat in the store I may have mentioned my day job as a life insurance specialist. I will soon be retiring from that role and I’m really looking forward to pouring my whole heart into my opal jewelry and on-line store.
I also hope you’ll be curious to take a look around this new website and let me know what you think. I would love any feedback or requests you may have. You can shoot me an email at info@sheilamarieopals.com.
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