City Magazine – March 2007 Edition – Features Jewelry from John S. Brana

CITY Magazine – The Destination for Style www.city-magazine.com – March 2007 Edition is currently featuring two of my Wire Sculpted bracelets from the Pacific Heights Collection in No Strings Attached – Photography by Staudinger + Franke and Marionettes by Christine & Werner Hierzer.

CITY Magazine experiments with the latest designer accessories in a collaboration with celebrated marionette players Christine and Werner Hierzer that can only be dubbed as “timeless.” The duo has perfected this centuries-old art form at their Marionettentheater, which is housed in the exquisite baroque Schloss Schonbrunn castle. Shot in Vienna, other featured jewelry and accessories include designs from Ralph Lauren, Chopard, Sergio Rossi, Marc Jacobs, April in Paris, Bosca, Hermes, Miu Miu, and Nicole Miller.

The Carnelian Cabochon and Dendritic Quartz Bracelets can be found in my Pacific Heights Collection.

SoMa Collection Expands to Include Hammered Copper Jewelry

Sleek and contemporary with a surprising bohemian undercurrent, the SoMa Collection features matching sets of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings in hand-forged fine silver, 14K gold filled, 14K gold, …and now copper! I love copper’s color and malleability, so I decided to incorporate it into several of my collections.

The pictured necklace and bracelet are handcrafted in pure copper and linked with fine silver jump rings. This versatile line is as appropriate at swank nightspots as it is at trendy coffee shops.

Stay tuned for more handcrafted necklaces, earrings, and bracelets in multiple textures and metals set with semi-precious gemstone beads over the next few months

Amazonite – A New Addition to the Monterey Collection

Amazonite (sometimes called “Amazon stone”) is a green variety of microcline feldspar. The name is taken from that of the Amazon River, from which certain green stones were formerly obtained, but it is doubtful whether green feldspar occurs in the Amazon area.

Amazonite is a mineral of limited occurrence. Formerly it was obtained almost exclusively from the area of Miyask in the Ilmen mountains, 50 miles southwest of Chehabinsk, Russia, where it occurs in granitic rocks. More recently, high-quality crystals have been obtained from Pike’s Peak, Colorado, where it is found associated with smoky quartz, orthoclase, and albite in a coarse granite or pegmatite. Some other localities in the United States yield Amazonite, and it is also found in pegmatite in Madagascar.

Because of its bright green color when polished, Amazonite is sometimes cut and used as a gemstone. For many years, the source of Amazonite’s color was a mystery. Naturally, many people assumed the color was due to copper because copper compounds often have blue and green colors. More recent studies suggest that the blue-green color is due to small quantities of lead and water in the feldspar.

These earrings are made of hammered Fine Silver rings with Amazonite beads on Sterling Silver Chain. The necklace is also made of hammered Fine Silver rings with Aquamarine Italian Mesh Metal Ribbon and Amazonite beads. Both can be found under the Monterey Collection

Amethyst – A New Addition to the Monterey Collection

Amethyst is said to balance out highs and lows, promoting emotional centering. It dispels anger, rage, fear, and anxiety. Alleviating sadness and grief, it supports coming to terms with loss. The Greek word “amethystos” basically can be translated as “not drunken.” Amethyst was considered to be a strong antidote against drunkenness, which is why wine goblets were often carved from it. Supposedly, when a drunken Dionysus was pursuing a maiden called Amethystos, who refused his affections, she prayed to the gods to remain chaste. The goddess Artemis granted the prayer, transforming her into a white stone; humbled by Amethystos’ desire to remain chaste, Dionysus poured wine over the stone she had become as an offering, dying the crystals purple.

Traditionally included in the cardinal, or most valuable, gemstones (along with diamond, sapphire, ruby and emerald), Amethyst has lost much of its value due to the discovery of extensive deposits in locations such as Brazil.

These earrings are made of hammered Fine Silver rings with faceted Amethyst beads on Sterling Silver Chain. The necklace is also made of hammered Fine Silver rings with Purple Italian Mesh Metal Ribbon and faceted Amethyst beads. Both can be found under the Monterey Collection

Amethyst – February’s Birthstone

Featuring faceted Amethyst, Purple Freshwater Pearls, Cranberry Freshwater Pearls, Rose Quartz, and accented by Vermeil beads, I recently added this necklace to the Barbary Coast Collection.

Amethyst was used as a gemstone by the ancient Egyptians and was largely employed in antiquity for intaglios (cameos). Beads of Amethyst are found in Anglo-Saxon graves in England. It is a widely distributed mineral, but fine, clear specimens that are suitable for cutting as ornamental stones are confined to comparatively few localities. Such crystals occur either in the cavities of mineral-veins and in granitic rocks, or as a lining in agate geodes. A huge geode, or “Amethyst-grotto”, from near Santa Cruz in southern Brazil was exhibited at the Düsseldorf Exhibition of 1902. Many of the hollow agates of Brazil and Uruguay contain a crop of Amethyst crystals in the interior. Much fine Amethyst comes from Russia, especially from near Mursinka in the Ekaterinburg district, where it occurs in drusy cavities in granitic rocks. Many localities in India yield Amethyst; and it is found also in Sri Lanka, chiefly as pebbles.

Usually Purple to Lavender, several descriptive terms have been coined in the gem trade to describe the varying colors of Amethyst. “Rose de France” is usually a pale pinkish lavender or lilac shade (usually the least sought color). The most prized color is an intense violet with red flashes and is called “Siberian”, although gems of this color may occur from several locations other than Siberia, notably Uruguay and Zambia. In more recent times, certain gems (usually of Bolivian origin) that have shown alternate bands of Amethyst purple with Citrine orange have been given the name Ametrine. Purple Corundum, or Sapphire of Amethystine tint, is called Oriental Amethyst, but this expression is often applied by jewelers to fine examples of the ordinary Amethystine quartz, even when not derived from eastern sources. Professional gemological associations, such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) or the American Gemological Society (AGS), discourage the use of the term “Oriental Amethyst” to describe any gem, as it may be misleading.