Bo's Jewelry
    Email:  bo_smith@bellsouth.net
Cell/Text Phone: (904) 708-9186

Last Updated: May 16th, 2023
 



I began spending time during the summers of 2005 through 2007 researching the geology and mining history of the Spruce Pine Mining District. In addition to reading and conducting my own field work, I joined the Mountain Area Gem and Mineral Association (MAGMA) to learn as much as I could about western North Carolina mines. My wife Diana and I purchased a cabin northeast of Asheville, NC in the Blue Ridge Mountains after we were married in 2008. From 2008 through 2015, I continued my research and established a small business called Bo's Mine Tours . We had to sell the cabin in 2016. So, I closed my mine tours business (but kept the website active which has resulted in some consulting work) and began working on designing pendants and rings. I maintained my contacts for sources of rocks, minerals, and jewelry that I established during my Bo's Mine Tours days. I established Bo's Jewelry  about six years ago (2016) and joined the Jacksonville Gem and Mineral Society (JGMS) here in  Jacksonville. JGMS offers classes in all sorts of jewelry making techniques.

Bo's Minerals
 



        
        Bo's Minerals For Sale
Gem Minerals in Matrix

This specimen is about 3 1/2 across. It is "pocket material" consisting of beryl crystals with other minerals from the North American Emerald Mine in Hiddenite North Carolina.
I  would consider an offer of $450!

Gem Beryl Crystals from the
North American Emerald Mine
Hiddenite, North Carolina

You can see from the close up on the right, two nice crystals of aquamarine and golden beryl.
Crystals of various varieties of beryl from emerald, aquamarine, golden beryl, and goshenite are sometimes found in the same pocket. I have even seen one crystal that had goshenite beryl at the base, then aquamarine and eventually emerald at the terminus indicating how the variety of beryl changed as the impurities were consumed during the growth of the crystal.

Close up of a cluster of gem beryl crystals

Bo's Custom Made Jewelry

Bo at work at a cabochon machine at JGMS.
I design my jewelry and then work with jewelers and gem cutters that I established great relationships with during my time doing Bo's Mine Tours in North Carolina.

Until recently, I have purchased my cabochons and gemstones from these contacts or at gem and mineral shows.

Now, I get most of my materials online from Thailand or India or make the cabochons myself using materials from my collection.

I recently began making cabochons at the facilities at the Jacksonville Gem and Mineral Society (JGMS) here in Jacksonville.

I also recently took my first wire wrapping class. I intend to personally wrap most of my cabochons.


New discount prices with free USPS 2 Day shipping (Continental USA)
Minimum Order $150.
I accept payment by PayPal.

Elmerite

Elmerite is a rare jewelry material.  What is Elmerite?


Elmerite is a rare variety of green obsidian.
It has a hardness of 7 on Mohs Scale.

Elmerite is mined in Wello Province in Ethiopia.

It is named Elmerite after Elmer Robbins who owns Robbin's Jewelry in Plant City, Florida.  The brother of an employee at Robbin's Jewelry owns the mine in Ethiopia and is the source of this rare material.

 


Large Elmerite Faceted Pendants Set in Sterling Silver


Large Faceted Pear Cut
Size: 23mm X 15mm   25 cts
with Silver Chain
$400
 Large Faceted Emerald Cut
Size: 24mm X 16mm   28 cts
with Silver Chain
$400

These stones were faceted by Bob Jones at the Rio Dolce Gem Mine in Spruce Pine, North Carolina
 and set by Connie Layton in Jacksonville, Florida

l'm planning to add some pictures soon that will better display these exceptional Elmerite Pendants!
 
Elmerite Ear Rings




Size: 10mm rounds 5.6 cts each
set in Silver

$200 pair

These stones were faceted and set by Elaine Jones at the Rio Dolce Gem Mine in Spruce Pine, North Carolina

I am in the process of having two Elmerite pendants made that will be Elmerite cabochons
set in Sterling Silver Prong settings.

Nephrite Jade
 

Nephrite Jade rough from Jade City, British Columbia
Nephrite Jade and Sterling Silver Ring

Nephrite Jade and Brass Belt Buckle

I first became interested in Jade during my Navy career.  I visited Hong Kong on numerous liberty visits during deployments and was was stationed in Japan during my last tour. Diana and I increased our interest in Jade by watching the TV series about Jade mining in the Yukon area of British Columbia. Chinese Jade merchants have become interested in the exceptional quality of the Nephrite Jade in British Columbia. I decided to try to get some jewelry quality Jade at a price I could afford. I purchased the large piece of Nephrite Jade on the left from Jade City through Etsy and was surprised that the color quality was excellent. My first interest was to have Jade ring and belt buckle made for my personal use. I had bought the ring in the upper right through Etsy from a merchant from Turkey. I liked the ring design but not the "Turquoise" that came with it. I had my friend, Connie Layton make the beautiful cabochon for the ring and the Jade belt buckle.  She found that it was difficult to work with the Jade rough! It was very hard (about 9 on the Mohs Scale) and she had problems with splintering of the rough when cutting with a diamond saw.
She made the pendant below that is for sale.

Nephrite Jade and Sterling Silver Prong Pendant

Back

The Jade cabochon of this Nephrite Jade and Sterling Silver Pendant is approximately 1 1/2"  (35mm) round.

The setting is such that the pendant can be worn with either side facing the observer.
$250

Nephrite Jade and Gold and Silver Wire Wrapped Pendants

Nephrite Jade and Sterling Silver Prong Pendant

             A                                 B                                  C                                  D

these Nephrite Jade Gold and Silver Wire Wrapped Pendants are approximately 12mm X 25mm

$30 each

Herkimer Diamonds

Very Large Herkimer Diamond
$250
Large Herkimer Diamond
$200

Medium Herkimer Diamond
$100 SOLD
Three Herkimer Diamonds
Jewelry Quality- $50 SOLD

What is a Herkimer Diamond ?
Herkimer Diamonds are exceptionally clear and brilliant doubly terminated Quartz crystals found primarily in dolomite rock formations (Calcium Magnesium Carbonate) in Herkimer County, New York, in the Mohawk River Valley. The crystals grew naturally in spaces (pockets or vugs) in the dolomite formed in a shallow sea about 500 million years ago. They were first discovered in the late 18th Century. They often contain products from the Adirondack Mountains that washed into the shallow sea such as pyrite and petroleum in addition to salt water bubbles. Herkimer  Diamonds can be collected or purchased at one of the several tourist mining businesses in Herkimer County (east and a bit north of Syracuse, New York). Or, you can find Herkimer diamond jewelry and loose stones online at places like Etsy. Some of these crystals are jewelry quality and I decided to use them in my pendant creations.

Colored stones with Herkimer Diamonds
 




Hessonite Garnet
Africa-Reddish Brown
12mm X 17mm
$150
 Natural Amethyst
Brazil- Spectacular Cut
13mm X 18
$150mm
 Synthetic (Lab) Saphire
Thailand- Beautiful color
13mm X 18mm
$150
 Synthetic (Lab) Ruby
Thailand- Beautiful Color
15mm X 20mm
$150

  These pendants were beautifully wrapped in silver by Anita Lawson.
Anita has a business called Jewelry by Anita which is located in Little Switzerland, North Carolina.
 
The length of the pendants is about 2 1/2 inches.


Cabochons with Herkimer Diamond Pendants

High Quality blue Lapis cabochon from Afghanistan with genuine Herkimer Diamond
 Pendant length 3 1/2 inches
Wrapped in sterling silver germanium alloy
$175
High Quality Rose Quartz cabochon from Brazil with genuine Herkimer Diamond
Pendant length 3 1/2 inches
Wrapped in sterling silver germanium alloy
$175

These pendants were also wire wrapped by Anita Lawson.

Custom Made Pendants with  Faceted Gem Stones
and Genuine Herkimer Diamonds

(It takes me about 60-65 days to produce one of these custom pendants; 45 days to purchase and for shipping of the gemstone usually from India or Thailand, about 10-15 days for wire wrapping, and 5 days for shipping and handling.)

Price- Varies according to the gem stone desired. The price of this one was $400.
 I can produce a custom made pendant with a faceted gem stone and a Herkimer Diamond wrapped in  sterling silver/germanium wire (gold filled wire tends to make the Herkimer appear yellow!)

I made his one a few years ago.for a Navy friend. It was made with a large lab created Emerald from India. I can also use lab created rubies and sapphires (Lab created because if these large stones were natural, they would cost $10,000 or so).
 
I can also use natural gem stones such as aquamarines, amethyst, citrines, garnets, blue topaz etc.

Beautiful Cabochon Pendants





Superior Quality
Chrysocolla Cabochon
3" X 2"
Beautifully wrapped with gold filled wire

$175
 		 Superior Quality
Crabtree Emerald Matrix Cab
45mm x 28mm x 8mm (cab size)
Features numerous Emerald crystals including one 6mm x 6mm crystal and several black Tourmaline crystals
Beautifully wrapped in Silver wire
$400
 Superior Quality
Eudialite Pendant
(Kola Peninsula)
2" X 1 1/2"
Beautifully wrapped with
Sterling Silver (with Germanium alloy to resist tarnishing)
$175

These pendants were beautifully wrapped by Anita Lawson.

 27 ct. Golden Citrine Pendant -$400
 Brazil
Wrapped in Gold Filled Wire

Back
Front
Side

This pendant was expertly wire wrapped by Anita Lawson.

The pendants below are approximately 1" by 2" (30mm x 50mm)


This pendant is made from
Chrysoprase which is green chalcedony (an amorphous form of quartz) with a high level of nickel impurities. Hardness 7.
It is wrapped with silver.
$150
  
This pendant is made from
  Citrine which is a variety of Quartz.
Hardness 7.
It is wrapped with gold wire.
$150
 

This pendant is made from
  Amazonite which a variety of Microcline Feldspar.
 Hardness 6.
It is wrapped with silver.
$80
 

This pendant is a cabochon of Golden Tiger Eye which has then been faceted.  Tiger Eye is a finely fibrous opaque variety of Quartz.
Hardness 7.
It is wrapped with gold filled wire.
$100
 

More exceptional wire wrapping by Anita Lawson.



Polished Rutilated Quartz (clear colorless Quartz with Rutile inclusions) Hardness 7 Brazil
$100
 This pendant is made from a Rutilated Citrine cabechon.
It was wrapped with gold filled wire by Anita Lawson.
$100


Loose Cabochons Currently Available

Crabtree Emerald Cab 2
35mm x 23mm x 4mm
  $60
Citrine Cabochon 1
50mm x 34mm x 8mm
Exceptional Quality
$50
Sink Hole Garnet Matrix 1
43mm x 32mm x 9mm
Spruce Pine Pegmatite
$40

Blue Turquoise1 with Copper
29mm x 18mm x 2mm
$20
Malachite1
36mm x 25mm x 3.5mm
$40
crack in upper right is in phone screen not in cab

Sink Hole Garnet Matrix 2
50mm x 35mm x 5mm
Spruce Pine Pegmatite
$40
Sink Hole Garnet Matrix 3
42mm x 35mm x 4mm
Spruce Pine Pegmatite
$40
Unakite Cab 3
45mm x 30mm x 3mm
$40

Lapis Lasuli 1
37mm x 25mm x 3mm
$40
Lapis Lasuli 3
27mm x 16mm x 3mm
$40

  Tiger Eye 1
38mm x 27mm x 4mm
$40
Tiger Eye 2
38mm x 26mm x 4mm
$50
Tiger Eye 3
38mm x 26mm x 4mm
$30

Thulite 1
36mm x 24mm x 3mm
$80
  Amethyst Cab 1
40mm x 30mm x 3mm
$40

Unakite 1
38mm x 28mm x 4mm
$30
Unakite 2
36mm x 25mm x 4mm
$20

Custom Faceted Gemstone Jewelry Pendants
My faceted gemstone pendants are designed and fabricated using faceted colored gem stones set with 14 ct yellow or white gold settings. I buy my gemstones either at Gem and Mineral shows or online. I had the pendant below made as an anniversary gift for my wife Diana. I have it here to show you the quality of the pendants I sell. This pendant is 24mm wide by 14mm high plus another 8mm for the bail.The center stone is blue topaz from Brazil and measures 14mm by 10mm.  The side stones are green tourmaline, also from Brazil, are 9mm by 5mm. This is a nice sized pendant and as you can see from the view of the back is solidly fabricated.

The price of a similarly sized pendant will vary according to the gemstones you want and material selected for the setting. The least expensive option is to use lab sapphires, which are available in a variety of colors for the gemstones and silver for the setting. We can also use natural gemstones such as varieties of quartz, garnets, blue topaz, peridot, beryl such as golden beryl or aquamarine.


Diana's 14 ct Gold
Blue Topaz and Green Tourmaline Pendant

            Custom designed back in 14ct gold





Diana's matching 14ct Gold
Blue Topaz and Green Tourmaline Ring


I can produce a ring like this for you with any color gemstones you want!!
'Gator' Orange & Blue Pendants

 I made two "Florida Gator" pendants so using orange spessartite garnet and
lab sapphire gem stones set in 14ct yellow or white gold.
The cost of my pendants is primarily driven by the size and quality of the orange garnets and the price of gold.

Note- I can now Gator pendants pendants cheaper using lab sapohires for both stones!

Note: I can also make pendants for you Seminoles or any other school using appropriate colored gem stones.


 So far, I have produced and sold two Gator pendants.

This was the first one. It consisted of an orange oval cut spessartite garnet and a pear shaped lab sapphire set in 14ct yellow gold. After being provided a selection of setting design alternatives, the customer requested that the two gem stones be set vertically.

This pendant was $600 due to the cost of the hard to find oval cut 9.3mm x 6.8mm Spessartite orange garnet and the  14ct gold for the larger pendant

Two alternate design alternatives are pictured below.


Horizontal arrangement with oval vice pear sapphire


Alternatives to the vertical design
YingYang with pear sapphire
point down

I would love to make a Ying Yang Gator pendant using pear shaped lab sapphires for both stones!
 
My Second Gator Pendant


The second pendant used  smaller gemstones than the first one because larger oval orange spessaritite garnets of high quality are hard to find and are more expensive. The lab pear shaped sapphire is in the second pendant is 10mm x 8mm and the orange garnet is 7.4 x 6.2 mm

This pendant cost $525
I can provide pendants similar to this set with 14ct gold for $500 plus $25 shipping/insurance.
I can get a nice selection of this size oval cut garnets and oval or pear shaped lab sapphires.

  I try to keep my 14 ct gold pendants in the $450 to $600 range!  I use high quality natural garnets and lab sapphires.
 If I used natural sapphires similar to the size and quality of lab sapphires, the cost of the pendant would be prohibitively expensive for most of my customers.
The lab sapphires have the same hardness and a similar refractive index as natural sapphires.
The natural garnets are very clean (no visible inclusions to the naked eye; about VVS in the diamond scale). 


14mm oval cut lab sapphire with two 7mm orange spessartite garnets- ideal for a ring
7mm pear shaped lab sapphire with two 7mm orange spessartite garnets- great stones for pendants
12mm cushion emerald cut lab sapphire with two 7mm orange spessartite garnets- ideal for a ring (the cushion cut is too deep to match the garnets in a pendant)

I currently have the two large lab sapphires and one oval cut orange garnet (6.83mm x 5.66mm) on hand.
  I plan to order more oval cut orange garnets in the 7-8 mm range and a few the lab sapphires (pear and oval cuts) in the 8-9 mm range in order to provide better size matches for both the vertical, horizontal, and Ying Yang pendant designs.
How I determine the price of my pendants and rings

 I started researching the Spruce Pine Mining District minerals, associated mines and mining history located in the mountains of the western North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains northeast of Asheville about 15 years ago (after my retirement from the navy and teaching). During this period, I established my
 Bo's Mine Tours business, attended many gem and mineral shows and worked with several jewelers, gem cutters and wrappers. I continue to work with the best of these experts in producing my jewelry. I enjoy producing custom jewelry as a retirement activity and as a result, I do not make much profit.

I use the following approach to determine the cost of my custom jewelry:
My cost plus shipping  involved in purchasing the gem stones (Gem and Mineral Shows and online from Brazil or Thailand),
My cost plus shipping to have the ring or pendant fabricated by a custom jeweler, plus a 25% profit.

I request an advance (usually $200) from the customer which I use to purchase the gem stones! I take pictures of the gem stones and forward them to the customer for review before shipping them to the jeweler. I stay in contact by email or text with the customer and the jeweler during the ring or pendant design and fabrication process to make sure that the jeweler produces what the customer wantsI When the pendant or ring is completed and I know the fabrication cost, I ask the customer to send me a check for the balance.
bo_smith@bellsouth.net
Cross Pendants


I have produced four of these 13mm light smoky quartz pendants so far (necklace not included). My cost for each of these was $350. I used my own materials for these and made very little profit so they were cheaper than if I had had to buy the faceted oval cut stone.


14mm Smoky Quartz
$450
in 14 ct yellow gold
13mm Amethyst
$ 350
in 14 ct white gold

  Add $10 for two day priority mail shipping with insurance to continental US locations.

These pendants can be made of various varieties of light colored quartz so I can offer them in several colors.

pale purple Amethyst
(It's difficult to find a piece suitable due to inclusions)
green Amethyst (Prasiolite)
pale yellow 'Canary' Citrine
light Smoky Quartz

If you are interested in getting more information, email me at bo_smith@bellsouth.net and I can get a quote based on the price of gold and the size of the pendant. I estimate we could deliver the cross pendant between three to four weeks after we receive your check.

Cocktail Rings

 So far, I have only had rings made for my wife and daughters. Some examples of these are below.  I can design a ring for you with whatever styles and colors of gemstones you want. The prices of these rings vary from $250 to $1,000 depending on the cost of the gemstones and the amount of gold or silver required to make the setting.
Two basic Designs
So far, I am offering two basic designs; Cocktail Ring and "Bling Ring"

Cocktail Ring Design

The "cocktail ring" design features a center gemstone about 12-14mm by 8-10mm and side stones (either single or double) about 2mm by 4mm in size. The main gemstone can be a simple or cushion emerald cut or fancy oval cuts. In this case, the main gemstone is a fancy emerald cut 13mm x 9mm Canary Citrine (variety of Quartz). The side stones are four 2mm round green Tzavorite garnets from Africa.

The estimated price range of this ring set in 14ct gold is $500-$800 (depends on the gemstones selected).


"Bling Ring" Design
The "Bling Ring" is a large ring which features a center gemstone about 16mm by 13mm and side stones about 8mm by 5mm in size.  In this case, the main stone is a 16mm x 13mm fancy round cut Amethyst from Brazil. The side stones are high quality Peridots 8mm x 5mm from Pakistan.

The price range of this ring is set in 14ct gold is $800-$1,500.
(depends on the gemstones selected)

I recently completed having a ring for one of my daughters in the "Cocktail Ring" design except that the side gemstones are larger than in the "Cocktail Ring" design above.


  The center gemstone of light green Aquamarine is 10mm x 7mm and the two side stones are pink tourmaline, about 7mm x 3mm.

Her ring is set in rose gold which is 24ct gold alloyed with silver, copper, and zinc.

My retail price of this ring if it were set in 14ct gold would be $700 + $25 shipping/with insurance.
(The pink tourmalines are getting pricy these days- $120ct)

I have recently purchased a new gemstone which would make a beautiful center stone for a ring. It is a lab made cushion cut Grossularite Garnet measuring 10 x 16 mm.. Trillions on both side made of white Topaz or white lab Saphire would make a beautiful, yet affordable ring. This gemstone is particularly interesting because it changes color depending on the amount of light from green indoors through a yellow in indirect sunlight to pink in bright sunlight.

Indoor light


Indirect sunlight


Direct sunlight
Grossularite Garnet
Website and photographs by Robert S "Bo" Smith