Bo's Jewelry
(Minerals, Pendants and Rings)
  Email:  bo_smith@bellsouth.net
 

Last Updated: August 28th, 2024

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) 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 my  Bo's Jewelry  business about two years ago (2016) and joined the Jacksonville Gem and Mineral Society (JGMS) here in  Jacksonville.

Bo's Minerals




         Click Here to Access
        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. $250
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 fround 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 crystsal.


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.
My First Self Made Products
 

The cabochon I used for my first wire wrap was

Turquoise from the
Dry Creek Mine in Nevada

I used 18 guage silver square   wire, 20 guage silver round  wire and  18 guage silver half round wire

The cabochon I used for my second wire wrap was also

Turquoise from the
Dry Creek Mine in Nevada

This time I used 20 guage silver square wire and  22 guage round gold filled wire


Cabochon Pendants For Sale
Cabochons are a plain cut where the upper part is domed and the lower part is flat or slightly arched.  I either buy my cabochons and polished stones at gem and mineral shows, buy them online, or make them myself from minerals from my collection. Once I have the cabochon, I normally have them 'wrapped' in wire; either yellow gold filled or silver alloyed with Germanium (to prevent tarnishing).
 In Stock

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
$500
($10 shipping/insurance)



High Quality blue Lapis cabochon from Afghanistan with genuine Herkimer Diamond
Pendant length 3 1/2 inches
Wrapped in sterling silver germanium alloy
$150
(Plus $10 shipping/insurance)
 High Quality Rose Quartz cabochon from Brazil with genuine Herkimer Diamond
Pendant length 3 1/2 inches
Wrapped in sterling silver germanium alloy
$150
(Plus $10 shipping/insurance)


These pendants 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.
$100
  (Plus $10 shipping/insurance)
This pendant is made from
  Citrine which is a variety of Quartz.
Hardness 7.
It is wrapped with gold wire.
$200
  (Plus $10 shipping/insurance)
This pendant is made from
  Amazonite which a variety of Microcline Feldspar.
 Hardness 6.
It is wrapped with silver.
$80
  (Plus $10 shipping/insurance)
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.
$175
  (Plus $10 shipping/insurance) 

This pendant is made from Rutilated Quartz (clear colorless Quartz with Rutile inclusions)
Hardness 7
It is wrapped with gold filled wire.
$125
  (Plus $10 shipping/insurance)









Custom Made Pendants with  Faceted Gem Stones
and Genuine Herkimer Diamonds

Cost- Varies according to the gem stone desired. This Emerald/Herkimer pendant in gold cost $300 (including shipping and insurance).

 I can make a pendant with a faceted gem stone and a Herkimer Diamond wrapped in either gold filled or sterling silver/germanium wire.

This one is made with a lab created Emerald. 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 of lesser cost such as aquamarines, amethyst, citrines, garnets, blue topaz etc.
Loose Cabochons Currently Available
Cost as indicated by each plus $10 shipping/insurance
 


Crabtree Emerald Cab 2
35mm x 23mm x 4mm
  $100
Citrine Cabochon 1
50mm x 34mm x 8mm
Exceptional Quality
$80
Sink Hole Garnet Matrix 1
43mm x 32mm x 9mm
Spruce Pine Pegmatite
$80

Blue Turquoise1 with Copper
29mm x 18mm x 2mm
$50
Malachite1
36mm x 25mm x 3.5mm
$60
crack in upper right is in phone screen not in cab

Sink Hole Garnet Matrix 2
50mm x 35mm x 5mm
Spruce Pine Pegmatite
$50
Sink Hole Garnet Matrix 3
42mm x 35mm x 4mm
Spruce Pine Pegmatite
$80
Unakite Cab 3
45mm x 30mm x 3mm
$40

Lapis Lasuli 1
37mm x 25mm x 3mm
$50
Lapis Lasuli 3
27mm x 16mm x 3mm
$50

  Tiger Eye 1
38mm x 27mm x 4mm
$60
Tiger Eye 2
38mm x 26mm x 4mm
$80
Tiger Eye 3
38mm x 26mm x 4mm
$60

Thulite 1
36mm x 24mm x 3mm
$100
  Amethyst Cab 1
40mm x 30mm x 3mm
$80

Unakite 1
38mm x 28mm x 4mm
$50
Unakite 2
36mm x 25mm x 4mm
$40

Custom Faceted Gemstone Pendants
My pendants are custom designed and fabricated using faceted colored gem stones set with 14 ct yellow or white gold or silver settings or cabachons wrapped with either gold filled or siver wire. I buy my gemstones and cabachons either at Gem and Mineral shows, my jewler 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 Blue Topaz and Grenvarieties of quartz, garnets, peridots, beryl such as golden beryl or aquamarine, blue topaz etc.


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 make a ring like this for you with any color gemstones you want!!
'Gator' Orange & Blue Pendants
I am currently working on various designs for "Florida Gator" pendants 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.

$800

 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.

 


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


$725
 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

I can provide pendants similar to this set with 14ct gold for $700 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 $600 to $800 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, horizonal, and yingyang pendant designs.
How I determine the price of my pendants and rings

My cost plus shipping  involved in purchasing the gem stones and
my cost to have the ring or pendant fabricated by a custom jeweler, plus a 25% profit.

Note: The largest variable is the amount of 14 ct gold and the current price of gold!

 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 wants. 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 produced several of these 13mm light smoky quartz pendants so far (necklace not included). My cost for each of these at the time was $350 (The price of gold then was $1,500/once). I used my own materials for these and made very litttle profit so they were cheaper than if I had had to buy the faceted oval cut stone.


14mm Smoky Quartz
$550-600
in 14 ct yellow gold
13mm Amethyst
$400-425
in 14 ct yellow gold
  I have one very nice light Smoky Quartz unmounted 14mm cross faceted round stone and one Amethyst 13mm cross faceted round stone available for sale. If set in 14 ct yellow gold, the price of the14mm pendant would be in the $450 to $500 range (plus shipping and insurance). I would estimate the price of the13mm Amethyst stone set in 14 ct yellow gold would be between $400 and $425 plus shipping.

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.
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-$1,000.
(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