Buddhist Pendants

What a stroke of good luck! We received some fabulous antique style Buddhist pendants about a month ago, but they sold out quickly. Pendants like these are super hard to get a hold of, let alone replenish. This time luck was on our side! We didn't get refills on every style, but here's a sampling of what's now available . . .

A little about these pendants . . .

 These are contemporary reproductions of antique Buddhist pendants and are made out of a mix of base metals (making them surprisingly light weight). Even though they're non precious metal, the detailing is amazing. They're still only $13 each, come and get them while they're still here!

More from our huge shipment . . .

More wonderful things to share from our large shipment that came in a couple weeks ago . . .

I love Thai silver, and honestly, what's there not to love? Each pendant, bead and finding is individually handmade, meaning that every piece is wonderfully unique. They are finished with a soft polishing that gives the pieces a nice glow.

The bail is $3.40 each and the pendants run $2.50-$5.80 each. The droplet beads start at about $5 per 2 inch mini strand, but since they are priced by weight they'll vary in price.

Chalcedony and rainbow moonstone make such a pretty winter-y pairing. The color tones in chalcedony, a natural blue agate, are enhanced by the flashy iridescence of the moonstone.

The chalcedony nuggets are $25 per strand, and the drops are $26 per strand.

The moonstone strands range in price from $22-33 per strand.

More Chinese turquoise! You can feel good about using this turquoise in your designs, it's completely natural in color and composition (no chalk turquoise in this store EVER!). The smaller strands make great spacers, while the larger beads are bold enough to stand alone.

Strands run $10-$35 each.

Jaspers, Jades and More!

I've fallen a little behind on posting the items from our new huge shipment, the store has been packed from open to close during the last week. We've had lot's of locals coming by for their bead fix, but even more out of state visitors just passing through. Could our recent 80 degree weather have something to do with it . . . ? ;) 

It's not often that we get genuine jade beads let alone GIANT jade pendants! The pendants are huge, most take up the entire palm of my hand. They range in price from $13-$16 each. The little Buddha head is not jade, but looked like he belonged. He's only $3.20 each and made of serpentine which is commonly mistaken as jade.

Check out these unusual jaspers. The strands have random swirls of blue and green with a common color base of warm brown. The strands range in price from $14-$18 per strand.

The pendants are top drilled (from left to right) and vary in designs of brown, red and green. These are one of my favorite new things. They are $3.40 per piece.

We'll end this entry with some sparklies! The two top rows of beads are hands down, my very favorites of the new shipment. These spessartite garnets are covered in microfacets and give off the most spectacular glow. Strands will run you about $235, but we do sell them in singles.

The next two rows are wonderful drops of tourmaline in mysterious smokey greens, burnt oranges and unusual garnet-red tones. It's not often that you see tourmaline in this mix. Strands are around $140 each, but they are also sold in singles.

The next two rows of beads are microfaceted lemon quartz rondelles that give off a nice glow. The strands run around $124 a strand, but are also sold in singles.
The last row of beads are citrine carved into whimsical, odd shaped leaves. Each strand is $62, or $1.50-$4.00 per bead.

For those who don't get the emails . . . .

Do you get our email notifications? It's easy to sign up, just email us at lostcitiesbeads@att.net and let us know. For those of you who don't get the emails yet, here's our latest email sent out covering some of our new shipment . . .

We have just received the biggest shipment of the year and you are invited to come and play in the beads!

Big is Beautiful........

The inner circle is filled with plump buttons of bright green Turquoise. ($1. per gram)

It is surrounded with striking, crisply modern, flat bicones of Banded Agate in amazing natural patterns. ($43. per strand)

The perfect medium for wearing a 'major statement' necklace without carrying 10 pounds around your neck is the graduated pillows of Jet - dramatic and yet very lightweight. ($42 per strand)

Center one gorgeous piece of Turquoise for immediate gratification. We have a whole tray of truly beautiful green and blue turquoise in smooth, large holed (big enough for leather!) wedges to choose from. ($1 per gram)

Sparkly, delicious gems........

Start with sweet little flat berries of Ruby - very tasty, ($47. - $60.)

Tourmaline in all it's range of color - even purple and the bluey indicolite. Faceted in narrow diamonds - exceptional quality. ($186.)

Vesuvianite in a rich olive green - faceted rondelles ($62.)

More Tourmaline in little faceted dimes -very nice clarity and includes the lovely golden yellow. ($155.)

Tourmaline in the dark greens - forest and fern - beautiful little faceted ovals. ($109.)

Another scrumption green - light grassy Tsavorite in tiny 2.5mm faceted rondelles. ( $78.)

At the bottom another Tourmaline - all dark, luscious green in 3mm faceted rondelles. ($93.)

Gleaming, glowing Labradorite....

So many shapes! So many choices! And all shimmering with blue fire....Oh yummy! Start with 2 sizes of smooth pebbles for only $10 per strand.

Faceted briolettes - ( $31.)

Unusual faceted tear drops drilled top to bottom. Would be terrific as earring dangles - ( $31.)

Exquisite firey faceted marquis shapes - again, fabulous earring potential - ($81.)

Another unusual cut - little tabs (houses?) with amazing labradorescense (yes, that is a word) - ( $53.-$68.)

Lastly, spectacular '25¢ size' discs of faceted Labradorite with dazzling fire - ( $41.)

We actually have even more shapes and sizes than shown here. And the really good news?.....most shapes are available in singles!

Handmade Thai Chain........

In addition to the assortment of Thai made silver beads and spacers that we carry, we now have 5 styles of their beautiful handmade chain. They all have the substance to make a very special statement with just the simplest of pendants and they look great on a guy, too!

We welcome the return of a little spacer we haven't seen in a while - those randomly shaped, flattened droplets of silver. Used in strand or as single spacers they are terrific. ($2.63 per/gram)

The chain is typical of Thai work - silver, hand formed, hand stamped with tiny patterns and hand soldered creating an exceptionally fine yet substantial strand. Sold by the inch but prices reflect one foot lengths.

Starting with the littlest, sweet ovals 4x5mm - ($28.15)

Next size up is the 5mm rounds - ($41.70)

Ovals in 5x6mm - ($35.20)

Largest rounds are 8mm - ($62.95)

The most lush and heavy is still 8mm rounds but every other link is doubled up giving it a luxurious heft - ($119.55 )

 We never tire of the sparkly stuff........

Start with the fresh spring green of Peridot. We have several shapes and sizes both smooth and faceted. Shown are little 4mm faceted wheels - ($31.)

The prettiest Sunstone we have had in a long time - very jelly with lots and lots of sparkle. First is a thick flat 6-7mm disks - ($22.) Next are slightly smaller 5-6mm disks, only drilled top to bottom - ($22.) Last we have one faceted style in flat ovals - ( $31.)

At the bottom is a beautiful little Amethyst in a teeny 2-3mm faceted bicone. It has great cut and color - ($31.)

New Large Shipment

It's that time again! Our biggest shipment of the year has arrived and we're happily drowning in new and exciting stock. There's something for everyone in this amazing group, whether you prefer bright and gemmy, antique and weathered, petite or bold. Here are just a couple of items that were love at first sight for our employees. And, since it was so hard to narrow our choices down to a few, I'll be posting more items throughout this week so check back often!

These are my personal favorite's from the entire shipment. These are contemporary reproductions of old Buddhist style pendants. We have two sizes available, and each piece is beautifully unique. Some have the appearence of old wall carvings, some are cut and stamped from weathered metal, and some have domes of clear plastic to protect the idols. There is a very limited amount of these available, and they're already flying out the door. The small pieces (above the quarter) are $13 each, and the large pieces are $16 each.

These turquoise pendants are AMAZING. These are cut thick with a slight dome look and the holes are large enough to slide them right onto thick fiber. We've got a whole tray of different sizes, shapes (check out those skulls, what a find!) and patterns but be warned, these won't last long! Prices range from around $6 each to $50 each.

More larimar pendants! We had a small amount of these a couple years ago at killer prices, and they sold out quickly. They're back, and so is their low, low price. Sold by weight they range in price from about $14 to about $50 each.

Want a little summer break from the winter weather? This assortment of beachy beads will point you in the right direction.

Red abalone (graduated tear drops): $47 each

Aquamarine assortment (inside the abalone): $13-$20 per strand

Purple and orange Spondylus shell (far left): $10-$13 per strand

Earthy, organic, polished nuggets, just how nature intended them to be! Most strands are big and bold with an occasional medium sized strand mixed in. Beads are big enough for pendants, but look fabulous as a whole necklace. Starting from the very top . . .

Chalcedony: $25 per strand

Crystal Quartz: $30 per strand

Amethyst: $19 per strand

Chalcedony slabs: $19 per strand

Medium chalcedony slabs: $19 per strand

This is just a first in a series of posts so check back for more pretties :). If you're signed up on our email list you'll recieve an email highlighting these and other pieces we love shortly. If you don't recieve our emails, but would like to, just email us at lostcitiesbeads@att.net and let us know! Remember that we don't share your information with anyone, and the emails are only about 5-6 times a year.