This Shining Earth Earrings

A few years ago, I had a part time job at a small jewelry shop. It wasn't a gold and diamonds affair, but rather baubles made in Mexico or India from silver and semi-precious stones. It was, by all accounts, a cushy job, albeit rather lonely most of the time on slow days. However, I was often joined by my employer, the owner of the establishment.

And she was bat-shit crazy.

In the field of business acumen, her lack of common sense was quite literally breathtaking. She kept all of the takings from the shop in paper bags in a box in the basement, shoved in between old cardstock and rubbish. The justification? "Safes are expensive and would put up my insurance premiums." However, this self-same mad woman who didn't wish to pay higher insurance premiums took the rather unusual step of taking out TERRORISM INSURANCE at a cost of £50 a month. I'm sorry? One has to wonder what silver-tongued salesman serpent managed to convince her that her tiny jewelry shop in the middle of a small town was IN ANY WAY at risk from the forces of Al-Quaida. That guy must have smelled the insanity a mile away. She also paid FAR above what any retail worker could consider minimum wage, so for someone who wanted desperately to hang on to cash, she was awfully good at throwing it down the toilet.

Personally, she was also seven different flavors of odd. She could sometimes be creepily empathetic, taking your own problems far too personally; even weeping at bad news that you yourself had received. But, at other moments, she could be stunningly rude and unreasonable. After she'd chased off the 4th manager in less than a year with a barrage of insults, I let her have it with both barrels, fully expecting to be dismissed myself. Instead, she practically crumbled into a pile of dust and slunk out of the shop in a fit of self doubt and loathing.

The only thing that I had in common with this bizarre woman was an undying love of smoky quartz. She traveled twice a year to Mexico to buy from local artisans for ridiculously low prices which she would mark up more than 200% upon return, so her profit margin was pretty healthy. It was rare that she came back with smoky quartz pieces, but when she did, she always made a point to show them to me before they were sent to be hallmarked. One such piece is now a part of my jewelry box. (I got a 33% discount, so I only paid about twice what it was worth instead of three times.)

I don't tend to work with faceted stones, but when I saw these smoky quartz briolette beads, I knew that I had to have them. I love the teardrop shape, it's facets and how it compliments the matte finish of the sterling silver circles. This Shining Earth earrings are simple enough for jeans and a t-shirt or elegant enough for a night out. (I'm already planning to make a pair for myself.) Check them out here.