On a recent trip to Egypt, I was struck by the fact that the color lapis blue occurred at every turn. Whether in tombs, temples, mosques or museums, it seemed to be the universal color of the ancient Egyptians.

Lapis blue was the frequent color in the beautiful tomb and temple paintings and on the sarcophagi of the pharaohs, as well as in the many jewels found in the tombs that were created with lapis lazuli and gold. Lapis blue was everywhere. 

Besides accessibility of lapis to the ancient Egyptians, the color referenced the important Nile River, the lifeblood of Egypt. After a cruise up the Nile, I understand why it is such an important part of the history and lifeblood of the culture and people. I will always remember my experience in Egypt when I encounter lapis lazuli and will think of it differently. The many examples of jewelry that I saw have begun to influence my design ideas for using lapis and I look forward to blending the old and the new in future pieces that I create using this ancient color.

The July auction of 800,000 carates of Zambian emeralds, held in London, brought in a record $7.5 million in sales.

"The markets for diamonds and gemstones continue to show clear signs of recovery, with per- carat prices received by Gemfields rising dramatically," Gemfields Chief Executive Officer Ian Harebottle said in the press release.

Beeman Jewelry designs emerald jewelry necklaces and and can provide you with a beautiful emerald strand at a slightly lower price than a few million. But the demand for raw emeralds demonstrates demand for necklaces and pendents using emerald gemstones is on the rise and will be part of upcoming fashion seasons.

John Beeman is pleased to launch a new web site that showcases his designs cleanly and effectively to consumers worldwide. The site features years of John's work creating beautiful pieces of art to be worn and enjoyed by both the wearer and the observer.

Designed and implemented by Gallup, NM based Good & Evil Consulting in partnership with Boulder, CO based Designtech Studio the site features a wide selection of high resolution images of Beeman necklaces, full Search Engine Optimized web pages, and extensive resource literature on gemstones John Beeman uses in his art.