In the meantime, I did a bit of research. According to Wikipedia, "Cubic zirconia (or CZ) is the cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2). The synthesized material is hard, optically flawless and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors."Artbeads.com has hundreds of different Cubic Zirconia items including beads, pendants, drops, clasps, links and earrings in many different colors and shapes. I chose the CZ teardrop shaped drop and CZ round beads.
I had grandiose plans to create a necklace using all of the components in the same piece. But as things often go in jewelry design, I ended up not liking what I created. After five different "re-dos" I gave up and decided to go simple. I'm glad I did as the CZ components are really beautiful all by themselves and don't need anything added to really show off their beauty.
I created a necklace that can be worn two ways. The simplest necklace uses CZ round beads in two sizes strung with tiny size 15 rocailles. The sparkle is amazing and a bit hard to capture in pictures.
I wanted to use at lease one of the CZ teardrops as a dangle, so I decided to make one that is removable. By adding the dangle, you can dress up the necklace and add a bit of romance.
Since my original necklace design didn't work out as I had imagined, I had two pairs of CZ teardrops left that were just begging to be used as earrings. Fortunately I had some Swarovski crystal beads that go very well with the CZ.
I am so pleased with the CZ jewelry components I received from Artbeads.com. I would highly recommend them to anyone who wants to make classy romantic jewelry with lots of sparkle. One thing I learned is that the larger CZ drops are heavier than I expected. Things don't always work out like we plan, but I'm very happy with the end results.As part of Artbeads.com blog group, I received these products free of charge and am giving my honest critique of the products received. I have not been paid for providing this review of their products.
