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Pools of Light...finally found one!

stracci2000

stracci2000

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Messages
8,655
Finally, after all these years of looking!
It's just one , but I'll take it!

In a thrift store, attached to a freshwater pearl and blue dyed bead strand.
I immediately liberated it from the bead strand.
I attached a rutilated quartz bead as a connector to the chain. Y'know, keeping with the rock crystal theme.
I think it's better now!
IMG_20240727_171416929.jpg

IMG_20240728_145053591.jpg

IMG_20240728_151717171.jpg
 
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Yay! I know you have been on the hunt for a long time & this was an amazing find!

It looks stunning in its new liberated home. Like it was meant to be. Job well done - i love it & I’m proper jelly! :kiss2:
 
Ally T said:
Yay! I know you have been on the hunt for a long time & this was an amazing find!

It looks stunning in its new liberated home. Like it was meant to be. Job well done - i love it & I’m proper jelly! :kiss2:
Click to expand...

Thanks Ally!
I know how rare a whole necklace is, so I'm happy just to have one.
 
stracci2000 said:
Finally, after all these years of looking!
It's just one , but I'll take it!

In a thrift store, attached to a freshwater pearl and blue dyed bead strand.
I immediately liberated it from the bead strand.
I attached a rutilated quartz bead as a connector to the chain. Y'know, keeping with the rock crystal theme.
I think it's better now!
IMG_20240727_171416929.jpg

IMG_20240728_145053591.jpg

IMG_20240728_151717171.jpg
Click to expand...

be still my beating heart
major swoon
 
stracci2000 said:
Finally, after all these years of looking!
It's just one , but I'll take it!

In a thrift store, attached to a freshwater pearl and blue dyed bead strand.
I immediately liberated it from the bead strand.
I attached a rutilated quartz bead as a connector to the chain. Y'know, keeping with the rock crystal theme.
I think it's better now!
IMG_20240727_171416929.jpg

IMG_20240728_145053591.jpg

IMG_20240728_151717171.jpg
Click to expand...

I love this! Transparent spheres are fascinating.

Your picture brings to mind the controversial 'Leonardo' Salvator Mundi.
SalvatorMundi.jpg

I've always thought that the orb was obviously wrong. It lacks the refraction that your picture shows beautifully. See how the fold and the hand behind the orb are a bit blurred and darkened, but not distorted as they should be. This seems unworthy of Leonardo (or whoever else might have painted it). But maybe there was some weird convention?
 
Starstruck8 said:
I love this! Transparent spheres are fascinating.

Your picture brings to mind the controversial 'Leonardo' Salvator Mundi.
SalvatorMundi.jpg

I've always thought that the orb was obviously wrong. It lacks the refraction that your picture shows beautifully. See how the fold and the hand behind the orb are a bit blurred and darkened, but not distorted as they should be. This seems unworthy of Leonardo (or whoever else might have painted it). But maybe there was some weird convention?
Click to expand...

The artist, whoever he was, probably had a hard time portraying the warped image in the orb as he saw it. So he improvised for the viewer.

I labored over that photo. The background is an English transferware dish from the 1840s.
I moved the necklace back and forth a few inches in front of it, until the inverted image was sharp.
Yes, I'm intrigued by clear orbs, too.
I love glass paperweights as well.
 
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It’s lovely! :kiss2: I’ll admit, I had to google “pools of light”. Fascinating stuff! And so pretty and ethereal.

I found one on etsy very similar to yours, but it’s probably terribly overpriced, so I edited the link out. Let me know if you’d like me to link it here anyway!
 
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Joanne10 said:
It’s lovely! :kiss2: I’ll admit, I had to google “pools of light”. Fascinating stuff! And so pretty and ethereal.

I found one on etsy very similar to yours, but it’s probably terribly overpriced, so I edited the link out. Let me know if you’d like me to link it here anyway!
Click to expand...

Yes, yes, I want to see!
I think @YadaYadaYada has a pendant, too
 
I do have one yes, but I LOVE this one you found with the flowers on the sides, what a great find!

Is there a bow above the flower? I was trying to figure it out.
 
So stunning in its new home! What a find!!
 
lovedogs said:
How do you know if a given listing is a "real" pool of light or not? @YadaYadaYada ?
Click to expand...

I am no expert but I did find an article that I will link here and it says that a genuine pool of light crystal will magnify and refract an image so the image will be upside down. That is true for mine so it appears to be a real pools of light crystal:

Pools of Light Necklaces and Earrings ( Or Ignorance ain't bliss ) | Collectors Weekly

Shop for—and learn—about vintage and antiques. Browse the best of eBay, connect with other collectors, and explore the history behind your favorite finds.
www.collectorsweekly.com www.collectorsweekly.com
 
YadaYadaYada said:
I am no expert but I did find an article that I will link here and it says that a genuine pool of light crystal will magnify and refract an image so the image will be upside down. That is true for mine so it appears to be a real pools of light crystal:
Click to expand...

Not sure about this. Both quartz and glass spheres can give a magnified erect image of objects close behind them and an inverted image of objects further behind them.

One simple test is to hold it to your upper lip for a while (10 seconds or so). Quartz will feel cold to cool, glass cool to warm. Of course, the words are relative, and it depends a bit on you and the room temperature. So it's a good idea to 'calibrate' with known quartz and glass. I just tried this and it worked.

Another test uses a monitor screen. Most monitors are polarized. You can check yours by holding polarizing sunglasses, or a camera polarizing filter, in front of it and turning it around. If you can make the screen black out, it's polarized. Now, looking through the sunglasses/filter, with the screen blacked out, hold the stone in front of the screen and turn it around. If you can turn it around to get a dark horizontal cross and bright diagonal cross (as in the picture below), it's probably quartz. (Strictly, it could be other things, but not glass.)
CrystalSphere.jpg
This stone is a cheapo rose quartz sphere. The effect should be even clearer with more transparent rock crystal.
 
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A warning on the polarization test. Glass spheres can produce light and dark bands. But they are usually more or less wavy. By turning the sphere around you can sometimes get a cross, as in the examples below. Note that in these examples, the arms are a bit wavy and the centre is dark, unlike the bright centre that quartz will always show.
Paperweights.jpg
 
@Starstruck8, yeah not an expert and don’t play one on TV (:lol:) so thank you for posting that. Obviously it is not as simple as what I posted to determine a true pools of light piece.
 
Beautiful!
 
What a fascinating find and discussion! I don’t have a Pools of Light necklace but you have all helped me understand this one that I saw at the Victoria and Albert Museum jewellery section. This is the V&A’s official photo
IMG_3965.jpeg
This my photo. I found it quite overwhelming. Definitely not serene but quite expressive.
IMG_3964.jpeg
Here is the V&A link https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1158596/necklace-paxon-adam/#object-details
Here is a jadeite version with cabochons, not spheres.
IMG_3966.jpeg
 
Crimson said:
What a fascinating find and discussion! I don’t have a Pools of Light necklace but you have all helped me understand this one that I saw at the Victoria and Albert Museum jewellery section. This is the V&A’s official photo
IMG_3965.jpeg
This my photo. I found it quite overwhelming. Definitely not serene but quite expressive.
IMG_3964.jpeg
Here is the V&A link https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1158596/necklace-paxon-adam/#object-details
Here is a jadeite version with cabochons, not spheres.
IMG_3966.jpeg
Click to expand...

That acrylic necklace is stunning! And a bit ... disturbing. I'm feeling grooovy psychedelic 60s Austin Powers vibes... But actually it's from about 2004. It took me a while to see the trick: the suspension is tilting the pointed globes forwards. In your photograph, lower part of the necklace shows the 'fronts'; the upper part, the 'backs'.

The jadeite is much more ... calming. I love that wonderful soft glow.
 
Starstruck8 said:
That acrylic necklace is stunning! And a bit ... disturbing. I'm feeling grooovy psychedelic 60s Austin Powers vibes... But actually it's from about 2004. It took me a while to see the trick: the suspension is tilting the pointed globes forwards. In your photograph, lower part of the necklace shows the 'fronts'; the upper part, the 'backs'.

The jadeite is much more ... calming. I love that wonderful soft glow.
Click to expand...

I agree, @Starstruck8. The acrylic necklace is eye-catching, but not something I would wear. It is too busy and loud.. The size is also considerable. Each pendant is about 2 CM diameter! I could hear other museum goers asking each other,”is that something you would wear?”
The Jadeite necklace is large too but yes, more calming .
 
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