@adifferentkindofbeautiful - Good question. My interest in jewelry tends to stem from my inner rockhound-scientist side as much as it does from the craftsperson fashion-maven side. I often consider where my beads come from and how they’re made- especially when it comes down to ethics and fair trade. Unfortunately, without an advanced knowledge of gemology that can be really difficult to ascertain.

As far as i can gather, most blue chalcedony comes from Turkey, and then it is shipped as rough stones to india, where it’s then cut and drilled. There’s also blue and purple chalcedony mines in Nevada. Agate (also a variety of chalcedony) from brazil is also sometimes dyed blue to take on the qualities of true blue stones. I’m pretty sure my stuff comes from Turkey, since the strand was an import from india.

Peruvian opal is mined in the mountains near San Patricio, Peru (where pink peruvian opal is also available). It’s one of thse one-in-a-million mineral veins, and is found nowhere else in the world. Because of this, the peruvian people are very proud of their mines and very protective of who mines & exports it.