Blue John Artists

Anthony at Work

Anthony works out of his Castleton workshop, in the shadow of the slopes which hide the famous Treak Cliff Cavern…the last source of jewellery-grade Blue John. His stunning creations are much sought after and not just to visitors to The Peak District. His customers include jewellers in Covent Garden and much further afield like the US.

Like David he can create a reversible Blue John pendant with a bewildering host of exotic alternatives…..from Malachite and Lapis Lazuli to Bumble Bee Jasper and the incredible Fordite….formed from the build-up of layers of enamel paint found on the tracks where cars were spray painted and polished to reveal stunning layers of colour.

Like David he also inserts a slice of Mother of Pearl behind the Blue John, which has the wonderful effect of lighting up the stone and bringing out the incredible colours and striations.

David at Work

David from Sheffield has been hand-crafting Blue John jewellery for us longer than he cares to remember.

In his Sheffield workshop he creates a regular supply of stunning Blue John jewellery, of which his reversible pendants are our firm favourites …unique Blue John on one side and a stunning alternative on the reverse ….be it Blue Sandstone, Black or Snowy Opalique, the ever popular Whitby Jet perhaps, or even a 64 million year old Madagasgan Ammonite !

Each piece featured is the exact piece you will receive. Blue John varies dramatically from piece to piece, so this is really the only way to sell such a remarkable stone. Many pendants are reversible and have a different stone on the reverse…where this is the case, the primary image will show the other stone and the Blue John side will be visible as a secondary image once the item is opened. 

Some people prefer a uniformly dark pendant, others almost completely white with purple striations…whereas others like the traditional 50/50 mix of purple and white. Occasionally when available, some pieces also contain yellowish gold rutilations, as is visible on the bottom left of the raw piece below….and which gave the stone its original name, Blue John from the French, Bleu Jaune (or Blue Yellow).

Stone Art of Bakewell