Calico Juno Designs

Bonnie Riconda’s jewelry design philosophy is based on her love of brilliant, bright colors, a light feeling of airiness, and of all things truly hand-created by the artist. She uses no pre-made or fabricated parts, but wraps all gemstones and beads by hand, and even makes her own hoops and French wires. Semi-precious gemstones, Austrian crystals, pearls, and stones are used in combination to create a wonderful palette of colors in her original designs.

After getting a BFA from York College of PA and an MFA in painting and sculpture from Long Island University in New York, Bonnie’s love of jewelry and creating things by hand determined her course in starting her business Calico Juno Designs.  Just over 2-1/2 years later, her collection now features over 350 designs and Calico Juno Designs is now carried by retailers in Manhattan, including Gallery Vercon, Azaleas, Calypso, La Petite Coquette, and Verve, and now in over 50 stores across the country, and in Japan and Mexico. 

Magazine features include MARIE CLAIRE, SHOP, SEVENTEEN, GLAMOUR, INSTYLE, LUCKY, MODERN BRIDE, THE KNOT, YM, FIRST, BRIDAL GUIDE, JEZEBEL, COSMOGIRL, FAMILY CIRCLE, REDBOOK, ESSENCE, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, and many more. Calico Juno Designs has been worn by MTV and VH1 vj's, by Eva Longoria of Desperate Housewives, Dylan Lauren, Kathy Lee Gifford, and Geri Ryan. 

About Calico Juno Jewelry:

Gold: All gold wire, components, ear wires, hoops, chain, etc. is made of 14k gold-filled.

What is 14k gold-filled? Unlike gold-plating or vermeil (gold-plated silver), gold-filled is a thick layer of 14k over a small core of base metal (usually brass), and will not wear off or tarnish.  You can have all the beauty and wearability of 14k without the huge cost. 

Most people who have metal allergies who feel they must wear only 14k usually do not have any problems with the gold-filled.

Silver: All silver wire, components, ear wires, hoops, chain, etc. is made of .975 sterling silver. Unlike gold-filled, sterling silver will tarnish. Cleaning sterling is easy, but must be done frequently to keep it looking bright and fresh (see cleaning and care below).

What is handcrafted? "Handcrafted" can be a loosely based term, but at Calico Juno Designs, every piece is truly handcrafted by the artist. There are no mass-produced or machine-made parts or components. Everything is made by hand (even the ear- wires and hoops), with the utmost attention to detail and craftsmanship used.  So when you wear Calico Juno Designs jewelry, you'll know you're wearing something special that was lovingly crafted by the artist, and will have that unique look that is distinctive to something truly made by hand.

Gemstones, pearls, and crystals: All gemstones, pearls, and crystals used by Calico Juno Designs are carefully selected by the artist to assure that high-quality stones are used. All gemstones and pearls are all-natural, meaning that there are no fake imitations or cheap stones used. Crystals and cubic zirconia are always manmade, but they have the longevity and color-fastness and brilliance of real gemstones, while at a fraction of the cost.

Semi-precious and Precious Gemstones, pearls, crystals:

    (translucent = light shines through easily and is semi-clear)
    (opaque = some light shines through and is a more solid color)

• Tourmaline --- deep-to-pale pink (translucent)
• Peridot --- lime green (translucent)
• Lemon quartz --- pale yellow (translucent)
• Rose Quartz --- very pale rosy-pink (opaque)
• Clear Quartz --- clear, with some inclusions of crystallization (translucent)
• Cherry Quartz --- medium peachy-red (translucent)
• Citrine --- pale orange-yellow (translucent)
• Carnelian --- deep orange (opaque)
• Apatite --- bright blue-green (translucent)
• Iolite --- medium denim blue (translucent)
• Amethyst --- dark to light purple (translucent)
• Idocrase --- bright leaf-green (translucent)
• Chalcedony --- in the natural state is a pale periwinkle blue, but due to certain properties of the stone, it lends itself to being treated in various colors ranging from bright pink to tangerine to yellow to pale mint-green or blue to lavender (opaque)
• Garnet --- deep blood-red to reddish-purple (translucent) 
• Grossular Garnet --- yellowish-green (translucent)
• Spinel --- a form of ruby, but unlike ruby (which is opaque), is a much more brilliant pink (translucent)
• Topaz --- various shades - shown here is a golden topaz (dark burnt-orange, translucent) and lemon topaz (pale, bright lemon yellow - translucent)
  
  (all stones below are opaque)

• Peruvian Opal --- glowing sea-foam blue 
• Turquoise --- bright green-blue 
• Red Coral --- bright blood-red 
• Howlite --- brilliant blue-green
• Raspberry Agate --- ranges from pale purple-pink to bright purple
• Onyx ---can vary in shades, used here is a bright royal blue 
• Jade --- rich mossy-green
• Amber --- orange-yellow

Pearls --- all pearls are freshwater, irregular shapes, and can range in color from opalescent ivory to ivory-pink, ivory-peach, pale green-gold, copper, bronze, gold, and ebony. 

Opalescent means that while one color is predominant, many other colors will sparkle and shine through when the light hits it; a trademark sign of true freshwater pearls.

Keshi or Biwa pearls are from Japan and are always irregularly shaped - from long skinny sticks to wide oblong pieces to irregular round pieces.

Crystals and Cubic Zirconia --- all are created in a similar fashion to making glass, and while that sounds "artificial", these stones are meticulously created in labs and come in a range of gorgously beautiful colors, and have the lasting longevity of color, brilliance, and sparkle of natural gemstones.

CARE AND CLEANING OF YOUR JEWELRY

Gold - while gold-filled jewelry does not tarnish as does sterling silver, occasionally it can be cleaned (the same way as regular 14k gold) using warm soapy water and an old toothbrush. A little ammonia added will help too. Or, you can use a commercial liquid gold cleaner.

Silver - sterling silver jewelry needs to be cleaned often to keep it bright and shiny, as it will tarnish and become dull and dingy looking, eventually oxidizing and turning almost black.

Tarnishing is the natural process of a metal oxidizing, reacting with oxygen in the air and changing color (like iron rusting). This does not happen with gold as gold is an inert metal and does not react with oxygen, which is why it is valuable and highly prized.  Keeping your sterling silver jewelry protected in a jewelry box will help slow down the tarnishing.  But every so often, maybe every month or so, or when you notice your silver jewelry is no longer looking bright silvery white but dull and perhaps even grey, clean it with a commercial silver cleaner. Tarnex, a liquid silver cleaner (that smells like rotten eggs!) is recommended. You can just dunk your jewelry in the liquid, swish it around for about 10 seconds, and pull it out (any longer may damage stones!!!). Rinse with warm running water and dry with a paper towel (not terry cloth, as it may snag), and your jewelry will look bright and shiny again.

All Calico Juno Designs jewelry should be handled with care, as it is delicate. If it does snag on something, do not pull at the jewelry as it may stretch it out of shape (if this has already happened, please contact me!). Gently hold the jewelry and pull instead on the snagged item.  While not being worn, the jewelry should be carefully stored in separate quarters away from other jewelry, to keep it from getting tangled. Optimally it should be hung up on special displays designed for hanging jewerly on.