Stoned with Margaritas

Brooch with three margarita stones

Hello Cape Girardeau, Missouri and beyond,

Who doesn't like a margarita stone? They are my personal favorite stone, when they have a rhinestone head-pin. These stones were very popular in the '50s and '60s, so we have a great selection of margaritas to collect and wear today.

A margarita stone refers to its shape, not color. Swarovski manufactured these stones in a variety of solid colors, bicolor and multi-color variations. The basic heliotrope we think of is a multi-colored stone nicknamed, watermelon. The watermelon is a stone that is pink with green around the edges. Watermelon has also become a generic term for all heliotropes. A beautiful and impressive stone in its own right, a watermelon margarita with a rhinestone head-pin is blindingly beautiful.

Exactly, how do you recognize a margarita stone? A margarita stone is a specialty rhinestone with a raised center and a scalloped edge that runs all the way around the stone. Usually the center is mounted and secured with a center rhinestone head-pin. In my personal opinion, without the center mounted rhinestone head-pin, it's just not a genuine margarita stone. But, remember, just because a stone has a rhinestone head-pin, that does not make it a margarita stone, but, it does make it a beautiful stone.

Are you wondering what colors you can find a margarita stone in? Just about any color. The most popular colors are green with a pink center and clear rhinestone head-pin, amethyst with a blue center and clear rhinestone head-pin, peridot with a clear rhinestone head-pin and pink with a clear rhinestone head-pin. There are many more but one of the most popular is the heliotrope green with pink center (watermelon) and clear rhinestone head-pin, and a heliotrope green with a rainbow of green, pink, blue and yellow. A blood stone is a different stone and sometimes referred to as a heliotrope. I believe this to be incorrect, even though you find this information on a bloodstone, all over the internet.

Find a reliable site or source when you research, because, there are many mistaken information sources on the internet that we look to for research, for sale items, and even in some reference books. The bottom line though, is buy what you like.

Many manufactures used margarita stones in their designs. Of course, my favorite is DeLizza & Elster designs. However, Vendôme had some exquisite designs with margarita stones that are blindly beautiful, and several other high-quality costume jewelry manufactures used these stones too.

You can purchase necklaces, bracelets, earrings and multiple brooches that include margarita stones in their design. They are a little more expensive than many high-quality costume jewelry pieces, but I think you will agree they are worth it.

Join me, be stoned with margaritas.

Have fun. Be classic, be you, wear vintage.