I finally got to make an orchid ring! I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. Here I carved a sprig of phalaenopsis across the top, 14K rose gold.

I have a ton more photos after the click: (more…)

Hand-carved morning glory tapered band, this time a little wider than before at around 12mm width up top. It is cast into 14K rose gold and set with little purplish-pink diamond accents.

I love how this ring turned out.

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Hooray for more snake rings! This was a fun one: two snakes in white gold flanking a center Montana cabochon sapphire. The stone was clear with a pale lavender tinge and a flash of orange across it; very unique. Two very small 1mm diamonds are set in the eyes of the snakes. I think I need to start making larger snakes because 1mm is not my flush-setting comfort zone…

I carved in scale texture for one of the snake’s bodies and left the other smooth for contrast.

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Lilacs in rose gold! The center stone is a lovely heart-shaped lilac sapphire, and the smaller guys are little light green diamonds.

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Mermaid ring revisited! This time the ring is a bit more organic and free-form in styling. She’s also in my Etsy shop as a customizable piece: choose your metal + stones & I’ll make you one in your size.

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Calla Lily ring in 14K rose gold with a really cool blue-green Montana Sapphire. Annoyingly, my photo light box made this stone look really boring. Here is a video of it outside in the shade where it looks awesome and lively. The stone did, however, change color dramatically depending upon the lighting: sometimes more greenish/aqua, and other times more smoky blue. More pics after the click! (more…)

It has been really fun to see how this ring transforms with each new and totally different stone I make it with. I’ve been lucky enough to get to try it with the original boulder opal of course, this glossy and awesome smoky semi-black Lightning Ridge opal, an insanely gorgeous carnelian that looked like jelly candy, and a gorgeous white opal with a flash of turquoise running through it. I love the different vibes each stone lends this ring. I’m ready to make more!

This is the nicest carnelian I’ve ever seen; it is all natural color and actually the original stone was larger and I had it cut down to fit this setting. The diamonds in this and the smoky black opal above are both antique Old European Cut diamonds.

Pairing a bright green-blue paraiba tourmaline with this opal was a brilliant idea. It looked so good against the yellow gold and really brought the blue and green flashes out of the opal.

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Giant oval Tanzanite set in an 18K white gold bezel solitaire carved with poppies! I gave this solitaire a nice prominent height, and carved poppies all the way around the bezel. I’m always up for carving my favorite flower, and this ring turned out so nicely.

Tanzanite is a cool stone: it shows slightly different body colors depending upon the type of light you view it in; sometimes more purplish violet, sometimes more blue. When it comes out of the ground, it shows three distinct body colors depending upon the axis from which you view it: blue, purple, and a reddish brown. The rough crystals are then heated to remove the reddish/brown color and you are left with a blue/purple stone that is what you typically see in jewelry.

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