Monthly Archives: February 2016

mistletoe collar necklace

hand-carved 14K mistletoe collar necklace

Back in 2012, I made a set of mistletoe-themed wedding rings for a couple in The Netherlands. A few months ago, they asked me to make a mistletoe collar-style necklace to match. It is in 14K white gold.

hand-carved 14K mistletoe collar necklace

I had never made anything quite like this before, either such a large carved and cast piece, or indeed very many necklaces at all. I had no idea how to calculate accurately how much gold I would need, nor was I sure even how much time it would actually take to carve; it was all more than a little experimental. But, as you can see, things went extremely well, and the finished piece turned out quite awesome.

A bunch more images + some progress wax shots. Continue reading

tucson gem show 2016

saguaro

Establishing Tucson shot: it was a warm dry day in the desert metropolis. The policeman directing traffic between the AGTA and GJX shows laughed at me when he realized I was taking a photo of a cactus. I think saguaro cacti are just so damned cool though. The ones in the city are in downright pristine shape too, very photogenic; I guess the critters aren’t as likely to choose the bustling city to build their homes, so the urban saguaro has few holes or gnawed-off portions. Probably gets watered more regularly too.

pile o treated sapphires

This is not the first large vat of multi-colored sapphires I ran across at the show. In previous years the vendors were kind of sketched by me taking photos of their merchandise, but now they are quite game. I guess they know it’ll just end up on some instagram or blog somewhere. Speaking of which, I had no fewer than 10 people ask me what my instagram account address was. Guess I need to get on that.

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