It’s about time I made a spider ring! And happily, it was the perfect piece to use this wonderful cabochon emerald I got at last year’s gem shows. This guy is 18K yellow gold, and also has a bezel-set Australian opal. Looks like a glowing water droplet.
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We had First Cicada, yes, but what about Second Cicada?
This version was inspired by the spread-wing cicada and amazingly, my client had extremely similarly shaped stones. The pink and raspberry colored stones are tourmalines, and the rest are diamonds she also had lying around, as one does. 18K yellow gold.
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Pair of wedding bands with a primary Tanoak motif, plus additions of chanterelle mushrooms on the wider band, California poppies on the narrower band. Both in 14K palladium white gold. Many more photos below:
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THIS INSANE OPAL RING!!!! This was an intense ring to carve and set and oh so very worth it!! 18K + Australian opals and diamonds. Please click through for more photos of different angles…
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Hokusai’s Wave-inspired solitaire, set with a wonderful sea-green Tourmaline. I gave the ring a satin/brushed finish for the most part, but with some brighter bits at the wave crest, etc.
Colored stones are often cut with deep bulbous pavilions, and while I prefer the tidy look of a bezel setting, sometimes I hate to enclose so much of the stone. However, carving a little opening in the side of the setting creates a little window to view the pavilion, and also lets additional light enter the stone for a brighter overall effect up top.
I continued the carved design around the gallery view and side window: one side has the lower wave/water, and this side I carved some clouds scudding across the sky.
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What better muse for a fantastic jeweled insect than a giant beautiful weird cicada? They have incredible wing structure and a slightly robotic look about them. A perfect candidate to recreate in 18K gold and multi-colored sapphires.
It is no fun to leave the backside plain. The chain used for this pendant was an antique watch chain; we did end up swapping out the circular spring-clasp for another swivel clasp to match the other side.
Many more photos after the click:
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My original version of this ring was carved for a stone around 2.5mm in size, but in the past few years, I’ve altered it to fit a stone that was closer to 4mm.. So, I decided to carve a new ‘master’ wax that was specifically designed around a 1/4ct / 4mm stone and here is the first piece made from that new mold.
19K rose gold with a vivid peacock blue diamond (the diamond has been heated and/or irradiated to create and intensify the color. It was likely a brownish color originally). More pics after the click:
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This dreamy full spectrum opal I picked out of literal thousands a couple years ago at the Tucson gemshow. Let’s just say that this was not the first time I was unable to pass up a stone… Lately, I’ve been looking through my stock at these gems I’ve collected over the years and decided it was time to make something for them. I’ve always loved jeweled insects, and the weirder/wilder the better, so it seemed like a perfect match: design a series of fantastic insects for these singular stones I’ve acquired over the years. Here is the first I completed: Ethiopian opal & diamonds in 18K.
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The photograph below, taken by Susie Dranit, the woman behind one of my favorite Instagram feeds, @bobandmarge, inspired a doodle that eventually turned into this pendant. Apparently, I have a thing for circular, wreath-like pendants, as this is not the first I’ve made that have a round thing going.. I think the pendant turned out so cool; I love making metal lacy. 18K
Susie sent me some Sea Holly seeds early this spring to try out! I got them started a bit late due to a random really late freeze/snow, but the plants are doing their thing and hopefully I’ll get some of my own feather-spikey blooms soon.
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