I do love to carve these fantastic insects! This is another iteration of the Death’s Head Hawkmoth-inspired Memento Mori, this time set with a warm palette of fancy-color diamonds with fancy-shaped cuts along the wing edges and abdomen. The thorax is of course set with a Tahitian keshi pearl carved as a skull. 18K.
The backside has a classic Latin message we should all take to heart: Carpe the Fucking Diem. (With a little diamond in the Fucking ‘i’)
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Another take on the Death’s Head Hawkmoth Memento Mori theme. This time featuring a wonderful enamel by Olga Doutkevitch, plus a red coral heart and a pair of diamonds in the wingtips. 18K. And of course just a little bit of detail on the backside..
The backside has the lettering: “Memento Mori, Memento Vivere,” which translates as ‘Remember you must die; therefore, remember to live.’
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One of a kind Death’s Head Hawkmoth Memento Mori pendant. Set with a carved Tahitian baroque keshi pearl skull mounted in the thorax, a shield-shaped cabochon ruby, and diamonds set in the wings. 18K. The backside is fully carved with the lettering: “Memento Mori, Memento Vivere,” which translates as ‘Remember you must die; therefore, remember to live.’
Another one of my Fantastical Insects carved for this cool baroque Tahitian Keshi pearl drop. Diamond eyes with a crystal opal thorax, 18K, one of a kind piece. This little guy is for sale, so send me an email if you would like additional information.
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This giant luna moth neckpiece! It was delicate and large and I had to carve it, then break it up into five separate pieces for casting. Then assemble it at the end. It is set with a fantastic giant Ethiopian opal, with additional Australian opals in the wings. Stones are a gradient of sapphires and tsavorite garnets from bright green to yellow. 14K white gold.
It’s big!
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We started with a dragonfly and morning glory motif for this gorgeous blue sapphire. Then this was whittled down to only dragonflies because the two motifs together were feeling a bit cumbersome somehow.. But then I was thinking about what to carve along the elongated body of the insect, and going back to the morning glory motif ended up being perfect. Lends a bit of additional fairytale whimsy to the design.
Sapphire, diamonds, 18K yellow gold.
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I made a sketch a while back that I knew I had to create, and then I spent much of last year’s Tucson Gem Show on the hunt for thee perfect stone for it. I think I found it in this fantastic bluish green elongated tourmaline.
5.79ct tourmaline, and .12ct diamond. 18K yellow gold.
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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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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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