I made a new batch of pieces for the shop in downtown Portland: these lovelies are 18K yellow gold with Tahitian pearls (the giant gunmetal drop & the pistachio drop), and 14K white gold with a lovely white South Sea baroque pearl. I want to keep each new thing that I make. It’s so hard letting go!

Here is another shot of the pistachio drop. I wanted to keep it.

Multi-color peachy and pink freshwater pearls! These awesome jobbers are knotted on silk and attached to a carved snake S-hook because that’s just how I roll around here. AAAHHH! Can I keep them already?!

** PSA: These guys are going really fast. If you are looking for a custom pearl piece, please send me an email. I’ll be stocking up on new pearls/raw materials in early February and before I go would be a VERY good time to get your custom order requests in. **

A LOT more photos of everything after the click: (more…)

More pearl drops! This time a ginormous perfect drop-shaped Tahitian black pearl with a hint of green and bronze to it. It’s held by a tiny coiled snake in 18K gold with an 18K gold chain. This pearl, the Art Nouveau snake below, and a few other pieces have actually been placed in a shop in Downtown Portland! First time for me to have my things in a shop. I’m a little nervous to see how they do, so here’s hoping it works out.

All sides of the snake are carved in full detail. More pics after the jump: (more…)

I just finished this one and I love it! I went full-on art nouveau inspired on this one and added a rainbow pearl drop from the Sea of Cortez. This one is 18K gold, and I’ll be listing it in my shop soon. (But send me an email if you don’t yet see it and would like pricing info.)

The amazing thing about these pearls is the variety of color in each pearl. Generally with Tahitians, you see one dominant overtone color, like green, or magenta. With pearls from the Sea of Cortez (a completely different species of saltwater oyster—different genus, in fact), you tend to see a variety of rainbowy colors: pink, green, lavender, blue all on the same pearl. Colors change depending upon the light, the background color they are next to, etc. They tend to also have a lighter bodycolor as well. I absolutely love them.

I also made a version in 14K gold with a Tahitian black pearl drop. Yum!

I’ll be offering this pendant in 14K or 18K white or yellow gold, with your choice of pearl drop. The above two are ready-to-wear as is.

Me wearing the 14K/Tahitian pearl version, to give you a sense of scale. Many more pics after the click: (more…)

This giant baroque pearl from Tahiti was just so damned cool there was no way it wasn’t coming home with me. Because if its unique shape and overall spectacular coolness, I had to create something custom for it and only it, as it wouldn’t fit in any of my more “normal” sorts of pearl cup mountings, nor would a simple bail do it any sort of justice. Not surprisingly, I decided to go with a snake, as a means of feeding my several years’ long snake obsession, and because they are cool, but also because snakes are very forgiving motifs—you can drape and position them whichever way you please. Perfect for this blobular pearly awesomeness.

This baroque Tahitian drop measures an insane 17.5mm x 12.7mm. I really love this pearl; it has a gorgeous lustre and an incredible silvery oatmeal color. I have a particular affinity towards the lighter toned pearls—silvers and golden colors—over the more classic black Tahitians, and this one just kills me. The snake & chain are 18K gold.

This guy is for sale, by the way. Send me an email or check my Etsy shop for details. Thanks!!

Many more images after the click, ya’ll…

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Snakes on a pearl! And I’m not done with the snakes yet… This little guy is shown here in 18K yellow gold with an awesome humongous silvery South Sea semi-baroque pearl drop. The coiled snake pendant pearl cup will be offered in the Etsy shop, and I have a bunch of cool baroques and semi-baroques to choose from.

More pics after the link: (more…)