Category Archives: snakes

asclepius + caduceus solitaire

Custom hand-carved Rod of Asclepius & Caduceus & Oak & Acorn insignia Solitaire with Montana Sapphire, 14K

This is a ring I made for a Navy doctor stationed abroad. The design is a Rod of Asclepius on one side, a Caduceus on the other side, and on the bottom, an intaglio-carved oak leaf & acorn, the Navy Medical Corps insignia.

Custom hand-carved Rod of Asclepius & Caduceus & Oak & Acorn insignia Solitaire with Montana Sapphire, 14K

This leaf & acorn might be my favorite part of the ring!

Custom hand-carved Rod of Asclepius & Caduceus & Oak & Acorn insignia Solitaire with Montana Sapphire, 14K

Okay.. maybe it’s the stone. It’s an untreated Montana Sapphire that is a lovely teal blue in the outside light, but a cool green in indoor lighting. The cut is a unique angular cushion that I really liked.

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silver-blue akoyas

Silver-blue baroque akoya strand, 32", 22K hand-carved snake clasp

I pretty much flipped out when I first spotted these gorgeous baroque silvery-blue akoyas at the gem show. I’ve only ever seen akoyas that were perfectly round, very prim, very Mikimoto-style. These are not those.

Silver-blue baroque akoya strand, 32", 22K hand-carved snake clasp


I have a particular fondness for blue-tinged pearls in particular too. I knotted these on silk into a 32″ strand with 22K carved snake S-clasp. I like the contrast of these icy akoyas with the super warm 22K.

This one is available for sale, by the way 🙂 More pics after the click:

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more snake cocktail rings!

Lightning Ridge Black Opal Snake Cocktail Ring with ruby, 18K hand-carved

Will there ever be enough snake cocktail rings with giant amazing opals in the world? I think not. Here are my latest contributions to this cause.

The above is 18K yellow gold with a freaking insane iridescent green opal from Lightning Ridge, Australia. The color flashes from this crazy green but when the light hits those rivers through it, they show more burnt orange, dots of red, gold. This stone is a total chameleon and changed its look every time I moved it to a different light source. At the bottom is a ruby, a bold and completely perfect choice, I thought.

Lightning Ridge Black Opal Snake Cocktail Ring with Old European Cut diamond, 14K rose gold, hand-carved

This second one was done in rose gold, and featured a really soft feathery opal also from Lightning Ridge, Australia, and an antique Old European Cut diamond accent. I love how incredibly unique every single one of these rings I’ve made has been.

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antique reproduction collaboration

Double-snake solitaire, rose cut diamond

This ring is the result of a collaboration with the lovely Shan Adams! The design is a reproduction of an antique Victorian double-snake ring, and the one pictured is the first we made using a client’s gorgeous rose-cut diamond. I carved the shank part of the ring & Shan, who specializes in Georgian-style cut-down collet settings, does the mounting.

Double-snake solitaire, rose cut diamond

We can make these custom with your choice of stone & metal; just send me an email (cheyenneweil@gmail.com) and I’ll get you the details.

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double twisted snakes solitaire

Hand-carved snake solitaire with sapphire

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…

Hand-carved snake solitaire with sapphire

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

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snake cocktail ring with different stones

Hand-carved snake cocktail ring with a smoky black opal and OEC diamond, 14K gold

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!

Hand-carved snake cocktail ring with Carnelian and OEC diamond, 14K gold

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.

Hand-carved snake cocktail ring with opal and paraiba tourmaline, 14K gold

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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epic snake cocktail ring

14K snake cocktail ring + boulder opal & OEC diamond

More snake rings: BIGGER snake rings. This ring I carved around a sweet boulder opal I just couldn’t pass up because I thought it was like looking down upon a little tropical inlet, like maybe in the Baja perhaps, specifically around here… I got a nice little Old European cut antique diamond to accent the piece and finished it up a couple of weeks ago! LOVE how it turned out. I was hard pressed to let it go, and honestly, if it weren’t one of my favorite clients who bought it, I may have had to keep it myself.

This is, however, a new studio piece and I can customize (different stones, change up the diamond, 14K, 18K white or yellow gold, etc.) and adjust for size. It’s now listed in my Etsy shop!

14K snake cocktail ring + Boulder opal & OEC diamond

See how amazing this ring is? It makes even my ratty old studio sweatshirt look chic! (I kid.)

The other ring in this photo is my Coiled Snake Solitaire—also available in the Etsy shop.

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