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.

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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My coiled snake solitaire has been modified to carry a 1ct stone!

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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.

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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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…

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

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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!

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.

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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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!

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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A hand-carved ouroboros wedding band for him, and for her, a Pacific Northwest forest band with trilliums, ferns, and one teeny little snake peeking out. Platinum 950.

She was generally less interested in having a giant snake around her finger, but they wanted a hint of continuity between the two bands, so the little snake amongst the foliage was the answer. Of course, I am always happy to carve a snake on a ring, whenever needed.

More detail shots after the click: Continue reading →