Category Archives: snakes

art nouveau snake pendant + pearl

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 oysterâ€”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: Continue reading →

baroque pearl drop + snake

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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 motifsâ€”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 pearlsâ€”silvers and golden colorsâ€”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’llâ€¦

Continue reading →

snake and wheat grass

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Of course there would be more snake rings. This one is a garter snake curled up in wheat grass, in 14K rose gold. I love it.

And more angles of the ring after the click: Continue reading →

coiled snake pearl drop pendant

entwined snake rings

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I think I could carve snake rings until I was blue in the face. Here are a pair of snake wedding bands in 14K with tiny oval black star sapphires set into their mouths. I’ve never tried to set a stone on the side of a ring before, and it wasn’t all that different from normal setting, but figuring out a way to securely hold the ring solidly sideways where I could have good access for working the setting was complicated. I managed, but I have a sneaking suspicion it could have been accomplished with a bit less awkward…

The original plan was to carve scales onto both snakes, but I got halfway there, and the contrast in texture just looked so nice. We decided to leave it be and I’m glad we did!

More pics after the click: Continue reading →

snake band #2

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Snake ring #2: Coiled snake wedding band with 2mm diamond in 18K brushed gold. I burnished the ridge of the snake’s body mirror bright, which stands out nicely against the matte finish. I did a bit of research into the structure of snake heads for this one. Did you know that each scale on a snake’s head has a name and is more or less consistent throughout all the species? Science, man.

It pairs nicely with a solitaire, of course, as many things are improved by the addition of a large diamond. The little dip in the snake band snugs in well with the low-profile solitaire.

More pics of course! Continue reading →

coiled snake solitaire

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Well, it’s about time I finished this ring. I started it nearly a year ago and had it cast easily 6 months ago. Then I stressed over what would be Thee Perfect Stone to set in the top. Against the intensity of the 18K yellow color and the epicness of the snake motif, I decided that I needed a ruby to go here.

Then I couldn’t find one. Well, not one that I liked. I wanted a really red one that was actually clear inside, which is a hard bargain when it comes to rubies actually. The vast majority of them are a purplish red to downright pink in color, and it’s rare to find any that are truly clear inside. The whole “pigeon’s blood” ruby thing is, in my opinion, some seriously misguided romanticism. I mean, I’ve seen a dead pigeon before.

So I sat on it until I went to the Tucson gem show and spent two days on a quixotic search for the awesomest reddest rubies of specifically the right size for my ring. Out of the hundreds of gem vendors and tens of thousands of rubies there, I found three stones I liked and I bought all of them.

Many more photos of all angles after the jump! Continue reading →

sneak peek

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Just a quick sneak peek a new piece I’m working on ~~for me~~ for the shop. (This is the bottom of the ring.) I am still waiting to buy the stone for it; I am thinking a ruby would be suitable. The red color with the 18K gold seems to work really well.

first jewels

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Oh my poor, poor neglected blog. Sorry folks for the dramatic pause in pretty pictures.. I have actually been very busy and have not had enough function left in my brain to keep my blog populated. I bought a “fixer” house, moved, had a nasty bout of colds/flues that rampaged through the household, tore apart and remodeled the bathroom, and now am working on the kitchen. And we had family visiting. And I got way behind in my orders doing all of this.. (But I’m caught up now!) Whew. Onward.

I have a number of custom pieces I have made over the past few months and I will get them posted here over the next week. For now, I just wanted to point out how amazingly cool Michelle Obama’s jewelry was at the recent Correspondent’s Dinner. I usually think her formal ensembles are pretty great and whatnot but this time her jewelry picks were completely AWESOME AWESOME and AWESOME!!!

The three layered necklaces. The pewter color scheme here is really nice and unusual and goes well with the dusty purple color of her dress. All pieces are pretty sweet: the chain lariat choker that hangs over the lower necklace of interesting metal beads.. But what really makes this for me though is the heavy cable chain on top. Too cool.

Here’s a close up of the bracelet stack. Snakes! I love it when people wear snake jewelry.

(I have no idea who designed any of this; if anyone does, please mention it in the comments for me? Thanks!)

The entire ensemble. Did I mention how awesome I think this is? Check out her snake ring too. The earrings are whatevs; I don’t have anything to say about them.

Anyway, I was super impressed with her jewelry choices (her stylist’s jewelry choices? Does she select her own clothing/jewelry for functions like these? I really have no idea how these things work) and I think she looked flipping gorgeous.

EDITED: I found out who the jewelry designer was: Irit Design for all pieces, including the earrings. Sterling silver and diamonds! LOVE it all!

Gin and Butterflies

Jewelry by Cheyenne Weil