18K yellow gold carved poppy pendant! I love it! More photos after the click: Continue reading
poppy pendant
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mermaid and shell ring
One of my first rings I carved ever (oh so long ago) was a mermaid ring with two mermaids up each side, very art nouveau (in fact, I think I used a photo of an old art nouveau lamp as inspiration for one of my girls). It turned out kind of great, even though the anatomy was a little, well, off, let’s just say, and the stone I chose, while sentimental, wasn’t exactly a show-stopper. I still have that ring. Why I didn’t carve figures for so long, I don’t know why, because while very challenging, tiny figures in gold are just so damned cool!
This new one is in 18K with a little 5 point blue diamond; she’s around 8mm wide. Now I’ve got three more rings in the works with tiny figures on them and I cannot wait. There’s no stopping now!
Lots more photos after the click! Continue reading
snake and wheat grass
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
peter & christel’s rings
These are a pair of bands I carved for some friends. They call each other “Spatzle” (“sparrow” in German, possibly in dialect), so I carved a pair of sparrows sitting on a branch. And because the dogwoods were fully in bloom when I made these, and blooming dogwoods are about the best, I added a single flower across from the birds. 14K white gold.
More pics after the jump: Continue reading
mistletoe collar necklace
Back in 2012, I made a set of mistletoe-themed wedding rings for a couple in The Netherlands. A few months ago, they asked me to make a mistletoe collar-style necklace to match. It is in 14K white gold.
I had never made anything quite like this before, either such a large carved and cast piece, or indeed very many necklaces at all. I had no idea how to calculate accurately how much gold I would need, nor was I sure even how much time it would actually take to carve; it was all more than a little experimental. But, as you can see, things went extremely well, and the finished piece turned out quite awesome.
A bunch more images + some progress wax shots. Continue reading
tucson gem show 2016
Establishing Tucson shot: it was a warm dry day in the desert metropolis. The policeman directing traffic between the AGTA and GJX shows laughed at me when he realized I was taking a photo of a cactus. I think saguaro cacti are just so damned cool though. The ones in the city are in downright pristine shape too, very photogenic; I guess the critters aren’t as likely to choose the bustling city to build their homes, so the urban saguaro has few holes or gnawed-off portions. Probably gets watered more regularly too.
This is not the first large vat of multi-colored sapphires I ran across at the show. In previous years the vendors were kind of sketched by me taking photos of their merchandise, but now they are quite game. I guess they know it’ll just end up on some instagram or blog somewhere. Speaking of which, I had no fewer than 10 people ask me what my instagram account address was. Guess I need to get on that.
Read more… Continue reading
ginkgo branch band
This was a delicate little branch wedding band made to snug up against my Scattered Ginkgo & Diamonds Ring. Because the recipient was not intending to solder the two rings together (thus keeping them perfectly lined up always), I made sure that the band would work when it was not lined up in its spot. It has a breezier, lacier look when unaligned, and looks to be a part of the original ring when fit together.
More pics after the click: Continue reading
coiled snake pearl drop pendant
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: Continue reading
alligator ring
This is definitely one of the more unique pieces I’ve made recently, combining unusual design motifs (two alligators holding a center stone in their mouths + lettering) with multiple stones. The client specifically was after a rough-hewn medieval look.
As it turns out, I’m not super good at rough-hewn (too much of a perfectionist) in that I can’t bring myself to leave hammer marks in from stone setting, or make my carvings look primitive, or whatever it is I felt might make a piece look very old. What I could do was fake it a little by arranging more prominent carve marks here and there, and the choice of 18K royal yellow gold was perfect, especially with a little patina here and there to make details more prominent. I absolutely love how this ring finished out. My alligators turned out rad!
The diamond and the two belly rubies were old family stones with sentimental value, and we added a new third ruby to sit above the diamond.
The back of the ring had the Latin “FIDEM” inscribed in.
Many more after the jump… Continue reading
arabesque eternity band II
Delicate eternity band in 18K rose gold (which has such a lovely peachy hue to it). I have it set with a handful of little colored diamonds ranging from champagne to golden yellow, yellowish orange, reddish brown. The entire band is warm and wonderful.
The band is a classic 18K white gold band, which has a slightly warmer hue than the 14K white alloy. (A couple more photos after the link… Continue reading