New Year, New Designs

I don't often write about my own work but since I stayed up late last night posting new items I thought I'd share.

I finally got up my nerve to try to set my own stones and I think they turned out fairly well. The earrings above are fine silver with lab created blue sapphire cabochons. They are meant to be organic and "rough" looking. I love how they turned out. I also set a natural Ruby into one of my Cherry Tree necklaces...love it!

Another new technique for me is soldering - not only silver but I got up my courage to solder 14k gold filled wire! I was thrilled with the results, but because I use silver solder there's a bit of silver on the gold. So I paired them with silver in these earrings. :) And a gemstone - apatite is pictured. I plan to purchase some 14k gold solder but it's crazy expensive. Although I also want to try soldering 14k gold... *gulp* That will be a nerve wracking experiment.

I have tried to avoid doing one of a kind designs but at the last show I attended I found some stunningly beautiful faceted stones that I just had to have. They were not cheap and there were not multiples available. I found some stunning briolettes in Cognac Quartz and a set in Peridot. I also got some discs that are too beautiful but I haven't used them yet.

The photos of these make the right earring Peridot look crooked but it's not ... I am not the master photographer.

I just got some new gemstones in the mail and can't wait to play with them. And there are more on the way that will be made into stunningly beautiful rings. This year is starting off with a bang!

Rutilated Quartz

I love this gemstone. Rutilated quartz seems so mysterious to me...the golden inclusions (sometimes called "Venus hair") can arrange themselves in any number of ways to form beautiful patterns within the quartz stone.

It's apparently not nearly as mysterious as I imagine since quartz is the most common mineral on Earth, found in practically every environment and as a component of almost every rock type, making up 12% of the earth's crust. Most quartz is valued because it has no inclusions, but not rutilated...the more gorgeous lines and inclusions the better!

Different minerals can create the lines (called inclusions) within quartz. My favorite is the rock crystal quartz with golden lines, but it can also occur as rutilated smokey quartz and rultilated milky quartz. And less commonly known is a variety known as "tourmalinated quartz" which has black or dark green tourmaline crystals instead of the golden inclusions. I'd love to see some of that in person!

Because there are two different types of minerals (with different degrees of hardness) it can be difficult to get a good and smooth cut. My grandfather apparently has the skill to create gorgeous cabachons. Below is a Rutilated Quartz Cabachon hand cut and polished by my grandfather and grandmother, photographed with some rutilated quartz rough uncut stone. Maybe someday I'll be good enough to try my hand at cutting it!

Sources
MineralMiners.com
Gemstone.org
Bernadine Fine Art Jewelry

My Grandpa's Legacy - Part II

My grandfather is so incredibly talented. I never realized exactly how talented until recently when I started to appreciate his previous work with gemstones. I took several dozen photos when I was last visiting and will share them in stages.

Part I can be viewed Here

Rhodochrosite
One of the most beautiful stones when found in good quality - and this is GOOD quality stone!

Rutilated Quartz
Cut cabachon amidst some uncut rough. I'd never even seen uncut rutilated quartz before.
Rhodonite
Another gorgeous pink stone that I love when it has black matrix because it adds a lot more interesting character. :)


Stay tuned for more lovelies made by my grandparents.

My Grandpa's Legacy - Part I

My mom used to wonder where I got my desire to create - not that she isn't capable of creating neat things. I remember her making these really neat porcelain dolls. But she never had a passion for it. Her passion is in gardening - You should see her flowers. She and my husband love gabbing about flowers and Japanese Maples.

The desire to create jewelry must have skipped a generation because my grandma and grandpa used to create the most amazing pieces of jewelry. They found their own rough stones and then cut and polished these into cabachons (cab-ah-shons) or "cabs" to create stunning and award winning jewelry, belt buckles, and bolos.

Grandma is now in full time care and grandpa says he can't create without her (isn't that sweet and sad?!?!). I am hoping that he will create if I am there so he can teach me how to cut stones. The last time I was down there I took over 200 photos of their work. I'll be posting it and showing it off over the next few months - and asking if anyone knows what some of the stones are. He's forgotten some of them - that was grandma's job.


Petrified Dinosaur Bone



Malachite

Botswana Agate

He has so much uncut stone it's like heaven to go through it all. I'll post the photos I took of some of this rough stone. I know you'll drool just like I did! He got a kick out of how excited I got to see it all and he was impressed that I was able to name most of the stones. I've taught myself quite a bit in the last five years when it comes to different types of stones. What can I say? It must be genetic!