Even though my usual design style is ‘striving for elegant simplicity’, I actually love the Art Noveau period – so in that vein, I designed these earrings for myself.
I’ve been wearing them nearly every day since I finished them. I’ve had quite a few comments and requests, so I may even make some more for my shop!
I love all the cabochons I source, and it is a bit of an obsession with me! I’d love to keep them all, but that’s just silly – so one of the many joys of being a silversmith is sharing these gorgeous finds with nice people.
Once in a while, though, I come across a cabochon that I just can’t part with. This botroidal carnelian is one of those.
It’s a great ring to wear with earth tones, which I’ve been more drawn to lately.
If you’d like a custom made gemstone ring of your own, check out my gemstone collection, and let me know which one you’d like to wear!
Occasionally I do stop long enough to make myself something! I confess it was over a year ago that I made this ring, and it’s taken me this long to post it.
As you can tell from its well worn appearance, I wear it all the time!
Reticulation is a texturing which occurs when silver is heated almost to melting point. The surface of the silver shimmers and moves. It’s a fine balance between a molten surface and an unrecognisable lump! The process is very satisfying when you get it right. I created this pendant (and also the base of this ring) at the school I attended, starting with a flat straight rectangle of silver. I added the silver spheres and some stippling, with a chenier bail, et voila! 🙂
Simple yet effective!
I made this piece when I was studying at the Goldsmith’s School under the supervision of my teachers. I found this black onyx cabochon at the annual Gem Show here in Brisbane, and designed this pendant to suit it.
The spirally curlicues are known as ‘shnoerkels’ (having two German teachers had its interesting and educational side!) and the piece was set in dental plaster to solder.
As I was expecting any minute at the time, my kind teacher Sue was worried that I wouldn’t get back to class to do it, so she set the stone for me! 🙂
With help from one of my goldsmithing teachers, I created this hair stick not long after I started at the Goldsmith’s school.
It has become my favourite piece to use to represent The Silver Forge brand – in part because of the simplicity of the plain silver, and in part because of the spiral, which reflects in my logo. I am drawn in a huge way to spirals. Fibonacci sequence = fabulous – but instead of the golden ratio, I’m calling it the silver ratio!
I based the design on a similar hairstick that I found whilst touring in China, so it has special meaning to me. I love my hair stick!
On a trip through China with my family in 2008, as part of a tour of Shanghai we visted the Jin Mao Tower (at the time the sixth tallest building in the world). Our tower entry tickets rather bizarrely entitled us to a free pearl each at the top of the tower (don’t ask, I still don’t know!), so we wandered past many vendors of tourist tat, and found a counter where a girl whisked out some big flat oysters, popped them open with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver, and offered us a choice of pearls!
We each chose one, and I held onto them for some time, then decided to set them in a ring so that I could enjoy them.
The top of the ring is reticulated – a method that involves heating a sheet of silver to almost melting point, so the surface becomes textured. Fun stuff!
As another addition to my family was on the way at the time, my very kind teacher Sue, gave me a little seed pearl to set in the top of the ring along with the other three. I treasure this ring, and still wear it today!
I love all the cabochons I source, but once in a while I come across a cabochon that I just can’t part with. This grey drusy agate is one of those.
I love this ring, and I’ve been wearing it nearly every day!
If you’d like a custom made gemstone ring of your own, check out my gemstone collection, and let me know which one you love the most!
Some years ago, my gorgeous husband came home from a work trip to Hong Kong with this beautiful piece of jade for me. Yes, I love him!
I created an elaborate design for the stone, and built that during my goldsmithing classes. Part of the component creation included making some chenier – which is hollow tubing, to go through the middle of the jade, which was cut in a donut shape. That was fun!
At the end of the day decided I didn’t like what I had made, so removed a good portion of the framework and left a simpler way to wear the jade. Sometimes, you have to modify your original idea to make the piece work!
At The Goldsmith’s School where I did my training, after learning to set a stone, I was taught how to create a hollow ball or sphere.
There is some danger involved – once you have cut out two circles, domed them to be exactly half of the diameter that you require, you solder the two halves together, and because there is a hollow space in the middle of the ball that you are closing, the risk is that the ball explodes as you are soldering it. This hasn’t happened to me, but I always wear my protective glasses just in case!
This ring was not born from my own idea, as I borrowed the concept from a beautiful piece I bought years ago from a jeweller who had a stand at the Brunswick Street Markets – I have seen this notion replicated in many places however, and it is a simple smithing concept. I try not to look at other people’s work these days, as I would hate to accidentally plagiarise someone’s original creation! There is nothing new under the sun they say, but I like ideas to grow organically inside my own imagination. And I do have plenty of them!