A friend from circus training needed a gift for a girl about to have her bat mitzvah in the US. He wanted something that was age appropriate, timeless, and Australian without being tacky.
I designed this pendant for him, the gum leaf and the opal both being very Australian!
I love boulder opal, so many fabulous colours.
One of my lovely regular customers, Niki, commissioned me to make this ring as a gift for someone close to her.
I always love making rings, I think it’s partly because they’re one of my favourite pieces to wear, too!
Thanks, Niki, I hope Angela liked her gift!
I met my lovely client Kate when she visited me with a friend of hers who was having a piece made. She fell in love with this petrol pink titanium coated drusy agate cabochon and asked if I could make her a ring with it.
I was so happy to do that! The drusy has been treated (see my blog posts about treatments here), and I think it’s gorgeous.
Kate is the owner of the hair & makeup salon Peach Industries on the Tasman Peninsula, and does totally amazing things with hair.
I’m loving the similarities here! Maybe you’d like your own ring made with a similar stone? Let me know!
My lovely friend Kylie asked me if I would be able to take an opal pendant that her Nan had given her, and use the opal to make a ring.
I was very happy to try. The pendant was sweet, but just not Kylie’s thing.
I was able to get the stone out, and set it in a simple silver bezel.
Super happy result! Bless you, Nan!
Adam was after a piece to give his partner for a special day. Mookaite has some significance to them, so Adam chose this cabochon that I had in my collection.
I love this cab – look at that little fish that occurred as part of the natural pattern of the rock!
As always, I like to keep the ring setting simple so that the gorgeous stone can be the centrepiece. Fabulous!
My gorgeous friend Marg and her lovely daughter Kim came to visit, and chose this piece of variscite for me to create a ring in time for Kim’s birthday.
That soft green is complimented beautifully by silver! Such a magical material!
I was so pleased to make this ring, and I hope it is a favourite for years to come!
Jen, a lovely friend of mine, commissioned me to make her a ring to replace her engagement ring, which she accidentally threw out with the potato peelings 50 years ago!
This ring is set with a lovely, high domed peridot, and is designed to fit with her wedding ring.
It was a joy to create, and Jen was an absolute delight to work with. I love what I do!
I always love to see behind the scenes of manufacturing – maybe it all stems from that cool crayon factory clip that used to be on Sesame Street? One of my gorgeous clients, Natasha, asked me to use this charoite in a ring for her mum, and her mum was interested to see the work in progress. I have written before here, here and here about my processes, and I thought you might like to see some more!
It started with this luscious piece of charoite which Natasha spotted in my gemstone collection.
Using a strip of silver and my trusty half round pliers, I made a bezel for the stone.
I fitted the stone to a piece of sheet silver.
After sawing out the shape of the backing plate, I prepared to solder.
After soldering, the silver becomes oxidised and it seems far-fetched that this will ever turn into something beautiful!
Some careful measurement, and more bending with my half round pliers, and a ring shank is made.
A quick check that the stone fits properly, then I’m ready to solder the shank to the top.
The shank is lined up on the top, and soldered firmly in place.
Time for lots of filing and emerying to get the silver ready for the stone to be set.
After plenty of time with my engraving ball and chasing hammer, the finished product!
Bandar admired this serpentine ring in my shop, and wondered if I could resize it for him.
I wasn’t able to, but luckily I had another cabochon the same in my gemstone collection, so I created him the same ring but in his size.
The ring is now happily in Saudi Arabia with its new owner!
Matthew was looking for a gift for his wife, and he got in touch to see if I could create a bangle similar to this one, but with some gemstones included.
He got their small daughter to choose the gemstones from my collection. She picked garnet and lapis lazuli.
I hope this thoughtful present was well received!