One of the lovely mums from school had inherited this gorgeous piece of smoky quartz, and asked if I would be able to make it into a pendant for her to give to her mum. The stone even came to me in a cute little vintage box!
I created the setting so that the stone would be protected, but the maximum amount of light would come through – I always aim to make the stone the star of the show!
Thanks, Emma, and I’m so glad your mum loves her new pendant!
One of my lovely regulars, Karen, reserved this stone from my collection, and when she was ready, asked me to create her a ring.
We worked on the design together, and I love Karen’s request for a wire border of silver around the stone.
Love the sparkly crystals in that drusy!
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!
Rosie, one of my lovely clients, commissioned me to create this necklace for her. It is completely handcrafted from sterling silver and black onyx, and the cabochons were cut specially for this commission by the lovely and talented Annaig from Annaig’s Gemstudio.
I’m often wowed by the ideas and requests I receive, and this was one of those times.
It’s a real statement piece, and I envisage it being worn by generations. It’s a privilege to do this kind of work for such wonderful people. Thank you, Rosie!
Tina came to me with this most gorgeous chunk of moonstone that her husband had brought her back from Chile, to find out if it was possible to turn it into a pendant. We decided the best option was to set it very simply so that the beautiful stone was the focus, and I designed this claw setting for it.
The stone is gorgeously asymmetrical, both in shape and thickness!
It could almost be worn either way I think.
I love the way the moostone glows and glimmers – very magical!
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!