Tag Archives: gemstone

Reserved: Native Silver in Cobaltite Freeform Cabochon

Please note: This stone is reserved for a lovely client.

The stunning silver in cobaltite gemstone cabochon shown here is 25mm long, and is available to be handcrafted into a custom made ring or pendant for you.

This stone comes from Cobalt, Ontario, Canada.

Regency Rose Plume Agate Cabochon

This regency rose plume agate cabochon is 35mm long.

I used this cabochon to create this custom piece:

Drusy Agate – Orange Titanium Coated Cabochon

This orange titanium cabochon is 25mm long.

You can read more about what drusy agate is here.

Agate is traditionally believed to help you to discern truth, improve memory and concentration, increase stamina, prevent insomnia and ensure pleasant dreams, enhance personal courage, protect you against danger, and provide a calming influence.

The titanium coating is applied to the natural drusy stone using an environmentally friendly process called Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) that uses only electricity to deposit a thin coating of titanium, silver, gold, cobalt or other high-grade natural metal. Treat this titanium druzy as you would an opal or pearl. A mild soap and water rinse will maintain the color and clarity of the optical surface of your druzy for a lifetime.

I used this cabochon to create this custom piece:

Coral Cabochon

This coral cabochon is 23mm long.

I used this cabochon to create this custom piece:

Reserved: Chrysocolla Freeform Cabochon

Please note: this gemstone is currently reserved for a lovely client.

The gorgeous chrysocolla gemstone cabochon shown here is 23mm long, and is available to be handcrafted into a custom made ring or pendant for you.

Like malachite, chrysocolla has a high copper content, which is what gives it that fabulous blue/green colouring. The name comes from the Greek chrysos, (gold), and kolla, (glue).

It is believed to have a calming influence, and also to attract love. It is supposed to help heal burns, fever, and detoxify the liver.

Reserved: Drusy Agate – Pale Pink Titanium Coated Oval Cabochon

PLEASE NOTE: This stone is reserved for a lovely customer.

The pale pink drusy agate gemstone cabochon shown here is 25mm long. You can read more about what drusy agate is here.

Aventurine Oval Cabochon

The green aventurine gemstone cabochon shown here is 25mm long. It is available to be handcrafted into a custom made ring or pendant for you.

Mookaite

Mookaite is a type of silicified porcelanite, which forms in silt-stone from the lower Cretaceous period that is found over much of the Carnarvon Basin in Western Australia.

(photo credit Michelle Pemberton)

The name Mookaite is derived from Mooka Creek, where the rock is mined. According to locals, the Aboriginal word “mooka” means “running waters”.

(photo credit Creative Crystals)

Mookaite is believed to be a healing stone that bestows strength. It is said to shield the wearer from difficult situations and to connect us to loved ones who have passed away. It is thought to assist with assessing problems and making decisions. Mookaite is used to treat glandular or stomach disorders, hernias, ruptures and water retention.

Mookaite comes in many lovely colourways. I have these pieces in my gemstone collection just waiting to be made into something fabulous!

Carnelian and Sterling Silver Ring

Orange is one of my favourite colours, and this carnelian cabochon is just so luscious!

I was happy to make it into a ring for one of my lovely customers to give as an 18th birthday present to her daughter.

I do have lots of smaller gemstones in many gorgeous colours, so if you’d like something similar, do let me know!

smithing – creation of a teardrop shaped gemstone and sterling silver ring

I love seeing other people’s processes, and I thought it was time to give you all another look into what goes on in my workshop. I have blogged before about how I create one of my signature big chunky rings, and I thought it was time to examine that process again. Here’s how I do it!

Firstly, an appropriate width strip of sterling silver sheet .6mm thick is selected.

This is curved by hand using a pair of half round pliers to fit the gemstone.

Next, the strip is cut to approximately the right length on my bench peg using my jeweller’s saw, leaving a small extension for soldering against.

In this video, you see me prepare and apply the borax, position the solder (not usually quite so fumbly, I had a bit of stage fright!) and solder the bezel together.

Once the metal is cool, it goes into the pickle to be cleaned. An explanation of pickle can be found in my previous blog post.

I trim the excess bezel metal away from the solder join.

I check to make sure the bezel is a good fit.

I emery the bottom of the bezel so that it is completely flat and will make a good join with the base plate.

I select a piece of 1mm thick sterling silver sheet to fit the bezel.

I solder the bezel to the backing plate. Here you see me applying the paillons of solder with borax, and soldering the join. Then it’s back to the pickle.

After rinsing and drying, a bit of a check to see how it’s looking!

Now, I saw the excess metal from around the bezel setting.

After filing the edges of the bezel setting, I start creating the ring shank.

Using the appropriate width of 1.2mm thick sterling silver plate, I bend the shank to the right shape and size.

I trim the shank to the right length.

I hammer the shank with a mallet to get it perfectly round (this shot is for explanation only, I actually have the mandrel hard up against the bench to absorb the force when I’m really hammering the ring!).

Emerying the inside of the shank with my flex drive makes life easier.

After more filing and emerying, I stamp the inside of the shank with my maker’s mark and 925, which marks the metal as being sterling silver (the 92.5% is the fine silver content).