Cast Sterling silver and rough diamonds.
creation’s dream
After the work with the Mongolian crystals I got a little more intentional about the raw, primordial look the rough stones provide. Here is the first of the series. I have embedded five raw diamonds in Sterling. The process is to make a mold from cuttlefish bone, set the stones in place, then fill the mold with molten Sterling. The results are largely unpredictable. I’m enjoying the “becoming” aspect of the piece.
wedding band


star sapphire in sterling
Fabricated from 14 g Sterling and Star Sapphire.
The inspiration for this ring came while I was rereading Lilith by George MacDonald. Here’s the section:
“The sun was very bright, but I doubted if the day would long be fine, and looked into the milky sapphire I wore, to see whether the star in it was clear. It was even less defined than I had expected. I rose from the breakfast-table, and went to the window to glance at the stone again. There had been heavy rain in the night, and on the lawn was a thrush breaking his way into the shell of a snail.
As I was turning my ring about to catch the response of the star to the sun, I spied a keen black eye gazing at me out of the milky misty blue. The sight startled me so that I dropped the ring, and when I picked it up the eye was gone from it. The same moment the sun was obscured; a dark vapour covered him, and in a minute or two the whole sky was clouded. The air had grown sultry, and a gust of wind came suddenly. A moment more and there was a flash of lightning, with a single sharp thunder-clap. Then the rain fell in torrents.”
Here it is in the sunlight. The star is quite clear testifying to a sunny day.
Even without the sun revealing the star, the sapphire is quite enchanting. Alas, I have yet to see an eye looking back at me from out of the stone. I’ll keep looking, however.
The shank is rather heavy, 14 gauge.
silver and turquoise ring
This is a custom ring commissioned by some dear friends to commemorate their daughter’s 21st birthday. The only design restrictions I had were “turquoise, a little bit of gold, not dainty, and size 6.” It’s to be worn on the first finger. Here’s what I came up with.
The stone (cut in the 70s, not enhanced or stabilized) is sandwiched between the ring shank and the top plate (oxidized black). The two pieces are held together with 14k gold rivets.
This is the first I’ve tried this type of setting. I wasn’t sure it would work, but it came out well. It was the look I was going for.
Heirloom Gold Wedding Band
This is the first “heirloom gold” wedding band I did.
The idea comes from my daughter Anna: friends and family of the bride and groom are contacted to contribute gold scraps that will go into the wedding band. Earring backs, chain links, earrings without a match, gold teeth, pieces of rings, etc. are collected from the family and friends and become a part of the wedding band, symbolic of all their love for and history with the bride or groom. A portion of the final gold mix is set aside for future generations or siblings as “heirloom gold” that goes into their wedding bands. I think it’s a great idea. Since this one I’ve done six more.