Pretty Splurges

Last weekend a gem show was in town. I was contemplating for days if I even would go or not. I know I spend some serious money there. On Sunday I finally could not resist anymore and dove into the fun of hunting for little precious things. Here my newest gem stone splurges:

Found some new cushion cut square quartz again with beautiful tourmaline needle inclusions. Both stones are already listed in my shop for custom "Fold" rings.

 

The best treasure I got are a total of 10 Tanzanite gem stones in various shapes and sizes ranging from 0.6 to 1 carat.  The best thing is they are natural, unheated stones which is pretty rare for Tanzanites. I love those blue sparkling stones with a slight purple hint. They will be used for some unique engagement ring designs.

 

I also got these natural unheated princess cut sapphires in shades of white, yellow, pink and light blue.  So pretty! They range from 3.2 to 4.5 mm. Watch out for some new engagement rings.

I noticed a lot more rose cut gem stones from different suppliers in the trade only section. It's nice to be able to get more varity now for these still pretty rare and unusual cuts. It's so much better to be able to handselect each stone and compare them to each other than having to rely on photos from online sellers. I always like the freeform cuts the best for my rings.  

Beautiful rose cut rutilated quartz with very fine golden needle inclusions.  

This freeform rutilated quartz has gorgeous fine coppery red inclusions and will look great in a "Pebble" ring design.

 Two free form rose cut blue topaz and in the back a rose cut Aquamarine. 

 Rose cut sapphires. The small blue gem is 8 x 10mm, the pink stone 10 x 13mm.

 Free form rose cut Labradorite about 16 x 11 mm.

All those rose cut gems will be set in my "Pebble" ring designs. 

Now a have a lot of new treasure to work with and can't wait to have these set in new rings.

bye, bye green beauty!

Sometimes it is not easy to be a jeweler. I get so attached to some of the jewels I create. It is hard to let go and send them off to their new destination. Last weekend I fell in love with this green ring. It has a large one-of-a-kind chrome green quartz set in the Rock in Paw design.

When creating a ring I stare at it for hours, trying to imagine the final look. And once it is all finished, I am so proud of this new little character that will hopefully make it's new owner happy.

The Sky is the Limit - New Rock in Paw Ring with Swiss Blue Octagon Cut Topaz

I am adding some colored stones to my "Rock in Paw" ring collection. This colorful cocktail ring features a vivid faceted octagon cut Swiss Blue Topaz stone in a very unique and sculptural design. Four "Paws" hold the central faceted stone. 

This is a super clean stone with exceptional brilliance. Very fine cut! No visible inclusions. An amazing color and great light reflection. The faceted topaz is 16 x 12 mm (5/8" x 1/2").

The ring is hand carved and the stone hand set by me.  The setting allows the stone to have light enter from all sides to really bring out this amazing color and sparkle. The ring is finished with a high polish shine.

To Purchase from Etsy or go to my web site.

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Captured Yellow Citrine Rock Ring

New to the Rock Collection is this beauty, a very organic looking sculptural ring. A gorgeous tumbled large Yellow Citrine gem stone is held in place by six snug fitting sterling silver prongs.

The sides of the silver ring are narrow and the bottom is wider and flat to balance out the heavier top. This way the ring does not slide around but follows the natural contour of the finger. It is a very ergonomic design.

The natural stone in the ring is 31 mm long, 19 mm wide and 13 mm high and shows lot's of inclusions which vary the color of the untreated stone from a cristalline white to a clear yellow. Citrine is a variety of quartz. It is one of three traditional birthstones for the month of November.

To purchase this ring please visit my web site or go to my ETSY store here 

Rocky Weekend

Last weekend was really productive. I had two full days without any distractions and could just enjoy my time in the studio. After finishing some custom order rings, I finally started to work on some of those half finished projects that were starting to pile up on my bench. 

Out came a colorful bunch of rings, all with different kinds of prong settings.

From left to right:

Oval faceted Tourmalinated Quartz, octagon cut Rutilated Quartz with coppery needle inclusions, huge tumbled natural Citrine rock, trillion shape checkerboard cut Rose Quartz and  octagon cut Swiss Blue Topaz. 

The ring with the rutilated quartz and the tumbled citrine are one of a kind creations. The stones are very unique. But I still have two oval tourmalinated quartz of similar size and look, two of the trillion rose quartz (one slightly larger and one smaller) and a blue topaz to be able to offer some custom size creations in the future.

I will now have to work on the photos this week and slowly list all those rings in my shop. 

A New Lodolite Quartz Ring

This bold cocktail ring features a large Lodolite Quartz gem stone. It took me a while to get good photos for this ring. I had to do two photo shoots. But finally it worked. 

The stone is held securely by six prongs and the ring has a polished finish. 
This is truly a one of a kind piece.

About the stone:
Lodolite Quartz (Lodalite) is a type of included quartz crystal with inclusions of many possible colors and types, often having the look of gardens, landscapes, or underwater scenes. Thus, lodolite is often called garden quartz, landscape quartz, or scenic quartz. One of the most common metaphysical uses of lodolite is to bring energies to effect manifestation of one's desires. This particular stone reminds me of these mosses or algeas that I have seen on rocks in the Mojave Dessert. 

Photo of desert rock.

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