Custom Work
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Praseolite: a.k.a Green Amethyst
Green Amethyst. All the rage. As a graduate gemologist, I am not ALLOWED to describe any amethyst as "green". Professionally, I MUST call it by its true name- Praseolite. Or, green quartz. (We don't call citrine yellow amethyst, do we? No.) I find "green amethyst" to be an amusing term, and whenever I utter the words it is with a half smirk. Amethysts are purple. End of story.
They are all varieties of quartz, and very very pretty! These praseolites are probably from Brazil, with a nice, full shape to the briolette. (That is this cut- a fully round teardrop shape with a hole drilled through the top. It can be difficult to find nice pieces of praseolite cut as briolettes. When we see them, we snap them up, and love them as earrings.
Who can resist the color of warm, clear, tropical water....
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Rhino Ring
The groom likes rhinos! So we had a stamp made, and stampeded them around this palladium band...
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Two Stone Ring
A lovely young woman inherited a stunning pair of diamond earrings from her Great-Aunt. She does not have pierced ears, nor does she want them.
She also inherited her parent's wedding rings.
So the diamonds are from the earrings, and the gold is the same gold that was in her parent's wedding rings. Nice!
It is difficult to make a ring that looks good with two stones of the same size, (without a larger stone in the center). So we had to figure out a way to make a two-stone ring that looked balanced, and not like a pair of goggles...
I think we managed just fine!
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Five Stone!
The stones in this ring came from an antique Russian Brooch. Even though the pin was quite beautiful, the owner never wore it, and gave it to her son to use for an engagement ring.
So we pulled the parts and reassembled them into this lovely ring. The diamonds are AMAZING Russian-cut stones (believe the hype!). The wearer is a nurse, so there isn't anything sticking up or able to catch on anything. Nice, secure and comfortable! Just how we like it.
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Melty edges...
Goldsmiths and jewelers spend years learning to NOT melt the metal they are working on. After about thirty years, it IS possible to melt these pieces in a finely controlled manner. Enter, the "melty rings".
What we do is to pour an ingot, form it into a band, and very carefully sculpt the metal with a torch for some unique, one of a kind effects.