Custom commission: a gold cherry blossom ring for Laura, an oncology nurse with a full-body Japanese cherry blossom tattoo. 4-month process from sketches to wax model to gold casting, with a 5-karat rough black diamond center and 5 triangular diamonds between petals.
Trip to Switzerland for a 45-year high school reunion. Soglio in the Bergell valley (Hotel Palazzo Salis built 1629, once occupied by Rilke), Chagall exposition at the Kunsthaus, and admiring a 20.67ct aquamarine gold ring by Gabriele Krack and a Tiffany diamond bee pendant.
Posted in Gemology, Jewelry, Travel, Uncategorized
Tagged bergell, diamonds, Gemology, gems, gold, Jewelry, museum, precious metals, ring, switzerland, travel
6th annual visit to Doha. Doha’s architectural contrasts (IM Pei’s Museum of Islamic Art vs strange skyscrapers), Qatar’s wealth inequality between nationals and migrant workers, the Qatar Foundation’s university campuses, and antique Islamic jewelry at the museum.
Posted in Gemology, Jewelry, Travel, Uncategorized
Tagged antique, art museum, diamonds, doha, Gemology, gems, gold, islamic art, Jewelry, necklace, precious metals, qatar, ring, travel
A custom gold closing pin pendant (the essential parachute-release pin worn as jewelry by many skydivers) set with red and yellow diamonds matching the colors of a parachute canopy.
Posted in Jewelry, Uncategorized
Tagged custom made, diamonds, Gemology, gems, gold, Jewelry, necklace, precious metals
A necklace using rough grey diamonds drilled and attached with 28-gauge gold wire (balled up with an acetylene torch) onto an 18-karat gold chain. Diamonds are uniquely heat-tolerant, though occasionally one splits and flies through the studio!
Educational post about colored diamonds: impurities cause color (boron=blue, nitrogen=yellow, radiation=green, plastic deformation=red/pink). Mentions the 35-carat Wittelsbach blue diamond ($24M at Christie’s 2008) and BPM 37093 – the largest known diamond in the universe (a white dwarf star nicknamed Lucy).
Inspired by prehistoric cave art and Shah Jahan’s jeweled falcon, showcasing animal-themed jewelry: a sterling silver dog paw pendant with chocolate diamonds, a silver paw-print plaque, a diamond dog tag (40 diamonds), and a sterling silver horseshoe pendant with gold caps and diamond nails.
Investigation of the Kimberley Process and Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields. Mugabe’s forces seized the fields violently; the Kimberley Process (designed for rebel groups, not governments) struggled to respond. The designation ‘Kimberley Certified’ risks becoming meaningless.