This is a simple bracelet design that I have been working with to compliment some of the pendants that you see. It is able to hold a larger stone, as this one is about the size of a fifty-cent piece. I purchased a fairly large quantity of Labradorite and I really enjoy working with it. It is very eye catching when the light hits it just right and it is not terribly hard to work with yet it polishes up to a very nice gloss. This is wrapped with 20 guage sterling silver and belongs to the fetching Mrs. Banjo.
Polished Apache Tears from Superior Arizona, where it is said the "Only true" Apache tears can be found. These are beautiful to me when they are all polished up. It's the one stone I don't mind just in a bowl or something since a quantity of these has the look and feel of jewels. I was even able to facet one of these which my daughter in Scotland now has in a setting on a necklace. Here they almost look like bubbles.
The photo to the left is Charoite. It is a mineral only found at the Cara River in Siberia. This Russian mineral was first discovered in 1947 and was not introduced to us, in the west until 1978. It is a very wildly patterned stone, with a beautiful purple color. Not found anywhere but in Russia I paid $10.00 for a slab 2 1/2"x 3" x 1/4". Keep an eye on the products pages because this is going to make a few beautiful pieces of jewelry.
Another custom piece where they knew they wanted a 'Bloodstone', but I had to come up with a wrap design. This is the second try at it, and it was a success. The first try they felt was too elaborate, and they preferred the silver over the gold. The photo doesn't show the flecks of red in the stone very well, but they are in there, hence the name 'Bloodstone'. It polished very well and many times the red is in very large patches.
A 1/2 ounce Gold Nugget custom wrapped for a friend who won it at a local 'Gold Show'. That's over $300 worth of the shiney yellow element. Wrapped in 14k gold. Congratulations!
For Mom!
This got made in place of sending flowers, since they won't last as long (I hope). So Mothers day did not go unnoticed by your son, Mom!
It's a pearl colored agate and I just beveled the sides, polishing the top flat retaining the teardrop shape.
I'm going to have to find out what this stone is. I was thinking it was Spectrolite, but the surface is too clear, almost like an opal. The piece is only 11/16" tall, so I guess I'm getting ready to start doing sets of earrings to match pendants now. The stone was provided by Shain at gemkoi.com.
A mans ring with a spectrolite stone. This has a wonderful orange flash. I wanted to have a special stone in a ring that I could craft for myself to wear. I figured that pehaps it might even be good advertising. It took about three tries to get this design to the point that I had a good understanding of the form and function of the wires used in it's construction. Once I had that figured out it was a pretty simple task of getting a stone to seat in it properly. The main thing is the angle of the bezel and how it is not the same as a stone that would be wire wrapped in a pendant. I enjoyed making this and am sure that there will be more to come.
Graphic by-
Jayson Sayre
It sort of loads up slow for some reason, but after the first series it stays consistant.
You need to have "Flash" installed to see what it is, or you just end up with a goofy question mark where the graphic should be.
