Blogging for jewelers and metalsmiths made easy! (and for those interested in jewelry and gemstones)

Horn Coral Ring by Kay Taylor

After taking a metal corrugation workshop with Trish McAleer a few years ago I found there were really no limitations to its use.   I love making rings, but have found that custom rings can be a real challenge achieving the right fit.  Sometimes a ring lays differently on a someone’s finger than expected, so experience with sizing and the use of certain materials in a ring makes it or breaks it. 

This Horn Coral ring (fossil coral from Utah) was made for a client who loved the stone.  We talked about fit and ended up using half round wire, turned inside out for a comfort fit.  I knew that it would be a bit top-heavy, so used as wide half-round wire as possible.  In the future I would probably use rectangular wire or cut sheet to help the balance problem.  Less turning on the finger.  The stone was extraordinary, so we decided to emphasize the obvious and do a little corrugation around the perimeter.  Instead of just using the corrugated 4mm fine silver bezel wire as the bezel, I used 2mm fine silver bezel wire to hold the stone and soldered the corrugated strip around that, with no parts touching each other.  Set the stone.  Oxidized the ring and “voila” — complete. 

Side view

This is the side view.  Notice the band.  Should have been a bit heavier to hold the hefty setting. 

When placing solder on a corrugated surface, I found out by trial and error to use balls of solder on each outside ridge at the join.  Solder flows up if you place inside the “valleys”.  Creates too much clean up. 

The next two rings are both fossilized dinosaur bone.  See whether you can see the difference in the setting technique. 

The ring below is a lovely purple, a real purple.  Have no more of this material left, so I’m always on the lookout for the same color.  Very rare!

The ring on the bottom is my own.  Red and oxidized.  I used small half-round wire soldered three across.  Nice and wide and the stone never turns the ring.

Natural purple dino bone

Natural red dino bone

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Trent Agate pendant by Kay Taylor

 My husband, Rich, creates lovely stones from his monumental collection of rough.  I’m the beneficiary of his work.  This piece of Oregon Trent agate with stibnite is the focal piece of the neckpiece.  Combining it with shibuichi and rough citrine gives it an ancient look.

The hooks are detachable from the pendant and were forged and melted on the ends, so that the beads can be worn alone.  The beading wire is hidden in a buttonhole gusset set up that I first drilled, then carved deep into the wire.

Somewhat critical of this photo because it was a last-minute set up to make sure that I got it recorded before bringing to a show. 

The neckpiece is quite dramatic when worn and is waiting for just the right person to wear it.  It looked fabulous on my niece, Lori, who has beautiful red hair, and modeled it wearing a deep scoop neck.

This next photo shot is a detail of the neckpiece and a better picture.

Trent Agate neckpiece detail

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Orchidians!

Thanks to the following who have encouraged me to jump in:  Etienne Perret, Sam Patania and Elaine Luther.  You may not remember our conversations in person or online, but I remember you. 

Now I’ve got some learning to do.  Getting the posts out with photos to go. 

So, I’m in the water, treadin’, trying to figure which direction to go.  I’m experiencing a great measure of excitement.  Bear with me!

Kay

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