Here's another project made from a client's unused pieces. We took the diamonds from her various jewels and combined them to make this beautiful art deco inspired necklace.
An important piece it turned out to be. Every gold element was painstakingly handcrafted; from the joints to the bezels, to the placement of the tiniest diamond. The end product clearly drapes so elegantly on the wearer. It moves like....butter...for lack of a better term.
It's a definite keeper.
Gold in pure form is usually too soft to be used as jewelry; hence the need to alloy with different metals to make it more durable. Karat denotes gold's purity (usually confused with carat; meaning diamond weight). 24K denotes 24/24 parts pure gold = 100%. 18K denotes 18/24 parts pure gold = 75% or 750. 14k denotes 14/24 parts pure gold = 58% or 585. So on and so forth...
And, yes, there is green gold. You get different colors of gold depending on the type of alloy you mix in with pure gold (which is a rich yellow). More copper leads to pink or rose gold, more iron produces black gold and more nickel produces white. The special alloy used in making green gold is silver. It produces a nice subtle tint and deepens over time as it develops its patina.
Shown here are hand-textured green gold maple leaf earrings with diamonds and detachable south sea pearl drops.
Amethysts are actually purple/violet colored quartz (In the same way orange quartz are commercially known as citrines). Technically, any other colored quartz would be labeled by its color e.g. pink quartz or green quartz, etc..
But I guess to make the stones sound more marketable, the names are changed up a bit; as labeling yellow quartz as "lemon quartz", clear/colorless quartz as "rock crystal quartz" and brown quartz as "smoky quartz". And then there are the recent transparent pink and green ones recently labeled as "pink amethysts/green amethysts". I suppose it does sound a bit more interesting; and confusing as when one mentions amethysts, you'd expect to see a purple/violet stone.
NEVERTHELESS, upon seeing these special cut pink and green amethsyts...err....quartz..... I knew they'd make for some attractive looking earrings. Sometimes its just so easy to get lost in the jargon.
Detachable pink and green amethyst drops bezel set in rose gold; diamond set hoops in white gold.
Bold-colored Mexican fire opals and diamonds set in textured yellow gold. The almost day-glow green patches/flashes on the orange stones are the "play-of-color" naturally found in fire opals. They appear/disappear depending on the viewing angle. Quite interactive. While most opals are mined in Australia and are usually found in white and black body colors with multi-colored flashes; fire opals are generally sourced in volcanic rock formations in Southern Mexico and are obviously named after their striking color.
Here's to a hot summer....
I love how pretty straight-forward this piece is; highlighting only the gems used (...which should, bottom-line, highlight the wearer). Colorless rose cut sapphires and diamonds set in white gold. The pear shaped drops are detachable just in case you want to change it up a bit. It's a real head turner.
Here's another bespoke project. A client of mine had a bunch of stones and old jewelry she wanted to have made into a statement piece. The result is this interesting ring. Cognac diamonds and green tourmalines set in textured yellow gold. White diamonds set over the polished white gold ring shank. A nice play of subdued colors and textures; angular and organic elements combined.
HVD!
Here's another bespoke ring made recently. My client had this gorgeous pear shaped aquamarine she originally wanted to set into a pendant; which her daughter ultimately convinced her to set into a ring. But I suppose that's another story altogether.
I proposed several sketches and what she zeroed-in to was this architectural piece. Flying buttresses and diamonds set all over but not in any way drawing attention away from the center stone.
Definitely one of my favorite pieces. At least for now.
Happy Chinese New Year!
I was looking at my photo archives and came upon these interesting earrings from a past collection (fortunately/unfortunately sold long time ago). Just so fitting for the occasion, don't you think?
Firecracker Earrings: faceted garnet cabochon, red tree coral and sterling.
A (*hopefully*) prosperous year to everyone!
New year, new start! And what better way to begin 2009 than with a special offer! Aum Jewels gives a very generous forty percent savings on all Paul Syjuco colored gemstone necklaces for this whole month of January.
Here are a few:
"Castanet" multi-strand necklace. Faceted smoky quartz and onyx with hammered vermeil discs.
"Turqouise Bamboo" line necklace. Turquoise beads with vermeil "bamboo" inspired segments.
"Azure Pebbles" multi-strand necklace. Turquoise, lapis lazuli and vermeil "pebbles".
Janina Dizon-Hoschka's and Michael Salientes' secret project if finally out! Launched last Saturday at Fully Booked High Street, the book aims to show Manila shoppers the great array of fabulous locally made products available but was not really in the shoppers' radars. I've been privileged enough to talk to some of the people featured in the book during the event and I have to tip my hat to the authors for finding (and insisting on featuring) such passionate individuals. Their efforts and outputs really define true luxury; producing products with impeccable quality and essence. This book has already set a precedent. And I'm glad to be part of it. My feature below:
I cannot wait for the next issue to come out. Get yourself a copy now.
What a way to end the year! A Happy Christmas to everyone! Definitely more posts to come in 2009.
