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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.
Glad to have two items on the Metro Gift Guide this year. Unfortunately there are some errors on the labeling. The orange/mexican fire opal ring is actually my design. It was labeled as Kristine Dee's, who should also have had a piece featured. Her collections are available at Aum Jewels as well.
The other piece is a multi-color beryl rough necklace with pastel colored Indian tourmalines set in rose gold plated silver. It was penned in as an aquamarine rough necklace. I attached a more detailed picture of it below:
Quite nice for those upcoming Christmas events...
Here's something really interesting, and most significant for my brand, I think. A client of mine gave me the task of making a ring with very specific details. First was that when set, the stone, an emerald, should touch his skin. Second was to put the "Aum Mani Padme Hum" mantra in the outer and inner shanks of the ring; making it also touch the skin. Third was that he wanted some detail of a dragon (or dragons) at the sides. And what resulted was this:
carvings in, out and around
special window for the emerald
One of the most engaging and personal pieces I've designed for some time. While the shape of the ring in itself is quite simple, what brought extra vivacity to it was the detailed engraving of the mantras and the dragons. No rubber molds or anything; everything done by hand. The quality and workmanship is really incomparable as opposed to mass produced ones; if you can find anything like this that is.
The Baile Foundation and Shangri-La Mall present Aritos y Otros; an art jewelry exhibit celebrating Philippine Heroines and Women Achievers. Show opens on July 31, Thursday, and runs for about a week. Its a group exhibit featuring works by Napoleon Abueva, Arturo Luz, Eduardo Castrillo, Ginny Dizon, Ramon Orlina, Janina Hoschka and myself among others. Above is the spread from yesterday's Philippine Star. And below is the release from the Inquirer.
I will be paying tribute to two women.
First being Rosa Rosal through two necklaces; one shown below:
Second being Anita Magsaysay-Ho through three pieces; one shown below:
I can't wait to see the other works.
...or "diamante" in the vernacular has been making a comeback of sorts lately. Along with the renewed interest in Victorian/Edwardian style jewelry. It's popularity actually never waned for businessmen and entrepreneurs as it is said to bring in luck. This stems from diamond's characteristic of being the hardest substance on the Moh's scale; all other gems scratched and shattered beside it. Ergo the thinking that this certain imperviousness, or "luck", would also be attained by the wearer. Rose cuts were actually one of the earliest types of "cutting" done on a diamond. They did not have the technology to saw through diamonds then so they just crudely grinded the tops off diamond roughs and noticed the patterns looked like rose buds from the top hence the name. I personally like how subdued it is compared to a full cut diamond. It sort of glows from the inside as opposed to the sharp sparkle a full cut presents. Which is not actually any better...just different.
I'm pretty sure many are familiar with jade. The gem of choice by Asians for luck. Carve even more auspicious characters and figures on them and it becomes even more fortuitous to possess. It is generally said to protect the wearer from harm.
Here are some things you probably know (or don't, but still interested to find out) about jade. There are two types of stones we call jade; Nephrite and Jadeite. Most common in the market are Nephrite. At best translucent in thinner pieces but mostly opaque. Jadeite, on the other hand, is much more rare. It can be cut into cabochons or beads and even whole carvings and still remain translucent. Most prized samples with color of a vivid apple to emerald green are called "Imperial Jade" and are priceless. A whole strand of evenly matched beads are even more so. It's also interesting to note that jadeite comes in several other fabulous colors (namely lavender, black, white & yellow) besides green.
However, the problem with jade is that it is too much associated with antiquity. But here are attempts at giving it a bit of an updated twist.
L-R: Bi-color jadeite ring in hammered yellow gold. Black jadeite ring in yellow gold with diamond eternity micro-pave. Green jadeite ring in yellow gold with diamond eternity micro-pave.
Pendant of antique nephrite jade dragon carving with multi-colored sapphires and seed pearl in yellow gold. Strung on black coral beads. I got this carving from an old man while walking along some alleys in Hong Kong. The carving was just too interesting to let go.
Here's a piece with faceted blue and purple sapphires and pink sapphire cabochons. It's a pretty piece; wearable everyday. But definitely not lacking in character.
*click to enlarge image
Here's a piece with an updated Art Deco twist. Round and princess cut diamonds set in white gold. Big, bold and angular; yet very refined.