Pearl and Gemstones

[morella]

Okay, I'll go again: I finally got around taking pictures of my dear blue-ish Sea of Cortez pearl earrings. I had my goldsmith add a tiny clasp to the herradura findings I got from the farm. I love how the overall look is still delicate but I can exchange my pearls with whatever looped treasure I have (the herradura finding to me is absolute perfection - no loose parts, secure fit, hiding the pierced holes, all the things I want and need!). We also added little tanzanite briolettes (from THE maker of wonderful briolettes, Steve at briolettes.com). Again, I love tone-in-tone pearl and gemstone combos.
I call these my Tears of Joy earrings - and they bring me loads of joy! Thanks again, Douglas and team!




Obligatory mermaid shot (funny how the American and European 14k look so different under water):

 

[Parrot Lady]

What a genius idea! I'm always afraid I'll lose part of a drop if its on an open loop or on a changeable French hook.

 

[Naan]

Wonderful photo on the flower! And amazing pearls!

 

[MSC]

I love all your pieces morella!! Such awesome inspiration!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The Tears of Joy earrings are beautiful!

 

[Katbran]

what a good idea !! that looks lovely !!

 

[BWeaves]

I love your Tears of Joy earrings. I love the earring, the interchangable loop, the pearls, the briolettes, the photography, everything!

 

[lary007]

Those earrings are stunning. They manage to be classic but modern at the same time!

 

[morella]

Thanks everyone!

 

[2thdktr]

Hogging away on this thread.... sorry, not sorry.
Here are the seafoam Tahitian spike earrings I made. I’m very much at the beginning of all of this, so I 3D modelled my design in the computer and had it cast/3D printed in silver (because I love hinged jewellery and my metal smithing/soldering skills aren’t good enough to make things like this by hand).
I love how the mint green garnets go with this gorgeous pearl colour! Pearls are from Cees, always a pleasure.
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Loving the under-water shots to show the true colours!
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These are stunning! Morella, could you please explain a little bit about the 3D modelling with the 3D casting/printing?
I have done casting with the lost wax technique in my work. I would love to learn about this. Who prints or casts for you? How does that work? Thanks

 

[Katbran]

There are programs that professional jewelers can use to design on a computer. Your skills in carving ( my dentist wants to make jewellery too ) will go a long way to making your own models. You can order the wax on line. It comes in different shapes to make life a bit easier. ( (I once spend hours trying to create an even flat top modern ring.... only to find out that you can buy the exact shape in a wax cylinder and just slice off the thickness you want.) ugh Once you have your wax and use your old tools to carve what you want you can send it to a company that will create a mold and cast it in silver.. or gold...but stick with silver to start. If you want to make several they will. Generally there is a flat fee for making the mold and then you pay for the metal used. Here it's about 50AUD$ for the mold to make several pieces or one off. In Bali I think its about 35AUD . We have a couple of companies here that will do it , they sell metals . I'm sure there are lots of people where you are that sell metals and do casting.

 

[morella]

In my case I used the freeware program Blender to model the design from scratch, then sent the final file to a company who does the wax 3D printing and casting in silver. It was about $25 for the pair in sterling silver in this case.

 

[2thdktr]

Thanks Katbran-- you made me laugh about the flat top modern ring. I have done that with other things-- slaved away and then found out I could have just bought something ready- made.

Thanks Morella. I am nowhere near that kind of skill, but it's good to know. I first need to master stringing my own pearls!

 

[MSC]

In my case I used the freeware program Blender to model the design from scratch, then sent the final file to a company who does the wax 3D printing and casting in silver. It was about $25 for the pair in sterling silver in this case.

What a resource! Thanks for sharing, morella - I'm going try my hand at this at some point too...

 

[morella]

Back to one of my favorite threads: Family pictures.
I finally got another Fijian keshi to complete the set, wonderfully warm metallic at one tip, then diving from earthy golds into olive, aubergine and ending in an emerald peacock at the other. It went into the suspense between 14k rose gold horns.

 

[morella]

uum, see, pearl and gemstones.



Can you tell I just love crescents? Oh, and saltwater keshis and coral and diamond beads and Oregon sunstones and the sleeping beauty of turquoise ...

 

[MSC]

Oh I love your crescent pearl set, right up my alley! The Fiji keshis are so pretty!

 

[morella]

Thank you! I'll need to redo the turquoise necklace. Use solid 14k rose gold chain instead the plated and make a headpin from a thicker wire.

 

[Lilpearl]

Morelia, The crescent/Fiji pearl set with the mix of different gold colors, is so lovely!

 

[BlackPearlDudeDC]

Here is some eye Candy from Atelier Torbjörn Tillander aka Tina Tillander

Paraiba Tourmaline and Tahitian Keshi


Tahitian Cultured Pearls and Tourmaline


Pink Freshwater Cultured Pearl and Rose Cut Morganite