Our workshop at gregore and jennifer jewelers is very versatile, partly out of necessity and partly for the joy of it. Santa Barbara, unlike New York or Los Angeles has a limited pool of artisans in the jewelry and allied arts. For this reason we need to know such things as how to fabricate, carve waxes, cut stone, set stones and even enamel, not to mention the finishing techniques for metals, platinum being particularly challenging.
blue chalcedony tear drop with 18k white gold bail set with blue and mauve sapphires and white diamonds
Our customer was very clear about what she wanted. She already owned chalcedony earrings and a ring, the only item missing by her estimation was the necklace. We really enjoy working with customers that love and wear their jewelry. The pendant design did not need to match her other pieces but the stones did, because the concept was all about the pale purplish blue color. The color we had turned out to be close enough to the others to make the suite work together well.
the back of the pendant flows seamlessly from the front of the pendant
The flowing lines of the final design suited the customer very well. it took a few drawings but we finally got there.
the blue chalcedony lump with original skin
Gregore has such a good eye for stones even though he is a little color blind! We were in search of a color that would go well with the customer’s existing blue chalcedony jewelry. Searching through our boxes of stones. which were finally organized by color, he pointed this one out. I was not convinced it would match till he suggested that I grind off the skin because its brownish dark cast was affecting the blue interior. I neglected to get a picture of that piece but it made all the difference to remove that outer dirty color to really see how pure and blue the inside really was.
the cnc cut wax model for the chalcedony
We offered the customer several wax tear drop shapes in order to get the feel for the scale and heft of the pendant. She chose a longer slender version and that did give the final piece an added touch of grace and elegance. We actually cut the wax on the mill. it takes very little time to CAD up the shape and then the mill can cut a lovely symmetrical shape for the customer in no time. Sometimes we paint the waxes with gouache to get even closer to the final idea.
The precut chalcedony tear drop
For us it is often faster and easier to cut stone by hand than with the CNC. This one was cut on diamond wheels, smoothed out with sanding sticks from the Jade Carver and finally with optical grade cerium oxide, a much higher grade, that produces fast results. I did use a template to help guide the perimeter. We took the profile off the wax she approved.
the color of the smaller piece is lighter because it is thinner and not covered in a dark skin
It was very interesting to see the color change in the tear drop and because it had so much less material around it it was a lot paler. We once had a big mismatch faceting a piece of chrysoprase. The color of the rough material matched the original faceted stone, but once it was faceted it was entirely washed out. In other words with chrysoprase we needed to start with a very saturated rough piece for it to keep the rich density in color after it became smaller due to shaping and faceting.
Polishing the chalcedony with cereum oxide.
It is always exciting to polish a stone. It is so rough at the beginning stages that it almost seems impossible to get it to a finished state, but with nice gradations in cutting grits and experimentation one gets there.
the polished chalcedony
Blue Chalcedony has a dreamy, mesmerizing color, and it has a nice weight and cool feel that warms up against your skin.
Because we were dealing with a lot of curves we decided that the pattern resin would be the most expedient and accurate method to create the metalwork. It is very castable and you can easily add to it and file it with your metal working files. I ground it with burs to start seating some of the stones.
pattern resin coats the stone perfectly
Almost at the finish line. Setting is time consuming but so worth it. We were able to bring in the lovely blues and purples into the metalwork to harmonize with the central stone. We used blue and mauve sapphires and for the areas that were too small we added diamonds. We can get diamonds down to .6mm.
(please excuse the hands and nails!)
The finished pendant has a really nice weight. The front and the back are equally lovely as the pendant moves on the chain.
Thanks for watching and reading. Contact us with any custom cutting inquiries.
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