MAY: Emerald

Emeralds are green! The only variance is in the hue which is dependent on where in the world the emerald is from. It’s also common for emeralds to have inclusions. The cleaner the stone, the more expensive it will be!

I personally prefer to set emeralds in yellow gold. Not only does the yellow gold make emeralds look richer in colour, it’s a softer metal which makes the stone easier to set!

They are part of the beryl family along with aquamarines.

What shade of emerald do you like…light, medium, or dark?

Metamorphosis 46: Emerald and diamond ring

White gold ring with diamonds and emeralds!

I thought I would have this metamorphosis done by last fall, but here we are…in March! I just couldn't decide what to make.

Leanna has a beautiful collection of jewellery and certain pieces that she doesn't change often, so I wanted to make something unique but also that she could wear daily, and that also worked well with her daily pieces.

I intended on making a two-toned piece but ended up feeling that white gold was the way to go.

The ring is wide at the top but tapered in the back for comfort.

2 in 1 Diamond and Emerald Ring

Usually when I melt down old jewellery, it’s to make something totally new. But not this time! My client had a ring with a great design but poor construction. Although we talked about different designs, she kept coming back to her old ring. So I just remade it!

It’s a 2 in 1 ring that can be worn together or separate. We changed the setting of the stones in the new version to a) protect the emerald better, and b) showcase the diamonds better as they really weren’t twinkling at all in the old design.

Do you have a ring that you would want to remake?

An aquamarine for me!

My oldest boy’s birthstone is aquamarine and I’ve been holding on to this moss aquamarine for awhile waiting to make myself something with it. I was planning on making a ring but since I already have so many, I decided that a pendant would be a great choice!

He was really excited that I made myself a pendant with his birthstone. He thinks it’s for him! One day buddy!

I don’t often have time to make myself jewellery but this year I’ve made myself a ring with my younger son’s birthstone and this pendant with my older son’s pendant. Lucky me!

A makeover for me!

Makeover Monday: this one's for me! 4.45carat emerald set in 18k yellow gold. Got the original ring for mother's day last year and finally made myself a new ring for mother's day this year.

My husband bought the ring for the stone. Neither one of us cared for the original design so I made a new one! I always liked the emerald and then Atlas was born in May (emerald birthstone), so it was meant to be! Although Atlas was almost born in April which is diamond birthstone... wouldn't that have been a funny story!

BEFORE

Forest 2020

I often make jewellery with neutral colour stones yet I’m always drawn to green stones, especially in Spring! It’s is my favourite season! I take extra long walks to admire the beautiful greenery.

This past winter as I counted down the days to spring, I started sorting my green stones and set aside a couple to make a collection of jewellery with. Enter March 19 (first day of Spring) and the stones were still on my bench.

One day I went for a long walk and all the plants seemed extra bright and alive. When I got home I drew up a spring collection of just a handful of pieces and called the collection FOREST. I’ve started working on it. It’s going to be done closer to summer than spring but that’s ok, better late than never right?

METAMORPHOSIS 23: REVEAL

Mini ear-climbers

As I mentioned in my intro, I knew what I wanted to make Alice from the very beginning. My biggest issue was picking stones. It took awhile to find small stones in a combination that worked. I originally wanted all of the stones to be the same colour but different shapes, but given the timeline, that wasn't going to work (I would have had to order stones online because my suppliers didn't have the shapes/stones I needed). It took me awhile to find a combination that worked size-wise. I ended up using round faceted hematites, round cabochon emeralds, and pear cabochon moonstones.

Once I had the stones, I bought the settings, soldered them together and voila!