Lapidaries Rock!

Tiger's eye, unakite, glass and sterling silver necklace with a hand forged sterling silver
paisley pendant with a bezel set cabochon. $196

I am always on the hunt for an unusual and unique stone to use in my work. It has to be the right stone... an interesting specimen, an eye pleasing balanced shape, a good cut to aid in setting, rich color. I attend gem shows and constantly scour the internet for these little treasures.

Quite often it's the stones that provide my inspiration for a piece. In fact, I see the stones themselves as small works of art. I have seen rough slabs before and it amazes me how a lapidary can take that huge rock and turn it into pretty finished cabochons. To optimize the beauty of that natural material- with all of its imperfections, veining, deposits and other peculiarities takes not only skill but a good eye for design.

I found the gorgeous faceted tiger's eye briolettes in this necklace at a show last year. I had intended to use them individually in earrings but discovered that they were drilled with holes too small to use with silver wire. So these pretty little gems hung above my workbench for months unused.

The Owyhee Jasper cabochon that is set into the pendant was a recent find on Etsy and I purchased it thinking that I would set it into a cuff bracelet. When I opened the package and saw that the veining in the stone was the same color as the tiger's eye I immediately knew that I needed to use them together. I have never seen a stone cut into a paisley shape like this before so logically it made sense to incorporate that into the necklace.

Here is the result of my "collaboration" with this unknown lapidary... tiger's eye, unakite, glass and sterling silver necklace with a hand forged sterling silver paisley pendant with a bezel set cabochon. It's a little Bohemian, a little South West and a little glitz all at the same time.

I'm curious if lapidaries ever wonder how their creations end up being used.