Night Stone Jewelry

Size 7.5. Fits my wife perfectly. This was an okay run for a first try I would think. It is becoming apparent that one thing I really need to work on is getting the right amount of solder when I’m making my joins, as I tend to end up with too little, which results in areas that show.
Still, she likes it.

Just an experiement to see if I could do it. It came out really well. I am happy with the results being that it’s my first one.

Just because I wanted to know.

This is a picture of a dime, one of my first 5 jump rings ever soldered, and the 2nd bezel I’ve ever made which holds in it a 3mm opal.

Here are a couple cabochons made from Pilbara Jasper. I love the contrast in colors on these. They are about 18mm on the long side.

Broke down and decided to take a class on jewelry making and silversmithing. I learned a LOT this past weekend. It was a 3 day course at Mountain Metalsmiths School of Jewelry and Lapidary, in Arden, North Carolina.

I have some odds and ends that were tests and similar, but below is the first full piece I created. It is a sterling pendant with a moukite cabochon (which I also made).

This one definitely won’t be going up for sale, since it’s my first ever.

Nice rectangular cab. size: 34.5mm x 25mm x 6mm (yeah, it’s a bit thick)

Here are the images of opals I’ve cut over the last two days. Starting with 0159 which is a semi-crystal from the 12mile field in Coober Pedy. 0160HP through 0163HP are all from Hans Peak, and the last two are from Alans Rise. Undoubtedly, 0163HP is the best. Both Alans Rise opals are heavily affected by the color of the backdrop they are on, as they have a lot of transparency. 0165AR specifically has issues due to inclusions on the back side.

0159CP12m 13mm x 9mm x 3mm 2.0c

0160HP 11mm x 8mm x 4mm 2.5c

0161HP 10mm x 5.5mm x 4mm 1.6c

0162HP 10mm x 5mm x 3.5mm 1.0c

0163HP 16mm x 11mm x 3.5mm 4.15c

0163HP Back:

0164AR 15mm x 14mm x 4mm 5.95c

0165AR 11mm x 10mm x 3mm 2.95c

rough source: Coober Pedy, Australia. 12mile field.

Well, after along break which included a move, the holidays, and building a new workshop, I’m finally able to get back to cutting stone again.

This photo is rather bad. The opal is only about 1.5 to 2 on the brightness, and the picture doesn’t do it justice, if that’s any indication.

8mm x 10mm roughly.