Behind The Scenes: Creating Our New Jewelry Collection, part 3

Choosing Stones and Metals So, we’re onto the 3^rd step that goes into creating a collection and this is one of my favorite parts – choosing stones! I love adding gemstones to my designs, it really brings them alive and the colors are just amazing. Gems add some extra brightness and energy to my work so I only choose the best ones that have saturated color, high clarity and lots of sparkle.

I only work with stone cutters who get their rough from conflict-free, sustainable sources. That’s why you won’t see any diamonds in my shop, I prefer work with Moissanites that are lab created in North Carolina. They are ethical, conflict free and have AMAZING sparkle that rivals a diamond. And that's why #IDontDoDiamonds So remember from part one of this series where I carved the bezel? At that time I measure depth, width and length as I'm carving so that the bezel fits a standard sized gemstone, (ie: 5mm, 6mm, 7mm). This makes sourcing gemstones a lot easier and I know I will always be able to get the standard size. My customers were asking for a square-cut stud earring so the Brontë earrings use a size 5mm antique square cushion stone. :-)

Eventually the collection will be available in a choice of stones, but I need to create a sample or two first, so I decided to use Swiss Blue Topaz and Moonstone. These are by far the most popular stones that I sell (Morganite is up there too!) and I'm always attracted to blues and the rainbow flash of a moonstone. bezels and stones The metals I work in are: Sterling Silver, Palladium, 14K PD White Gold, 14K Yellow Gold and 14K Rose Gold: Rings in different metals I give a lot of thought to price and durability when deciding what metal to use. Since earrings don't come in contact with many surfaces like a ring would, I have chosen sterling silver for the earring samples. Silver goes beautifully with the Swiss Blue Topaz and Moonstones and I can oxidize it to bring out the beautiful architectural details. bezels and stones What do you think of these stones and metals together? More inspiration from the collection: “He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” -E Brontë, Wuthering Heights

Behind the Scenes