Crazy for Loving...

This cabochon of Crazy Lace Agate was polished in the Ozone Studios and immediately jumped towards the top of the ‘needs to be set in jewelry’ queue. A piece of jewelry has been patiently waiting to be born. After fawning over the lacy ribbons of color that varied from light gold and tangerine colors, through deep oranges and rust, through to olive tones, a vision started to simmer in the mind. The piece should be something that would pick up on the visual textures and flow of that fantastic lace.

Enter this honey of an Oregon Fire Opal. In this picture, it has already collected enough dust (lol). We mined the opal and it was faceted in the Ozone Studios, with the ‘Ruination’ cut by Arya Akhavan, also patiently awaiting the perfect setting. These two stones drew together with magnetic electricity, their colors dancing harmoniously.

Now that the dancers have been selected, it’s time to fabricate the setting. Given the colors in both stones, a mixed metal setting with both the warm tones of copper and the cool tones on sterling and fine silver, was created from scratch. The silver and copper were bonded and milled into sheet, but that wasn’t enough. The enticing patterns of the crazy lace were hand stippled into the back of the piece along with a stylized window to view the back of the stone.

Liver of Sulfur is used to patina the piece with velvety darkness. This helps the textures to pop in the finishing of the settings. A custom, newly engineered ‘basket/barrel’ setting was also hand cut to hold the faceted Fire Opal. Along with Fine Silver undulations mimicking the lacing, a setting for a 2mm White Topaz was added for just the right amount of sparkle.

After carefully setting the stones, copious polishing finishes the piece with a liquid, mirror shine. This piece is a celebration of the warm autumn colors and the dance to the natural harmony of the stones.

Visit the STORE for this piece or other new selections from the Fall/Winter Collection. Thank you for reading, if you have any questions or comments, please Contact Us.