This piece has a really fun story behind it. I love how large, yet how small our world truly is. For this piece, I got to work with a client trio, consisting of a daughter, a mom, and a grandmother. The grandmother lives locally here in Savannah, and the mother lives in (funny enough) my home city of Richmond, Virginia…what a small, small, small world! They wanted to create a special piece for their daughter’s/granddaughter’s upcoming first communion. Read on to see how this Trinity Trifecta went from a lovely idea to a stunning reality!
Kicking it off with a bang
My client (the mother), reached out wanting to bring her daughter and her mom (who already lives in Savannah) to meet with me to create a piece to commemorate her daughter's upcoming first communion. She had three beautiful stones that her daughter had dug up at a gemstone mine in Virginia. They've been holding on to these stones wanting to create something, but didn't have the opportunity until, that is, she came up with the idea to let her daughter work with me on a design for her first communion. We met up at a local coffee shop and kicked off this design session with a bang!
She was quite the little designer
The daughter was so excited for our in-person meeting. Being an artsy type herself (bravo!!!), she wanted to create something special, feminine and unique. Not too bad for a girl about 9 years old at the time! We decided to try to work on a necklace design to incorporate all three stones, add some floral elements and a special treatment of her initials on the back of the piece.
The settings
I had my game plan and it was time to get to work. I started by building out three bezels that would allow each of the stones to sit securely in their cups and be connected together by different links of chains. I also created the flower forms that would decorate the two smaller gemstones. And just like that, the raw parts slowly started to come together.
A surprising little bonus
Once each of the bezels was formed, the clean-up process began. Rounds and rounds of clean-up took the raw forms into more polished shapes. I did the treatment of the initials on the back of the bezel – which happened to come out really nice, and as a bonus, allowed the back of the middle stone to peek through. I love it when there's an interesting detail on the back of a piece. With all the pieces ready to connect, it was time to put the chains together.
It’s really coming together
Look how each of the parts contributed to the whole. The blue topaz really started to pop, as did the garnet! The center stone, although dark, started to show her intricacies and subtle color shifts. The chain portions lined up nicely and the movement in this piece really came together.
And here she is
I have to say, all of my three “clientesses” were quite excited for the big reveal! Not too bad for turning 3 unused gemstones with their story of “finding and mining” into one beautiful and feminine necklace - “co-designed” by the girl of the hour herself for her very first communion. I loved the hometown connections that this family brought along with the excitement about the process and enjoyment of working with me. I was so happy to deliver this piece and have since created another piece with the same family - the Bezel Beauty ring.
I'm so lucky to work with such wonderful people and be a part of their lives in many different ways. If you have an idea or an occasion coming up. Reach out and let's chat! I love taking unused materials and creating them into something new, unique, and memorable!
