Lori's Pretty Sapphire Rings

Pretty sapphire rings by Lori McLean for the shop's own LMc Private Label collection!

I love sapphires because  even though the word sapphire comes from the Greek word sappheiros that means "blue stone" they actually come in almost any color you can imagine. The stones in the rings above are rectangle cabochons, meaning their top surface is shaped and polished rather than faceted.

The rings above to the left are emerald and ruby teardrops.  Rubies are really red sapphires, they get their red color from the higher amount of chromium they have in them which absorbs yellow-green light. The rings above to the right are all rubies or shades of red and pink sapphires.

  

I love the shades of blues in these rings. Some have rose gold bands, the contrast of the warm gold and cool stone is just enough contrast to be intriguing. Lori roughs up the bands so they have this really beautiful and interesting texture.

We love a few stacked together in different shades of the same color and with a different shape or two.  Stop by the shop and find your perfect combination!

Lisa Ziff

A few luxurious pieces from Lisa Ziff.  Working in solid 18 karat gold, Lisa's pieces are weighty with great textures.  We love the over sized rings that make a bold, yet elegant statement.  Her daisy earrings, necklace, and bracelet are not too sweet and perfectly organic.  Her larger zinnia earring and akebia ring are sprinkled with diamonds! Scroll down for more photos and read more about her and the collection here.

Vintage Additions!

Lori's found some special pieces to add to our vintage collection. Take a look below.

Above is a gold filled pocket watch locket with two vintage watch chains linked together to make a necklace. Grandfatherly, yet feminine.

We're so in love with vintage compasses right now. They carry a great meaning and have that old world feel.

These Victorian enamel lockets are so special. Enamel saw a revival in the 19th century and lends whimsy to your otherwise classic gold engraved lockets. They also still have their original glass which is nice, thick and beveled.

The double glass locket above contains edelweiss, the white flower found in the alps. In German, edelweiss means noble white and was used as a political statement against the Nazis.

There's more to be seen in the shop and more on it's way to us. Stop in to see these beauties in person!

Polly Wales' Amazing Technical Wonder World

Last January, I was very excited to have found a new British designer, Polly Wales, for the store. Her work has finally arrived and the long wait was well worth it. Miss Wales is working with lost wax casting in an amazing way. She is taking  the wax models of her original pieces and then manipulating them by pushing gemstones into the wax and then casting the wax into sterling silver or gold. The metal replaces the wax and sets the stones in place. 

My interpretation is that she draws inspiration from both ancient Greek and Roman as well as Victorian styles, creating classic shapes and forms with a modern twist. The result is a sort of structured deconstruction, a rough handled classicism, a precious sloppiness. This marriage of style and technique are like nothing I have ever seen in my fairly long spell of jewelry making and selling. (It is so exciting!!)

 

Sometimes in the process of casting, things go wrong. Stones are lost, metal shifts around, finger prints are left behind. These mistakes add to the exciting process and product. Neither the jeweler nor the caster know when something will succeed or fail. She calls the ring above The Decay Ring. Black diamonds are set in sterling, some are lost and some sink down into the 'remains' of the ring.

Black sapphires are set in oxidized sterling silver in the large pendant above. A bit of Miss Wales' fingerprint was left as an impression in the wax. The holes were left behind when other stones blew out during the casting. A perfect example of the exciting unpredictability in her jewelry.

 

She often works more wax on the top of the model. The resulting piece has gemstones trapped in layers of metal. A few seem to be sliding out from their frame in the gold ring above. Below, light passes through pink sapphires and a single ruby in a sterling ring.

The raw surface of the cast metal below will mellow and shine with wear so that these sterling and crystal rings grow even more special over time.

If you are interested in metal working and of course, beautiful jewelry, I encourage you to stop by and visit Polly Wales' Amazing Jewelry in the shop. She has managed to mix incredible designs with fairly affordable materials in a way that fits our favorite store credo: "Jewelry for the People!"

                                       

Comrade Gidget

I am doing my best to write about our new jeweler Polly Wales, but I keep running into technical troubles. Instead of losing my patience, and in lieu of ignoring the blog for far too long, I would like to introduce you to the simple peasant girl who works here in the store. Her name is Gidget.

Intent in her aim to shake off the shackles of Capitalistic tyranny she is forced to wear, she spends her off hours participating in various worker's organizations. And napping, of course.

Pepita!

You know summer is coming when Pepita arrives in the store! We couldn't stop staring at the wall once we put all these gorgeous and colorful necklaces up...take a peek.

How to Make a Ring

It's wedding season and Lori's been busy carving wax for wedding bands. We thought we'd show you how it's done.

The method we use is lost wax casting. That means first we have to carve the ring out of wax and then send it to the caster who replaces the wax with metal.

First, you slice a ring of wax from a long wax tube. This should be a bit bigger than the width you'd like the ring to be.

These are the wax rings ready to be carved down into the shape of the ring to be cast.

This electric tool helps to grind away the top of the ring quickly.

When the wax form is getting closer to the size you want it to be, you use less aggressive tools like a hand file. See all the pink shavings!?

The inside of the ring is a size five, so you have to use this sizer with a blade to slowly carve out the center of the ring until you reach the size that you'd like.

It's important to carve away all sides evenly to slowly arrive at the perfect size, width, and height. There are finer tools that resemble dentists tools and picks that allow you to add detail to your ring or to smooth out the surface of a plain band. Anything you can carve into the wax can be carved!

When you're finished, you have a wax version of the ring ready to be sent to the casters. When it comes back you must cut off the sprue (a metal bit left over from where the molten metal was poured into the mold) and polish the metal.

In the end, you may have something like this platinum wedding band by Lori McLean herself!