The Process

It's easy to find jewelry put together by machined parts and stones, manufactured for speed and profit. But I measure value differently. I believe there is something incredibly rare in seeing a piece born from the ground up. For me, the process is about transformation~ seeing beauty in a dirt-covered stone, watching fire melt silver into form. No process in my work is quick or simple. But every process is intentional, and designed to create jewelry as unique and rare as the person wearing it.


 Scroll down to learn about processes I use in my work...

Mining

Mining and hand-collecting stone is a favorite process of my work. In the past, I've mined beautiful turquoise and variscite in Nevada, rare and valuable sunstone in Oregon, pristine rock crystal in Arkansas, emeralds and aquamarines in North Carolina, and have hand-collected sea glass from beaches around the world, including England and Scotland.

Cabbing

Cabbing is the process of creating cabochons. Cabochons are stones with a domed face and a flat back. You'll see this process used quite often in my work, as I transform a piece of rough stone into a wearable gem. The process involves smoothing a stone down to shape using various grinding wheels (both diamond and resin). For my work, I use a CabKing lapidary unit which consists of 8 wheels and laps, used individually, to create the cabochon from start to polish. In addition to stones I've mined, I love cutting rare turquoise and stone I've acquired (and hoarded!) from collectors and miners, such as Nacozari turquoise, Deschutes jasper and Tiffany stone which are no longer mined.

Faceting

Simply put, faceting is the art of pulling light through a gem by cutting defined planes on a stone. But not all faceting is alike. I was taught the style of meet-point faceting, which is the rarest and highest standard of faceting on earth. Meet-point faceting is a very time-consuming process of gem cutting that allows for maximum light distribution through a stone. In comparison, less than 1% of gemstones are ever cut to this standard. The other 99% of cut gemstones are "commercial cuts" and are what you typically find in jewelry stores. For my work, I use an upgraded Ultra-tec V2 faceting machine.

Lost Wax Casting

Lost wax casting, a 6,000 year old technique, is the process of creating a design in wax and then transforming the wax form into metal. It is a tedious exercise of carving and building up wax, encasing the wax in an investment plaster, burning out the wax (leaving behind the cast), melting down the metal to be poured into the cast, and then pulling the metal through the cast (by way of centrifugal force or vacuum). I especially love this process for creating one-of-a-kind pieces to hold unusual cuts of stone, especially faceted gems. The process can also be used for creating organic castings such as flowers and limbs. With the use of computer aided design software (CAD and CAM), the technique of lost wax casting is now a dying art.

Hand fabrication

The brunt of my work is hand-fabrication. After the stone is ready, the process of creating the setting begins with only a piece of silver. However, before the process is complete, it will include rolling, filing, sawing and soldering. Using fire, I'm able to soften silver and connect handmade components to build bezels and embellishments. Patinas and finishing is done by hand.

Chain making

Link by link, creating chain is one of my favorite processes. The ancient process of chain making involves fire and patience as each link is formed by hand, one at a time. Most often, the spirit of a stone determines the style of chain I create. I believe the beauty of handmade chain makes a necklace extraordinary and is a skill that sets my work apart.

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