Embrace no:2 part 2

just got a sumptuous new photo taken by Trevor Harte of Embrace 2, which we previously wrote about here.
It was part of a shoot for our listing in a new site dedicated to designers and craftspeople in the capital; DesignerDublin.ie

There is going to be lots of events happening over the coming months as part of the Year of Craft 2011.
The World Crafts Council AGM will be in Dublin Castle in the first week of June.
One interesting talk that I'll be definitely going to will be "Lunch With The Masters".
Paul Costelloe, Peter O'Brien & Deirdre McQuillan will give a talk on June 10th at 51 St Stephens Green from 12.30 to 2pm. You can book a place here while they are still available.

more pink sapphires

There is something I really like about pink sapphires,

Embrace 4

Another set from the Embrace series.
This one was built around the starting point of a very large and beautiful Topaz. It is a very stunning cut; a flat top with a broad girdle and concave facets underneath. It was a very deep stone so was going to sit quite high in a ring. We really wanted to respect the minimalism and cleanliness of the stone and didn't want to detract from the gems impact/impression. At the same time we wanted to play with the idea of the extra ring providing a wrap-around or colour accent to change the emphasis when worn together.

The main ring is in white gold to compliment the clear Topaz, and is very geometric and crisply defined.
The second ring is in yellow gold with a channel of Pink Sapphires to add a contrast of warmth and softness.
The height of the Topaz actually ended up being a good thing as it allowed the yellow and pink line to climb and wrap around the setting without over powering the main focus or detracting from the centre of the composition. It really works in the flesh as it is being worn, so from different angles you get different glimpses of colour peeking out past the shards of white light.

And it is always nice to play with the idea of a ring from one side of the finger crossing over to the other side. An artist friend of ours has used a principle of off-setting printed colours in his work so you get a slipped line of colour along the outline of a shape. I am always reminded of that effect when I see these rings put together.

Little Black Ring

It has been a busy few weeks, thankfully, getting everyones pieces ready for christmas.

The finish line is in sight now, and the little elves are falling asleep on their feet and looking forward to Santa Claus.

Thought we would post something small and simple to keep the blog ticking over, and perhaps the nicest small and succinct idea from our archives is the "Little Black Ring".

We wanted to have a series that we could add to that would be an antithesis to the bright sparkle of most regular jewellery, but not sacrifice the idea of glamour and style. And we arrived at the idea of something that would sit in a woman's wardrobe as a staple item and eternally be ready to step out in and look a million dollars. Just like the little black dress, no woman's armoury is complete without a Little Black Ring !

We chose for LBR-1 a large Hematite with a beautiful dark metallic grey/green gemstone. 

The beauty of this stone is that though it is opaque, it is still cut in the fashion of a Round Brilliant, so you get the beauty of the symmetry and the faceting that your eye isn't usually drawn to. To our mind this is one of the most interesting gem stones we have seen. Given the interesting visual of the cutting, we couldn't resist opening up some of the underneath to highlight more of the stone.

And of course framing the dark circle with a border of small 1-point diamonds lifts the whole thing.

We have made I think 4 versions of Little Black Rings to date.

They are available to commission from our studio and also through DesignYard's fine jewellery gallery in Dublin's city centre.

Special offer for the end of the year

We just got a parcel of very nice and unusual gemstones from one of our friends in Germany.
Very beautiful gems with unusual cuts.
My personal favourite is the Marquise shape Rose Quartz (12.52ct, incl in pic above),
or maybe it's the cinnamon coloured Portugese-cut Tourmaline (6.53ct),
or maybe .....