Yep; There She Goes Again-Designing Something

Posted on January 31, 2022 by tracy

Well, here we are continuing to deal with the Covid-19 situation. I hope you are all doing well. It’s been awhile so I decided it was time to get off of my backside and get back to my design table and create some new jewelry designs. So, drumroll – Here they are!!!

The first image shows a Chert Arrowhead (nod to the Native American heritage) with a “fringe” component of Turquoise beads and Argentium Silver metal. This is all nicely placed on a 2mm adjustable black waxed cotton necklace cord.

The second image shows a trio of earrings. The first pair, going from left to right is various hued small tabular shaped Tourmaline Beads with 2mm Sterling Silver Beads. The simple ear wires are Argentium Silver Metal. The second pair of earrings are Red Garnet four sided beads with Argentium Silver diamond shaped components. I added simple Argentium Silver ear wires. The third and final pair are faceted Turquoise Beads and White Fresh Water Pearls. I used Sterling Silver flat spacer beads to separate the turquoise from the pearls (that’s just the type of gal I am). The Argentum Silver “S” shaped component is added to create space between the simple Argentium Silver ear wire and the beads.

The third image features a Stabilized Turquoise Nugget set in an Argentium Silver basket setting. Whew! I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot of designing for a few weekends. Let’s see what else I can get into trouble with. Ha-Ha! Be well all!

Opal – Opal – Opal

Posted on December 17, 2020 by tracy

I just love Opals! It doesn’t matter where they come from – Australia, Mexico, South America, Africa, and the United States. I came across some really interesting Opals lately. There are three examples shown in this post.

The first image shows a very interesting Mexican Fire Opal. This pendant can be worn both ways, front or back. What’s truly unique about this stone, is its appearance. The stone appears broken, like crackled glass. It’s not! The stone is smooth on both sides because it healed itself and left the crackle glass effect behind. I set this stone with 22 gauge 1/2 hard square and 22 gauge 1/2 hard 1/2 round 14kt Gold-Filled wire.

The second image shows a Fairy Stone Opal from Australia. Fairy Stone Opal is hard sandstone that is permeated with Opal. Some of this Opal is piped throughout the stone. This gives the stone its characteristic pin fire effect. What’s cool about this stone is it looks great in low light as well as bright light. The pin fire must be seen to be believed as it changes as the stone moves while wearing it. I set this stone in 22 gauge 1/2 hard square and 21 gauge 1/2 hard 1/2 round Argentium Silver wire.

The third image shows a Chocolate WELO Opal nugget from Africa. This stone can be worn both ways. You know me – if something can be done more than one way, I do that! This opal is even better looking in person. The setting for this stone is 24 gauge 1/2 hard square and 21 gauge 1/2 hard 1/2 round Argentium Silver wire. This setting is a bit harder to create since it’s a modified bezel/basket setting.

I hope you enjoy viewing these stones as much as I enjoyed setting them. If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me at: tracy@eveolutionjewelry.com.

All the best,

Tracy

Sonoran Sunset or Sonoran Sunrise – A New and Interesting Gemstone

Posted on September 6, 2018 by tracy

Sonoran Sunset or Sonoran Sunrise Pendant with Sterling Silver and Argentium Silver

a 30mm x 22mm Sonoran Sunset free form cabochon set into a five strand 22 gauge 1/2 hard square sterling silver and 21 gauge 1/2 hard half round Argentium Silver bezel setting.

This lovely design features a Sonoran Sunset or Sonoran Sunrise cabochon I set with a five strand Sterling Silver and Argentium Silver bezel setting. Sornoran Sunset/Sunrise is a new gemstone that is a combination of Cuprite (the red part of the stone) and Chrysocolla (the blue/green color of the stone). There can also be a third color – black. This is a copper oxide.

The Milpillas Mine has been mining Sonoran Sunset/Sunrise material since 2006. The mine is located in Northern Mexico. Since the Millpillas Mine is very small, it may only have a life of 11 years or so. Once the mine closes, there will not be any more Sonoran Sunset. Enjoy!

A Different Type of Boulder Opal

Posted on February 7, 2016 by tracy

As you may know, by now, I love designing settings for un-drilled gemstones and cabochons. A cabochon is a stone that is cut so it’s flat on one side and not usually polished. The other side of the stone is finished and usually has curved angles from the bottom of the stone towards the center. This characteristic allows the stone setter, me in this case, to easily set the stone in metal.

I like to use metal wire for my metal stone settings: Sterling Silver (.925 Silver), Argentium Silver (.930 Silver), 14kt Gold-Filled, and 14kt Gold. With this said, this post is about a setting for a Boulder Opal. This Boulder Opal isn’t from Australia. This stone is from Guatemala. I didn’t know Boulder Opals could come from other places. I learn something new every day.

I used 22 gauge Argentium Silver 1/2 hard square wire. Notice the unique shape of the stone. It’s triangular with rounded corners. Instead of setting the stone at a straight angle, I chose to set it just off of the angle. I think it gives the stone a softer appearance. If you would like to see this stone in person, you can visit my friend Carol Garsten at Nature Gallery in Downtown Los Altos, CA., at –

296 State Street
Los Altos, CA 94022
650 327 8700

Once again, I hope you enjoy viewing this design creation as much as I enjoyed making it. By the way, I’ve attached before the setting and after the setting images for your viewing pleasure.

Cheers and Happy Super Bowl 50!!!!

A Basket Full of Rubies!!!

Posted on June 20, 2015 by tracy

O.K., maybe I’m overstating it a little. What I really mean is here’s the latest addition to:

The “I AM” Collection by Eveolution Jewelry ® –

While I was getting ready for work one day, recall I am also an Accountant some of the time, I came up with a new design for my latest collection. I decided a Sterling Silver basket weave tube bead would make a cool pendant. I closed both ends with very nice American Blue Turquoise roundel beads and filled the inside of the cut out tube with tiny Ruby beads. The Rubies are free flowing inside of the tube and are meant to move around. The Turquoise beads keep the Rubies from escaping. I added an “I AM ART” tag to the pendant and suspended it from a fine gauge Sterling Silver chain.

Introducing a New Jewelry Line!!!!!

Posted on June 9, 2015 by tracy

The short story behind my new jewelry line:

The “I AM” Collection by Eveolution Jewelry®

A number of months ago, I can’t recall when exactly, I was hanging out with my husband, Kelly, on our back deck. As we were talking about life in general, I mentioned that I had this idea for a new jewelry design. I shared with Kelly that I was not inspired by all the word stamped/inspiration jewelry that was available. I also was not moved by just a word – examples: “PEACE”, “HOPE”, “LOVE”, and “FAITH”. As I was pondering this, other options rattled around in my brain.

Here’s what I came up with – The “I AM” Collection by Eveolution Jewelry®

What is it? I decided to create rectangular links out of round heavy gauge Sterling Silver (.925 Silver) or Argentium™ Silver (.930 Silver) wire, cut them into various lengths, and hammered them flat. From there I used metal stamps and created individual tag components, the first tag says “I AM”. The second tag says a word such as “TRUTH”, “LOVE”, “PEACE”, and “STRONG”. These are just four examples. The word possibilities are endless. Next, I punched holes into the tag ends so I could string them together with hand-made split rings and wire-wrapped gemstones. I match the word after the “I AM” with a gemstone that best describes it.

Here are two examples –

The “I AM” LOVE pendant shows a red garnet teardrop bead. Red Garnets signify love and have been given to express love throughout history.

The “I AM” TRUTH pendant shows a yellow Aragonite. Aragonite is thought to ground and center and is used to face truth and reality.

Many items in The “I AM” Collection by Eveolution Jewelry® will have a stone that matches the word after “I AM”. This combination makes the jewelry very special and my new jewelry line means more to me than just jewelry. They are the way I express my spirituality-the way I give back positive energy to the universe. As time moves forward, I will add more images to my blog and to my sales website at:

https://www.squareup.com/market/eveolution-jewelry

A New Wire-Wrapping Design Challenge-Trilobite Pendant

Posted on January 4, 2015 by tracy

At one of the galleries I do business with, I met a client that had purchased a Trilobite fossil to give to a friend as a Christmas present. While standing there, the client wanted to know if the sales associate knew someone who could turn the Trilobite fossil into a pendant. This is a great example of being in the right place at the right time. A short conversation resulted in my taking the fossil home with me to come up with a pendant design. Since I love the strength and bright metal look of Argentium™ Silver (.930 Silver content), I went with it for the fossil pendant. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about taking a 500 million year old fossil and turning it into a piece of jewelry. I gave it a shot and came up with a combination basket/bezel setting using four 22 gauge square Argentium™ Silver and four strands of 21 gauge half-round Argentium™ Silver wraps. The client is very happy and I am too. There are four images, two before images (front and back) and two after images (front and back) showing the work. This was my most challenging setting to date as the Trilobite was not in anyway even or flat. I especially like this pendant because it can be worn both ways, front or back. Enjoy!

A Custom Design Challenge

Posted on September 20, 2014 by tracy

I received a phone call from one of my wholesale clients back in April 2014. Carol has a client, Beverly R., that received a 3 inch long Serpentine arrowhead as a gift from a family friend who has since passed away. To honor the memory of her friend, she wanted to do something with her arrowhead. After a few tries, I came up with something. I used 20 gauge Argentium™ Silver (.930 Silver content) round wire and added an Argentium™ Silver curved and hammered flat five strand “fringe” component and bail. The Sterling Silver half-round necklace wire is Beverly’s. I’m happy to say she is very happy with the final design. I hope you enjoy it too. Cheers:-)

Now That’s a Pearl!!!!

Posted on November 5, 2013 by tracy

This post is all about a white fresh water pearl pendant. It’s not just any pearl pendant, it’s a huge beautiful pearl set in 12 wires of 20 gauge 1/2 hard square Argentium Silver wire, with 8 warps of 21 gauge half-round Argentium Silver wire.

The pearl itself is 2+1/4″ high by 1+1/2″ wide (at is biggest point). Believe it or not, this pearl pendant started out as a bead. There is a tiny hole drilled at the strangest angle. It would have looked really weird strung in a necklace. I honestly don’t know what the person was thinking when he or she looked at this work of art…

I decided to make this pearl into a lovely big statement pendant. The pendant can be worn on both sides, depending on preference. As the images show, the pendant is finished on both sides Actually, it is finished on all sides. I hope you enjoy this work of art as much as I enjoyed designing and assembling it. The retail price of this lovely pendant is: $995. If interested in purchasing this lovely design, go to my “Design Gallery” page and select it to buy this one of a kind design. Or, you can contact me at tracy@eveolutionjewelry.com. Cheers:)

Fresh Water Pearl Pendant Set in Argentium Silver Wire

Alternate Image for Fresh Water Pearl Pendant

Second View of Fresh Water Pearl Pendant

Lovely Laguna Agate

Posted on October 26, 2013 by tracy

Hi,

Today’s post features a very lovely example of the gemstone – Laguna Agate.

This stone comes from Northern Mexico. It is known for the vibrant bands of color running through the stone. Note the striking pools and dashed lines of red, pink, and gray. This stone is a 40x22mm cabochon that I bezel set with four strands of 22 gauge 1/2 hard square sterling silver wire and 1/2 hard half-round Argentium silver wire. I completed the setting with decorative spirals at the top of the stone and a hand-made bail. Suspending this design, from a sterling silver snake chain, would be a lovely way to showcase this signature piece. If interested in purchasing this piece, you can buy it on the “Design Gallery” page. Or, contact me at: tracy@eveolutionjewelry.com.

Enjoy!