New JKT Four Peaks Ammie/Sunstone/Diamond Necklace!

[StonieGrl]

Hi All:

Here in Sunny Arizona it is raining so hard tonight! I would like to post some pics from Julia Kay Taylor, the jeweler who took these stones to make a stunning necklace for me. Stats first:
1. Amethyst: Arizona Four Peaks, 17+ carats, emerald cut, bought from Jack at Colorado Gems & Minerals.
2. Oregon sunstone with schiller, 4.8 carats, trilliant cut, bought on miner's bumper at Himalaya Queen Mine, CA.
3. Diamond from an old suitor's ring

Bezels: 18 kt yg, argentium silver, with maltese crosses. Chain is wheat (Shown) and long/long/short/short for different lengths and necklines.

Julia did a beautiful job, it was a big job, that is for sure. Check out the hinge on the pics as they come. Some aren't able to be shared due to size/failure to compress, sorry to say.

 

[StonieGrl]

Another look!

 

[StonieGrl]

More pics, thank you for viewing!

 

[StonieGrl]

Some more warm pics.

 

[StonieGrl]

Few more different views.

 

[Nashville]

I love how lively sunstone is. Beautiful! I never knew there were so many quality designers on Etsy, I have heard nothing but great things about Julia Kay Taylor.

 

[StonieGrl]

Thank you, Nashville. The sunstone looks much livelier until it gets compressed for size for submittal here. Oh well, what can ya do. I did notice that some of the pics compressed down to a little more than 100 and they still posted...

 

[Lovinggems]

It's a spectacular pendant, I love the colour combination, and your diamond description.

 

[StonieGrl]

Heehee, thank you it's much more civilized than how I would describe him in less polite company

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Lovely! JKT does nice work and is unafraid of the unusual (but great) combos some PSers have sent her.

I love the little hooks for hanging the pendant on the chain. I have several pendants and clasps with similar hooks (although I usually have the hook on the chain, not the pendant) and it is fun changing them around (chain vs pendant vs clasp if necesary).

 

[StonieGrl]

Yes, I told Julia to forego the clasps on the chain as I would take it on/off or change chains from those clips you see.

My color combos, they must be a West Coast thing (I'm from California) because my high school (purple and gold) and college colors (USC, cardinal and gold) are similar to these so they don't seem odd to me. I know we Westerners can be blingie sorts and I must be because no one in their right mind (other thah Pricescopers) would be spending what I am to indulge my little hobby.

 

[T L]

That's really lovely and unique!!

 

[movie zombie]

loving it.

that is a LARGE piece of 4 peaks! and i love that you bought off the bumper at the mine.....i was thinking you were going to say you got some of that pink tourmaline.....but then you surprised me with the sunstone.

congrats!

MoZo

 

[Fly Girl]

Stunning pendant! I love the bright vibrant colors, the bezel work, the whole thing. Beautifully done, and do enjoy wearing it.

 

[Arkteia]

Amazing pendant! Very unusual, a statement thing.

 

[chrono]

A lovely necklace that is going to get a lot of wear time for its flexibility. Ditto with MoZo that your 4 Peaks is unusual because most 4 Peaks material tend to be much smaller.

 

[cemrn]

More pics, thank you for viewing!

oooooh gorgeous!!!!! I love the colors together.

 

[StonieGrl]

TL, Chrono, cemrn, Fly Girl, crasu, cemrn {nurse?} thank you much

Mozo, you must have been to the Himalaya too, they DID have tray after tray of pink tourmaline, most of it crappy and tiny, ear studs for 2 year olds. I had to finally tell the two kids who were working there, hey, I've got some cash with me today because I'd planned on buying a good-sized quality stone, if this is ALL there is to choose from, I'm leaving.

They called the mine owner, Chris Rose, who was sleeping somewhere on the property and he drove over with some trays of Oregon sunstone that had been cut in Hong Kong. This one jumped out at me, it was just a fireball and a great size, so I whipped out the $ and bought it.

One piece of advice for anyone who thinks they might want to go there (for a flat fee you can sift through mine tailings all day long, looking for tourmaline, kunzite, etc): A really sad puppy mill borders the place, so if that king of thing bothers you, skip this place.

It is INDEED a honkin' piece of Four Peaks and emerald cut is very hard to come by because the crystal structure of the amethyst does not want to 'be' that. I also needed a piece of some size because I knew I wanted this design, already had the sunstone, so the ammie had to be proportional to that. This whole thing was a challenge, it took me about 18 months from buying the sunstone to project completion.

My next project, with JKT for October, is setting the 5-ct portuguese cut peridot I have from Gemfix, 10.5 mm, back when I used to think that big was always good. It'll go into one of JKT's rings that expose the stone from the girdle down, embellished with random orange/pink spinel melee I picked up at Tucson.

 

[missydebby]

This is just one of the most beautiful necklaces I have ever seen. No joke. What an elegant way to combine all these stones.

Did you design the pendant?

Please please some neck shots, young lady!!!!

 

[StonieGrl]

Awwww, MissyDebby, thank you so much! Praise from the 'Scopers is the praise that is meaningful.

I did design the pendant, with Julia. I am design-challenged so I always go with the gross shapes first---the largest stone tapering to the smallest. The maltese crosses are a favorite motif of mine, I had them put into a necklace for my mom's 80th birthday and the center of them were round diamonds. I wanted round diamonds for these but with the tone of the diamond, Julia said that they rounds I had were too white and would fight the whole piece, little too much going on really, so we went with the gold balls.

Since I am setting my stones with custom settings, I like to use a motif that is meaningful to me (left over from my years as a musician). I liked the maltese cross, I've used the Celtic triquetra in a ring for my husband. I'm on the search for the next motif.

I will post neck shots, expecting the necklace to arrive today from Julia.

 

[virgoruby]

I love everything about it - gorgeous stones & fantastic workmanship on the setting.

 

[StonieGrl]

Thank you, VirgoRuby! BTW, your avatar, that is a beautiful cameo.

 

[jstarfireb]

This is gorgeous! I'm really digging multi-stone pendants these days.

 

[movie zombie]

no, i haven't been to the mine......and i know its played out. neat that you got to meet the owner.....! periodically a nice cut pink tourmaline from the mine surfaces but its from old rough. its amazing to see the really old cut pieces: the chinese emperors were certainly right to value that california pink tourmaline.

and i love that you took your time...18 months...to get the stones and everything just the way you want it. the time and energy really paid off with this piece.

MoZo

 

[StonieGrl]

MoZo, re mine owner, Bill Larson/Pala owns the Himalaya but sold Chris Rose the tailings for a period of time. Chris Rose then sells sacks of the tailings for take-homes and also day trips for people who pay a flat fee to sift tailings. When I saw Chris Rose's stall at the Tucson show, I realized that he and his small team might possibly presift those tailings, he has quite a lot of wonderful tourmaline, pencils, watermelon, etc at his stand from that mine. But they were all overpriced even at the show, IMHO. No one was buying from them.

 

[brandy_z28]

I love your new pendant Stonie! JKT is worth the wait and every penny, and then some IMO.

I can't wait to see your peridot ring! I think it's going to be so pretty!

 

[Moonstruck]

I love, love, love your new pendant. I especially like the combination of colors and the fact that you had the stones descend from largest to smallest stone. The design reminds me of Sally's (HOW) Ara ring with the Byzantine crosses. I am in the process of having her make me one in silver with an amethyst. I would also like very much to have a sunstone like yours. Very fabulous.

 

[baby nurse]

Beautiful pendant, StonieGrl! I love the colors together and the SIZE of those stones-- wonderful Julia's work is so precise and detail-oriented.

REALLY looking forward to the neck shots

 

[AprilBaby]

Really really beautiful and nice photography! How about a neck shot?

 

[Laila619]

Wow, that is just lovely! What a cheerful mix of colors.