I’m a fan of pink, in case you haven’t noticed, as well as turquoise. This stone combines pink Spiny Oyster shell with my favorite turquoise from ARizona, Kingman. This particular stone is mostly pink with only 2 flecks of turquoise and bronze matrix throughout. The triangular stone is set at an unexpected angle to add interest to the ring.
The bezel on this ring is imperfect but the stone is firmly set. The price is reflective of the imperfections.
My process: I wrapped the stone in a fine silver bezel for sizing and then attached the bezel to a piece of sterling silver sheet. The sheet was trimmed With a jeweler’s saw to leave a small lip all of backplate all of the way around the stone and hand filed smooth. The low dome sterling wire was formed into a ring shank and attached to the back of the backplate. This entire ring was oxidized and then polished to get just the right amount of darkening. The ring then took a spin in the tumbler for a final polish and hardening before I set the stone.
Here’s some info for my fellow rock geeks: This is a composite or mosaic stone. Spiny oyster (or thorny oyster) shell comes from a type of oyster whose shell has spines on the outside. This creature more closely resembles a scallop than an oyster. These oyster can be harvester from the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California. The shells can range in color from yellow to orange to red to purple. In this composite stone, the Spiny oyster is mixed with Turquoise from Kingman, AZ and bronze.
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Materials: Fine silver, Sterling silver, Spiny Oyster/ Kingman Turquoise
Dimensions: approximately 1 1/8" (28 mm) tall by 7/8” (22 mm) wide. The band is 1/4” (5.89 mm). Size 7
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Please keep in mind that all pieces of jewelry from Tabby Cat are handmade using natural gemstones. Handmade means that there may be marks from the tools used in the process of making the setting. Natural gemstones are just that- natural. They may have pits in the surface or inclusions visible in transparent and translucent stones. These things just add to the charm of piece.