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KIE

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GR

AY

I

T WINKED AT ME at last year’s

Tucson gem shows. Right

from hello I knew I had to do

something with this labradorite.

Into my bag of treasures it went,

and there it met the shell. By the

time I came back to my studio,

the two wanted to mate. Piece by

piece, the design came together,

its two stars telling me what they

wanted to be every step of the way.

One approach to jewelry is start-

ing with the design and acquiring

the stones to suit it. Another starts

with a fantastic stone: this design

was one of those. My original

sketch of a static, single piece all

soldered together became more

fl uid. The shell wanted to move,

thus the addition of the chain. The

bail and tube setting intended for

the top of the arch gave way to the

bead chain and simplifi ed the piece

just enough to allow the labradorite

to shine even more. I fi nished it off

with a design on the back, giving the

wearer her own secret to enjoy.

WIRE FRAME

1

Anneal all of the 3mm x 1mm

rectangle wire to prepare it for

bending. Pickle and dry off.

Not a retriever, this labradorite is a knockout cabochon

that demanded a special setting and got one

By Kieu Pham Gray

12

3

&

Blue

Yel low Lab

2

Trace both the cab and the

shell onto a piece of paper to

help prep your design.

3

Shape the 3mm x 1mm

rectangle wire to the bottom

of the stone and shell to create a

frame for each, making sure the

fl at side is facing up. I prefer using

my nylon nose pliers to prevent

marring the wire during shaping.

38 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST