Although it appears to be 2 pieces of black jade it is actually one large piece. The 2 princess cut diamonds (each over 1 ct.) are held in place by bezels black jade. A trough has been cut into the black jade as well as grooves into the sides of that trough for the girdles of the diamonds to slide into. Two holes have been drilled through the black jade under the diamonds for cleaning. You will also notice on the other end of the ring a large dished-out area with 3 14kt gold rods which give the illusion that the black jade is held in place with the rods. After the jade has been fit to the ring, the diamonds are slid into place as well as the 3 gold rods. The piece of black jade is then lowered into the "U" shaped opening in the ring and seated in place where it is held with epoxy. The ring is size 18.

The Lapis for these earrings were cut to make them protrude from the ends of the gold work.

The designer of this piece provided us with wax carvings to show us how they wanted the pieces of Black Jade shaped. There are 5 separate pieces of carved Black Jade. The center piece is pear-shaped like the center Emerald. The Emerald is mounted in a pear-shaped gold mounting and sleeve which inserts into a pear-shaped hole cut into the Black Jade. The two far outside pieces have a series of ribs carved into them. On each side of the center piece are pieces of Black Jade which overlap both the center piece and the outer pieces. The goldsmith designed an elaborate hinging mechanism that attaches to the back of each piece of Jade. This connects all 5 pieces and allows them to articulate and move beside one another while the neck piece is being worn and gives to look of one large “flexible” piece of Black Jade. The designer of this piece is truly a creative genius.

The jeweler provided me with a wax carving to illustrate how he wanted the ribs to be carved and shaped into the mother-of-pearl. The mother-of-pearl also needed a pear shaped recessed area cut into it for the pear shaped bezel with ruby to fit into it.

Although the mother-of-pearl in the photo appears to be yellowish, this is due to the lighting that was used during the photography. The mother-of-pearl was actually white.

The bottom  photo shows the fully assembled piece.

When the goldsmith sent me this ring the square tube with the square diamond was already soldered in place. The inlay needed to be cut to fit, with a square hole in the stone, so that it "dropped down" and over the center square diamond and fit tightly in the ring. This is a very time-consuming process to get the stone to fit tightly without any glue showing around the edges. I enjoy the challenge.

This ring is also a good example of the use of unique materials. This jewelry designer is located in the Pacific Northwest near the Columbia River. The Columbia river banks are lined with native rock of various colors with beautiful patterns that show up when they are wet, or when the rocks are polished. The rock that is inlaid in this ring is from the banks of the Columbia River. It is popular with his local customers to have a ring that is inlaid with this local material. This ring was designed by Michael Nutter.

This ring had originally been made with the piece of white quartz which is in the upper right part of the picture. The customer wanted to replace it with Black Onyx. A gold arch was already soldered in the ring, therefore the only way to put the Onyx in the ring was to make two separate pieces and insert them from the sides. You will also see holes drilled through the pieces of Onyx from side to side. These are for a gold pin that will hold the pieces of Onyx in place and have diamonds mounted in the ends.

Although it appears to be two separate pieces of Lapis it is actually one piece. A “U” shape channel was carved into the Lapis and grooves were cut into that channel to accommodate the girdles of the diamonds. A dished out area is also carved into the Lapis and three holes are drilled from side to side to accept the three 14kt gold rods. Once the piece of Lapis was properly fitted into the ring, the diamonds are inserted into the channel and the three gold rods are also inserted in place. The Lapis with the diamonds and rods is then epoxied into place and the top is given a high polish to finish the piece.
This piece was designed by the same goldsmith who designed the Black Jade piece at the top of this page.

This matching set of cufflinks and tux studs was made from Black Jade. The sides of the Black Jade have curved areas carved into them. The diamonds are able to slide in the channels that have been cut into the Black Jade.

This ring is similar to the previous ring but in this case two pieces of Lapis in inlaid separately. The pieces of Lapis are butted up against the Diamond and small bevels are polished on the Lapis where they meet the Diamond.

This is an onyx stone which has had a diamond set into it without the use of a gold tube or bezel. The diamond is inserted from the back of the onyx and held in place with a bezel of onyx so-to-speak. The diamond is held in place with a section of 14kt gold tubing which is also inserted from the back. This also allows the diamond to be cleaned.

This is a pair of earrings with matching red rubellite cabs mounted in the center of each. The bezels with the cabs are inset into quartz which has been carved and left with a frosted surface. This was simply a matter of duplicating the original.