I've been in a ring kind of mood lately. I haven't worked with faceted, undrilled stones all that much - but these came out very well, I think! Let me know how you see it.....

These are the links to my Flickr, too: My Blue Heaven   and  Citrine Cathedral

If you would like to see other views, click my Flickr link in the signature. :^))

Thanks for looking,

Perri

ARGH! I can't get flickr at work! Will look later.

 I especially like My Blue Heaven, althogh for me it somehow evokes both organic and mechanical images... sort of the man in the machine... too much Star Trek?

Hi Perri!

 Wow, I love "My Blue Heaven" and have been too lazy (I'm on dial-up today)to look at the Citrine.

I have questions...are those wires wrapped with more wire? IIs it sterling or fine silver? I love the coiling and am fascinated by how and how long it must have taken to creat this piece!

I myself am much more comfortable with hammer, anvil, fire and steel! However, I've done some work with the non-ferrous metals and am now focusing my energies in that direction primarily. Do you use fingers, pliers, do you have to anneal the wire after working for a while...I'd love to see a tutuorial!

The ring band IS very nice, strong and elegant all at once. The stone is a blue that is also strong enough to handle it's setting...looks right at home!

Beautiful, thanks for sharing! Cynthia 

 Cynthia,

Thanks for looking at these. Sorry, I've been fighting with my computer and this site....don't know what is up with that!

Anywho - these are made completely with sterling - I make very long, very fine coils and cut them to size, crimping the ends in place. I usually do this with a drill so that I can concentrate on the design work that is needful. There is also the added benefit that annealing is not necessary, at least for this design. In fact, the work hardening that takes place helps to secure the work, since hammering on these kinds of pieces is not an option. I'm not sure how much time Blue Heaven took, maybe 3 1/2 hours?

Thanks so much for noticing that the stone was strong enough for the setting - some colors I've tried get lost in the work - it really is all about how you marry the metal with the stones. I'm caught up in my tutorial schedule now, so I can start work on these two. It is going to be fun!!!!! 

I'm not a wire-wrapper, myself, I have tried and tried and tried, but I have no patience for it. To see these pieces and how intricate (and, let's be honest, a ring is a SMALL piece) and fiddly these pieces are......WOW, I just have to admire them. They are beautiful. Congratulations. I'll go and take a look at the rest of your stuff on Flickr now. :)