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Store Hours

Tuesday-Friday:
9:30-5:30

Saturday:
9:30-5:00

Closed Sunday & Monday

Location

35 Whiting Street,
Hingham, MA
02043

781-749-2108

Directions

From the Goldsmith's Bench

Summer 2009

Treasures from Lands Far Away

How many people have managed to come back from a vacation with some type of a souvenir? Often people come into the store with souvenirs in the form of loose semi precious stones. Usually these stones are on the larger size in many different unusual shapes. Most often we see Amethyst, Topaz, Citrine and Quartz in a rainbow of colors. Unfortunately these stones are often not in calibrated sizes. Calibrated sizes are sizes that are common to stones in the jewelry business. Pre made mountings are often made to fit stones that are these calibrated sizes.

We recently had a customer come in with her treasures from a recent trip. She had a very large trillion (triangle) shaped amethyst as well as two smaller triangles. Her thoughts were to take the larger amethyst and make that a pendant and then use the two smaller stones for a pair of earrings. Because of the size of the larger amethyst, it was important that we considered the type of the necklace that would be used to handle a piece of this size. Being a large fan of the Lagos collection, she picked out a chain that she liked and used that as the inspiration for the mounting we made for the stone. The difficult part was finding an interesting bail that was in proportion to the chain and complimented her stone.
 


The mounting was made in silver, which blended well with the Lagos as well as kept the cost reasonable. We allowed it to swing slightly by using a small jump ring to it from the enhancer top. The setting that held the stone was hand made with a decorative double prong at each of the points. The mounting was kept fairly simple because of the size of the stone. The earrings were set in a style similar to the pendant with a simple post back. She loved the set and now those stones have become a piece of jewelry that she wears on a regular basis knowing no one has anything else like it!

-Debbie

Debbie has been our Goldsmith for the past 9 years. A graduate of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, she has been in the jewelry business for 20 years and has helped many people take their older pieces of jewelry and turn them into personal and functional creations.

Do you have an idea for a custom piece? Contact Debbie by e-mail or by phone to begin the design process!

Past Entries

Winter 2009: Two Makes a Great Number in Relationships, but Not in Design