This is my "showiest" piece. It attracts lots of attention when I wear it. I love it. The gemstone is a Peruvian Opal. Be sure to click the image to see it close up so that you can see the tropical paradise landscape in the stone. Wish I was there right now! I also used copper in the bail at the top where the chain goes through. This is the first piece that I made matching earrings for and here they are.
They include the Peruvian Opals and while I find them beautiful, they are not as exquisite as the one in the pendant. I bought these from a different source. These stones appear to be getting scarce. At least, I am having a hard time finding them. Although these look to be simpler in design than the pendant, they were actually quite a bit more difficult. For one thing it was hard to make 2 pieces alike enough to be earrings. Then when they were fired, the rate of shrinkage was different even though they were fired together. That is part of the inconsistency of the medium which is just something to know and work with. So the setting for the stone on one of the earrings had to be enlarged significantly by grinding which was difficult and tedious. I even ended up grinding the stone down a bit to fit. I recently took an additional class where I learned how to set stones using traditional metal fabrication which is more exact. I will post the product from that class when I am finished.
This is my "showiest" piece. It attracts lots of attention when I wear it. I love it. The gemstone is a Peruvian Opal. Be sure to click the image to see it close up so that you can see the tropical paradise landscape in the stone. Wish I was there right now! I also used copper in the bail at the top where the chain goes through. This is the first piece that I made matching earrings for and here they are. 
They include the Peruvian Opals and while I find them beautiful, they are not as exquisite as the one in the pendant. I bought these from a different source. These stones appear to be getting scarce. At least, I am having a hard time finding them. Although these look to be simpler in design than the pendant, they were actually quite a bit more difficult. For one thing it was hard to make 2 pieces alike enough to be earrings. Then when they were fired, the rate of shrinkage was different even though they were fired together. That is part of the inconsistency of the medium which is just something to know and work with. So the setting for the stone on one of the earrings had to be enlarged significantly by grinding which was difficult and tedious. I even ended up grinding the stone down a bit to fit. I recently took an additional class where I learned how to set stones using traditional metal fabrication which is more exact. I will post the product from that class when I am finished.
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