Pave Diamond Craze

All the rage these days is the pave diamond set charm and components. I wasn't too sure about them, it seemed like a trend that might fade quickly. I recently went and looked at some components and started offering them in my bead shop at www.loveactuallybeads.etsy.com and I decided to start using them in my jewelry. I have done a 180 about pave set diamonds. They are gorgeous! They are also much more affordable way to have luxury jewelry without having to completely break the bank.

Yes, they obviously cost more than crystals, but they look different too. Believe it or not they have more sparkle than crystals and at the same time they look earthier. Maybe that is just my brain kicking in, but I don't think so. I have thought about it a lot.

Today I present to you, sterling silver pave diamond set spikes with lapis lazuli carved skull earrings. I think they are fantastic and I don't think I could have achieved this look without the pave diamond pieces.

I'm interested in your thoughts.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/199671091/rebel-diamond-spike-lapis-skull-sterling

Covellite - a new copper mineral that I recently learned about and am officially obsessed with! It is an iridescent midnight blue color with flashes of purple and green, it is truly amazing!

First discovered at Mount Vesuvius by Nicola Covelli (according to Wikipedia). It truly looks like a stone that would come from a volcano.

The cut of this stone is very interesting, a kind of tapered rectangle.

What do you guys think?

Sweat Soldering + Granulation = Hard

So yeah. I finally did the sweat soldering and granulation ring. It was hard!! The first round of soldering only 4 of the granulation balls actually made it. The rest of them were just falsely stuck on by the flux!

After several trial and errors though this is my final product. I think it looks pretty cool and really evokes a feeling of another time and place. The blue color of the lapis is all natural!

What do you all think? I need to keep practicing! Oh, and I got my first ring order. Size 5, the tourmaline ring. It turned out really nicely. My best one yet!!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/196184268/lapis-sterling-silver-ring-any-size?ref=listing-0

Bezel Setting a Corner Tutorial

Here is the link to the best tutorial for bezel setting a corner. It shows a square cab, but I used this exact same technique on the corner edge of a teardrop shaped cabochon and it came out great (see post below this one).

http://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/index.php/topic,1738.0.html

Also another online wealth of knowledge is all of the youtube tutorial videos by Soham Harrison. If you haven't seen these, this is the best kind of help. The only thing is he has every tool known to mankind for jewelry making and those of us who are still operating on "bare minimum" in the tool department just have to accommodate for those differences.

Check it out!! You will learn so much.

https://www.youtube.com/user/1soham1

Last night I watched a tutorial on adding granulation details to pendant, rings, etc. I am going to try it later this week. I'll let you see my progress this time! : ) Here is an example of a ring with granulation but I did not make this.