What’s in It for You: Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist May/June

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Day-to-evening wear while the goal is to stay in? Yes. The concept is about versatile designs that carry you through different dress requirements. It’s really about the occasion, and today has more to do with the time than the place. Finding the right look for a teleconference from home can be challenging. You want to look professional, yet casual enough not to appear jarring against that bed or toy chest in the corner. And the longer we stay put, the nicer it’ll be to dress up for dinner now and then, even if you dine at your own kitchen table.

ABOVE: The stone with the metallic edge: pyrite-in-agate cabochons courtesy Dikra Gem; photo: Jim Lawson

Flashy with a chunky texture, always-right pyrite-in-agate adds points of interest to jewelry seen directly from six feet away or transmitted over the Internet. This down-to-earth stone with a touch of glam is also durable, uncommon but not hard to find, and reasonably priced. All of which helped make it our choice for Smokin’ Stones in the just-out May/June issue of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist.

What else is in the new issue? Here are some highlights, starting with what’s on trend.

Dots Are Hot

Veteran gemstone and fashion reporter Deborah Yonick reports that dots are the motif of the moment, and top designers are on them. Or more accurately, dots are on their jewelry. Used both sparingly and in profusion, little rounds of stone, metal, enamel, and more are all over the place.

Dots in Dots in Dots

Besides being work-, play-, and hangout-appropriate, pyrite-in-agate is also a bit dotty, so to speak. In these earrings, each naturally dotted cab serves as a single dotted dot inside a single ring or open dot of silver.

Metal Dot Inlay

The traditional Japanese metalsmithing technique used in this pendant involves laying tiny metal dots into a metal surface. Often used to create intricate patterns on larger hollowware pieces, metal dot inlay can also be used more informally. This patinated copper heart pendant with fine silver dots is easygoing and stylish.

Torch Fired Enamels’ Silver Lining

Shaped like funnels that draw your eye in, these pendants are designed to show off the richness of transparent enamels when applied to fine silver. The colors line the insides of the partial cones, but you wouldn’t be able to see those lustrous shades without at least one open end. You could say those openings are dots, too, outlined by the silver edges.

Filigree with a What of Blue?

Is a small round cabochon a dot? Sure it is, but like the enameled earrings above, the point here really is to learn a technique. You’ll finish a pair of charming earrings you can wear while learning to create your own silver filigree.

It’s Enchanting

The shifting light and medium tones of the best blue chalcedonies mingle to create a color and texture that remind me of peering into the sky as dusk falls. It’s pretty, romantic, and naturally calming. But don’t get the wrong impression: like any quartz gem, this one is also plenty tough enough to stand up to jewelry wear.

She’s Twisted . . . in a Good Way

After she’d succeeded at setting a vintage button by using twist wire she’d twisted herself, Betsy Lehndorff continued to explore her newfound skill.

The result? A second demo showing how to make cuffs in a great assortment of wire styles. They look great stacked, too.

She’s Sharp

Of course she’s sharp, but in this case Lexi Erickson is talking about bezel setting a kite-shaped stone with those challengingly sharp corners. The cab is not only dramatically cut: its abstract pattern vividly shows off the blue opal in this petrified wood pendant.

A Royal Way to Unwind

Ready to relax and just have some fun now? “Costuming The Crown” is Cathleen McCarthy’s walk-through of an exhibit by the same name that showcased clothing and jewelry from the Netflix series, The Crown. If you missed the exhibit, now closed, here’s your chance to get up close and personal with some of the sparkliest stuff around. Paired with that story is “To Copy the Crown,” Cathleen’s feature about Juliette Designs, a U.K. firm specializing in replicating royal jewels for stage, screen, and exhibition — and maker of the pieces used on set in The Crown.

And by the way, today Earth Day celebrates its 50th anniversary. If you haven’t seen it already, check out Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist March/April 2020, which includes earth-related features about jewelry design, maintaining an eco-friendly studio, field collecting minerals, and small-scale commercial mining — plus a pendant project depicting the land, the sea, and the clouds of planet Earth.

Merle White is Editor-in-Chief of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist.