There is an event held annually in the western United States where a temporary city is erected in a desert in northwest Nevada. The late summer event is an experiment in community and art, where you bring your art to share with others. Our friends go because they are artistic, gregarious and appreciate creativity.

The pendant you see here was made to be worn then. The friend who commissioned it, had faceted the center stone and made the silver chain. He wanted to show off his artwork combined with our artwork. Together we decided to weave an elaborate story about his life with his dear wife.

So we selected signs and symbols that represented who they are without writing their names. We incorporated their marriage date, their horoscope signs, their representative constellation, the coordinates of where they lived when they were young and then together, their children’s birthdates, their careers, botany and chemistry. The whole design was bound together with the yin and yang symbol, a symbol that represents the totality of life.

We decided that wood would be the best material to use. The pendant is large, about 2.5 inches in diameter and wood is light in weight and economical. Also, the black ebony would really look elegant and a great contrast to the bright yellow cubic zirconia gem. We would also be able to get a lot of fine detail in the ebony because it has a tight grain, and with sharp cutters we would end up with a lovely satiny finish.

We always do a dry run in wax, whether we are cutting stone, metal or wood. Cutting wax is fast and inexpensive. This way we see the design completed before using the final material. A nice large piece of ebony that has even grain and evenly dark is not easy to find so we want to save it for when we are sure of the design.

When a gem is involved we tend to focus on seating it first and finishing the rest of the design after. If the stone does not fit you have no pendant, also you want to make sure the stone is seated safely so it is not damaged in any way.

It took several adjustments to get the stone to drop right in, and the two sides to close together just enough to trap the stone and not to press on it too hard so that it could get damaged. Our number one focus during the whole process is to make sure the customer’s stone remains in perfect condition.

Please follow the next blog to hear the rest of the story about the pendant for Desert event.