No, I do not name everything I make. That would be crazy. I’m up to number 1,609 in necklaces, earrings, bracelets and anklets and that doesn’t count all the stuff made involving a torch. But there are a few that make such a memorable experience of creation for me that I just have to give them names.

This is one of those.

Like just about everything I make, it began with a rock. Well a rough piece of turquoise. When I showed my find to my boss at the time, mineralogist George Koldoff, he told me it was a piece of Kingman Turquoise. Kingman is in Arizona and is known for some very fine turquoise. It is very stable and has good color and interesting veining.

A lot of lesser quality turquoise needs stabilization before it can be made into beads or cabochons. Stabilized turquoise is not fake, but it needs to be disclosed. It isn’t always easy to know when turquoise has been stabilized but, in my work, I try to be clear about the truth about my ingredients.

Anyway, “chalky” turquoise is stabilized by adding a resin. Sometimes a color enhancer (read that as dyed) is added at the same time.

My piece of Kingman turquoise was very hard. It had a nice ring when I tapped it on a hard surface and didn’t crack or crumble. I knew it was an exceptional piece of turquoise.

Turquoise, the really good stuff, is sold by the gram. Obviously, the heavier the piece, the more it is worth. So I wanted to preserve as much of the turquoise as I could while also putting a nice shine on it. I didn’t trim it to any kind of calibrated shape or size. I worked within the presented shape of the piece.

When it was finished and I had a nice shiny surface on it, I took a good hard look at the shape of it and wondered just what the hell I was going to do with it. It sat on my work bench for a couple of weeks until one day I realized it looked like a silhouette of a mountain.

It got me to thinking.

Then, one evening, looking at the mountains to the south of us, with the stars hard and bright above them, I knew what I had to do with that Kingman turquoise.

I cut some sterling silver sheet into an irregular shape and bezel set the turquoise at the bottom of it. I used copper rivets and balls to stand in for stars. But it wasn’t quite right.

The name of the piece had already solidified in my mind and thinking of that, I added some stippling in swooping curves.

Then I wondered how I would mount the pendant. Would I use a single bail and how would I balance that? I ended up with what you’ve seen in the photos.

Because I wasn’t sure it could be sold as a pendant alone … would anyone know what to do with it and a chain or a cord … I decided to finish it off as a necklace.

Don’t ask me why I chose the parts for the necklace that I did. I have no idea. And looking at it now (it never sold on consignment, but I will be putting it into our Etsy shop, jewelrybysyzygy.etsy.com), I wonder why I did it that way. I think it looks a little too Avant Garde, but Bernd says he likes it and doesn’t think it is too odd.

For sure, it is a statement piece. Maybe someone will want it for that reason.

Quote courtesy of Fortune & Frame