This is one of those pieces that I didn't list in my shop right away I kinda liked having it on my desk to look at. My description below is really more of a story of how it was made than a description of the actual piece. Enjoy!
When I made this it started with the stone. An Azurite nodule that I had sliced the center out of. I did absolutely nothing except to put a flat finish on the front and back.
Then I later decided that I wanted to use this new suspension style that I had been developing. Luckily azurite is soft so I was able to bore out 10 small dimples in the stone 5 per side for the support wires to sit.
Then a large ring was crafted (This one is about 1.25 in diameter). Holes were then drilled in it in the appropriate places and hardened sterling rods were passed through to hold the stone in place. It does not wiggle or move at all. Once the entire configuration was in place I carefully welded each rod in place.
After that I decided I really wanted a sharp contrast on the outer ring and settled on a moon like dimpling pattern which is applied by hand by blasting the surface with the welder on a higher setting. Then I polished the front and back smooth to a nice polish and oxidized the outside. This is meant to mimic the rough and smooth finish of the stone.
Lastly a chain was passed through a set of holes I had previously drilled. I had to remove the end loop and then re-attache it in order to pass it through. the jump ring on the end was soldered shut for added security. The chain is 20 long and is solid sterling silver.
