ABOUT THE ART
If you haven’t already noticed, I’m quite the collector. My house is full of happy little groupings of things: a bowl full of rocks from meaningful places, a shelf lined with colored antique bottles, cabinets full of every vintage enamelware vessel ever made and jars and jars of tiny pine cones. Each little collection represents happy memories or simply provides aesthetic beauty. There’s just something so pleasing about creating assemblages of things! What do you collect?
-
So, I took this idea to the bench- why not create tiny wearable collections? And use my favorite stone in the whole world?! Introducing the Turquoise Collector’s Rings: split shank rings each representing 4 different US mines- Kingman, Fox, Carico Lake, and Sleeping Beauty. Little collections of the finest natural turquoise you ever did see, made to live right on your hand all day, everyday.
ITEM DETAILS
- .925 Sterling Silver
- Stamped with my maker's mark for authenticity
- Ring Size 6.5
- Slightly Adjustable Ring Shank- can go up/down a half/full size
- HIGH GRADE, natural turquoises: Royston, Carico Lake and Damele
- Handmade in Maine in my personal studio
ABOUT THE STONES
ROYSTON: The Royston district in Nevada is one of the most well-known turquoise producing areas in the United States. The stone is found in a group of mines near the city of Tonopah. Although the district is made up of a number of small mines the three more important mines are the Royal Blue, the Bunker Hill, and the Oscar Wehrend. Royston turquoise can be unbelievably beautiful. High-grade Royston is a very hard material. Colors range from a light blue, intense blue or a dark sky blue. Also included are a number of shades of green and many times with green and blue together in one stone. The matrix includes different shades of brown. It is considered to be some of the best American Turquoise, and therefore highly collectible.
CARICO LAKE: The Carico Lake mine is located in Lander County, Nevada. It is located near on the since dried up lake bed of Carico Lake, of which comes it's modern name. In it's history, the mine also has been known as the Aurora Mine and the Stone Cabin Mine. The turquoise emanating from this mine ranges from light green to a bright sky blue blue; it's host rock of limonite creates a light matrix. Although today the Carico Lake mine is one the largest turquoise mines in Nevada, high-grade turquoise from this mine is still fairly uncommon, making the stones in these earrings highly collectible and sought after.
DAMELE: The Damele is a small mine about 30 miles northeast of Austin, Nevada. It sits adjacent to the Godber-Burnham claim. Very little Damele is being produced today and presently much is cut from older rough that can still be found from various turquoise dealers and collectors. Most of the material found today is a variscite, although some turquoise is still available. Damele is extremely hard, takes a nice polish and comes in a variety of colors from yellow, gold, greens and grays with a fine spider webbing. At its best it can be a beautiful gemstone. It is a well known mine with highly sought after cabochons.
A NOTE ON WEAR
I have chosen high quality materials to create a piece of artful jewelry that will last a lifetime. Although crafted with the adventurous spirit in mind, please take care while wearing my pieces as natural stones can be delicate. To prolong the life of your piece, I suggest you remove it while swimming, hiking, rock climbing, cliff jumping, skydiving or whatever other crazy and rigorous adventure you find yourself on!
STAY IN TOUCH
Want to see a look into a day in the life at The Wild Pine?
Check out my wild metalsmithing adventure:
Instagram: @thewildpine
Facebook: facebook.com/thewildpinejewelry
Email: thewildpine@gmail.com
© The Wild Pine 2024