Monthly Archives: April 2018

Custom Rock Cutting, Lapidary, and Wire Jewelry, Created Just for You!

Custom druzy wire jewelry to match the brides wedding colors.

For a unique touch, the bride created her own bouquet out of comic books. The pendant matched the dress and bouquet perfectly.

Special occasions call for special jewelry. If you are looking for custom special occasion stone jewelry, cut and wire wrapped just for you, please consider our custom lapidary services. We have created jewelry for Renaissance (and other) Weddings, special gifts, and lots of personal mementos. The services we frequently provide at Snob Appeal Jewelry include:

  1. Special Occasion Custom Lapidary

If you find a nice Petoskey Stone, I can polish it so you don’t have to lick it to show off the pattern!

These freeform Thomsonite cabochons are highly desirable.

These beautiful examples of Copper Country cabochons are cut and polished for use in jewelry.

Perhaps you have a favorite rock or slab that you have finally decided to have worked on. I can cut and/or slab most any rock up to twelve inches. Prices can vary for this service depending on size, number of rocks or slabs. People often bring me rocks they have found, or rocks with sentimental value. Since each rock is different, after studying it, I look for attributes to highlight, and point out flaws that I may be able to repair or work around. I am honest with my customers. My trips to the Upper Peninsula involve new and repeat customers bringing their finds to me. Many repeat customers stop to get my opinion on their Lake Superior Agates, Datolites, Greenstones, and uncounted other finds. Some want a Cabochon cut and wire wrapped, while others might just bring in a Petoskey Stone for me to polish. Whenever I do custom lapidary on any customer owned rock, I treat it as my own, not shortcutting my procedures in any way. My best advertising is word of mouth, and I do not want my integrity and honesty besmirched. I hope you’ll tell your friends about your new favorite!

 

2. Custom Wire Wrapping

A wire-wrapped dragonfly was a whimsical pendant for a dragonfly-loving customer.

Old stock Mexican crazy lace agate with opal turned into one of my favorite wire wrapped pieces I ever made.

A big, bold double-hinged copper nugget pendant created from a customer’s stone collection, including copper and greenstone.

A beautiful candy-striped Lake Superior Agate elegantly but simply wire wrapped, not distracting from the perfect agate.

I love it when someone wants me to make a pendant from their stone.  I try to get some feel as to their style and choice of precious metal wire. I make pendants from Argentium Sterling (Tarnish resistant Sterling Silver), 14/20 Gold, both pink Gold and Gold Gold). Many customers like a mix of colors that allow different chains to match a pendant. This two or three-tone approach allows someone to purchase a gift pendant for someone they are not sure of the metal they wear. Sometimes a stone just yells for accents of a silver or pink metal, so we can discuss the choices.

A custom wire wrapped cubic zirconia faceted by a talented customer is my more recent custom piece. How’s that for bling?

As you can see from photos, my wire wrapping style is classical. I do nothing that takes away from the star of any pendant, THE STONE. With some wire artists, you will see a lot of wires running all over the place. I appreciate that some may like this “Wire Sculpture” style, but that’s not how I do it. My wrapping is very precise both in design and construction. Some multi-stone pendants are a combination of engineering and design in unison.

Prices of pendants are dependent of the amount of wire (size and thickness of the stone), how complicated the wire wrapping is, and the time it takes. To evaluate your special occasion custom lapidary, I really need to see the stone and discuss what you want done in order to give a price. I do not “cheap” on wire; In general the more wire, the better the jewelry looks.

Elegant stone wire-wrapped jewelry is my specialty. To make your custom lapidary special, the addition of gemstones or sparkly cubic zirconias might make your piece just right. Occasionally a stone calls for a playful look.

Send me a picture or give me a call and let’s see what we can do with your favorite rock or stone! Custom lapidary and custom wire wrapping are our top services! The bottom line is we love and understand rocks and can make great special occasion custom lapidary for you. Try us!

Check out our Testimonials page to see what others have said about our work.