While cutting an interesting Lake Superior eye agate one afternoon, I saw a fish eye develop. I had an inspiration that if I cut an oval cabochon, then backed that agate with a thin sheet of Jade, I could somehow make a fish come to life. The dilemma then became how to do it.
I first cut a thin slice of mottled green Jade from a rock I found in my collection, then cut it out in a fish shape using my Taurus Ring Saw. A Taurus saw has a continuous circular, diamond coated wire that allows cutting in any direction. It’s a machine that I use occasionally, but on those jobs nothing else works as well. One of the uses for the Taurus is cutting Christmas tree ornaments. Another use is cutting the State of Michigan shape out of Petoskey Stone.
I used two-part Epoxy to bond the fish-eyed cab to the Jade. I then continuously wrapped a frame from Sterling silver, finishing the wrap at the bottom of the fish.
I left extra wire at the bottom and ran that extra wire up the rear of the fish to lock the wire to the fish frame.
Debbie always likes matching earrings for her pendants. In this case I used the same piece of Jade as I used for the backer, and using the Taurus Saw again, I cut the blue gills. With a Foredom and diamond bit I drilled tiny eye holes in the earring fish as well as hole to hang the drops.
Debbie is an enthusiastic rock hound, has eclectic tastes, and claims many of my unusual pendants. This was one of the early pieces in a growing collection, I refer to as the “Debbie Collection”. I have a lot of fun designing pieces with her, and she graciously has agreed to have her jewelry in the next few blogs. I expect when I become “Rich and Famous” (right!) Debbie should be able to open up a museum of my strange, unusual, and weird stuff.
You can see some of our available agate pendants on several pages: Various, Crazy Lace Agates, Lake Superior Agates, Petrified Wood, and Queensland Agates.