I love making jewelry out of natural gemstones and pieces of the earth. Having tried the "digging for treasure thing" at the Herkimer diamond mines in upstate New York I don't mind telling you that the process is hot dirty and exhausting. I will leave the mining to others and gladly pay them for their finds.
Gemstones, rocks, shells, sharks teeth and sea glass all find their way into my work but fossils..........Fossils fascinate me. When I can get my hands on these tiny pieces of history they become incorporated into my designs. Ammonites and trilobites are my favorites. Their size and shape allow them to wrapped attractively and worn.
Ammonites are millions of years old---from the Jurassic/Cretaceous period. They are an ancient see creature related to today's squid and snails. They have a nautilus like shape and when sawed in half they present a beautiful swirling surface in a perfect mirror image. The colors vary from brown to gold to green. Some even have crystal formations inside.
Trilobites remind me of horseshoe crabs. The tiny Elrathia Kingi trilobites that I use for jewelry are from the Paleozoic era and are over 300 million years old. Their simplicity is elegant.
There is something wonderful about using materials from the natural world.
Imagine wearing your own little piece of ancient history.
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