The Jewelry Bench My jewelry was born from the need to do something with my self collected and self cut stones. My very first piece was a simple fine silver bezel around a tumble polished stone tab with a bail soldered on. What a ludicrous price I charged in my beginner's innocence. In an extended stay in Germany almost two decades ago I became friends with a German goldsmith who had his workshop in the living room just as I have my own now. For hours and days I watched asked questions and absorbed techniques. A background in metallurgy from one of my (numerous) other lives often comes to my aid in working unusual combinations of metal.

Combinations Contrasts and combinations appeal to me; gold by itself alone whispers shopping mall. The learning curve in combining metals appeals as well. Yet the shapes stay simple, classical. Left: heavy sterling silver rings with deep inlaid copper. $95

On the same theme a ring in brushed sterling silver, inlaid copper, and 14K gold side bands. $285

Another ring in brushed sterling silver, inlaid copper, and 14K gold side bands. The wave pattern of the inlay I find very appealing. $275

Here the silver is hammer patterned, then acid etched to slightly matte the surface. The stone is a Canadian ammolite; the bezel and side bands 14K. $295

If I were going to tell you in detail what happened in soldering the copper into the silver in this piece I'd need more than a paragraph to do it. Suffice to say that in the process it was instructive, but in the upshot, it worked as I wanted it to. Hammered sterling silver, hammered copper, Canadian ammolite. $325

Another mixed metals piece, this pendant is a particular favorite. The stone is a flute-carved Bay of Fundy porcelain agate from Five-Islands Nova Scotia, more muted and delicate in its tinting than I can get photoshop to duplicate. But then your monitor will show something else anyway. The shank of the pendant is tapered sterling and copper with a slight 14 K accent at the top; the two side stones are Brazilian cat's eye tourmalines.$285

This brooch needs no explanation. The veins are copper, the leaf sterling silver. SOLD

A combination in several senses this pendant's central element once upon a time was a gold plated wrist watch. I acquired it in its eviscerated condition, sans mechanics, and built a sort of renaissance palace of sterling around it in such a way that the back of the case still pops open as a watch case should. You could hide a microfilm in there, or other things which it behooves us not to mention. The stone is a southwest US rainbow obsidian. SOLD

This piece is about as big as the palm of my hand and features a big and brilliant Madagascar labradorite in sterling silver, acid-etched and heat-oxidized copper, and 14K gold. For this client I also made a set of earrings to match the pendant. SOLD

Further Afield Leaving the theme of metal combinations the pieces that follow illustrate other directions; among these being the carving of the stone itself, as in this gingko leaf in British Columbia nephrite jade. $295

Another piece on the theme of gingko, this -large- sterling silver neckpiece incorporates a Bay of Fundy copper-moss chrysocolla. This is a stone of out own discovery and for that reason comes from an undisclosed location, but one that is near an old copper mine. The stone itself includes arborescent threads of metallic native copper. $325

While the metal is all sterling this pendant also is a study in contrasts, this time of shapes and colors. The small stones are Bay of Fundy porcelain/pastel agates; the large one a moody rainbow obsidian from the southwest US. $285