I've known Karen for several years. We met when I was at the beginning of my jewelry designing days. She worked at a store that carried my designs. We stayed in touch and have become good friends. I would describe her as a ray of sunshine with an infectious laugh.
I was so thrilled to work with Karen on a bespoke project. She had inherited several wonderful jewelry pieces from her favorite aunt. Karen had always admired Aunt Lee's jewelry and wanted to honor her by wearing them proudly in a redesigned piece that fit her style. We began the reimagining process with a fantastic ring that had a large London blue topaz.
top view of family heirloom gemstone before recutting and polishing
side view before gem recutting and polishing
Karen's old jewelry after gemstone removal and before sending to refinery
Karen is obsessed with scarabs, so that's the direction we took for her bespoke project. For the new design, I had the stone re-cut to be less tall and also re-polished.
mood board created for the scarab pendant project
CAD design
Karen's Scarab Pendant was designed to be worn with her evil eye charm and paper clip chain that she wears everyday. To bring the whole ensemble together, Karen purchased a Marla Aaron lock.
me modeling pendant
The blue topaz and gold were from her aunt's ring and some other jewelry. I had recently bought the cabochon green tourmaline from a stone dealer that lives in Brazil and travels back to the states a couple of times a year. This became the perfect stone for the scarab's head. I also had a trillion cut green tourmaline that seemed to go well with the design. We added melee yellow sapphires for some additional bling to the body frame. There were 13 sapphires, which fit perfectly with Karen's birthdate.
image of just the Scarab Pendant
I finished this project in time for Karen to wear it during a weeklong furniture market event. She thought it would be amazing to have it on while meeting with interior designers at the show to promote my work for future bespoke projects. She even gave out some of my pretty letterpress cards to some admirers.
After Karen had been wearing her pendant for a few weeks, I asked what the scarab symbolized to her and if I could include in this newsletter. Here's what she sent me:
"I’m calling my scarab Isira.
EE-SEE-RAH
Isira means “she who is reborn in light”.
Combination of Egyptian Goddess Isis and God Ra. Isis is the goddess of rebirth, healing and the divine feminine and Ra is the god of sun, vitality and transformation.
The balance of masculine and feminine - duality.
Solar-moon rebirth & magic.
London blue topaz symbolizes the depths of clarity and intuition.
Green Tourmaline is heart centered and symbolizes growth and renewal.
Yellow Sapphire symbolizes divine wisdom and radiant rebirth.
A talisman of resilience, magic and renewal. A reminder that every ending is a sacred beginning.
The emergence of the soul from darkness into a gold-lit dawn.
The scarab itself is an ancient emblem of renewal and eternal life, a journey through transformation.
Isira embodies the eternal dance between shadow and light; the magic of becoming."
Scarab Pendant Necklace
Karen and I had a blast working together on Isira, her bespoke scarab pendant. We are already excited about another project, she's referring to as her Marcel earrings. The earrings will be another thoughtfully designed memento, honoring her late Aunt Lee's jewels. I can't wait to make these for her and share the story.
~bec
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