Halo Scintilla Shells
Over 20 years ago, I met Nicole at a holiday pop up in Charleston. It was at the beginning of my jewelry design journey. I had spent two months at Penland School of Craft, learning the art of jewelry and developing a small collection of silver pieces for a show. We became friends, and I'm so glad we did! Nicole has witnessed my work evolve and has always been such a wonderful supporter, so I was thrilled to work with her on a bespoke project together.
It was truly an honor to create two pairs of bespoke earrings for Nicole's birthday this year. Her ever generous husband, Andrew, gifted these for her July celebration. I worked on both earring projects concurrently to deliver on time for her birthday gift. They both have such unique stories. For this newsletter, I'll share the story about the Halo Scintilla Shells.
Original Scintilla Shells in Silver from my SURF COLLECTION
These earrings are actually a design that I have in my SURF COLLECTION. Nicole had bought a pair in silver when I was doing a trunk show at Worthwhile. She loved the design and how comfortable they wear as long earrings.
In February, hanging out at Nicole and Andrew's gorgeous abode, the idea to create a new pair in yellow gold came up in conversation. The night before, we attended a dance by the late Pina Bausch, The Rite Of Spring/Common Ground(s), and I was admiring Nicole's lovely ring by Nada Ghazal. As part of its design, the ring is encrusted with tiny blue sapphires. I had an inspiration of a halo of tiny gemstones around the top shell in the scintilla design. Nicole loved the idea.
A model image from my website of the original Scintilla Shell Earrings.
A quick sketch with my Apple Pencil to show Nicole how the bespoke design would work
Always beach combing, I found the original shell for the scintilla design in Islamorada, FL
For both earring designs, I created paper models to show scale. This was the first time I've used paper models. I found them to be a very helpful visual for clients with my bespoke process. I will definitely add this step with my future design projects.
Hand-crafted paper models to scale
I took an awkward photo to show Nicole what it would look like on her ear. I made several paper models with varying numbers of shells, so that she could decide how many she wanted in the design. In agreement with the idea of odd numbers, we honed in on three to hang below the top halo shell.
Awkward photo
CAD rendering of the Halo Scintilla Shells
Even though I'd made the Scintilla Shells before, the bespoke version was more complex with the halo of gemstones. I made a test model in silver before casting all the parts in 18K yellow gold. I wanted to make sure all the parts worked well and maintained a comfortable wear, like the original design.
Silver test sample of Halo Scintilla Shell Earrings
18K yellow gold parts before assembly
In the beginning of the design project, I had proposed blue sapphires for the halo of gemstones to pair with Nicole's Nada Ghazal ring. My original sketch featured blue sapphires for both earring projects. After more discussion, we decided on a softer hued palette with lovely Montana peach sapphires for the halo of gemstones around the shell. The shell design is so subtle on its own, and the blue sapphires just seemed like they would overpower the scintilla's quiet texture. I'm so glad we chose these gorgeous peachy hues for the design.
Detail of Nicole's earrings with tiny peach sapphires
Before shipping the gift, I did a photo shoot. I chose a peachy palette involving sand, a ribbon and my neighbor's lovely ear.
Photo shoot behind the scenes
A peach ribbon from one of the dancer's costumes that was worn in "Lively Spite".
The dance premiered last fall during an artist-in-residency at Columbia College
I wanted to reference dance again in this story. Our friendship has roots with movement and jewelry. Nicole has seen my choreography, along with my jewelry designs over the years. I instinctively chose the peach ribbon as a prop to pair with the peach sapphires. She and Andrew are so supportive of the arts community. Their beautiful home is filled with art, and Nicole has such a discerning eye for adornment. She comes to mind with this line from my bio, In my creative process, the jewelry is the dancer and the wearer is the stage.
A still from Columbia College dance department's performance of "Lively Spite".
The dance is based on source material from Toni Morrison's Beloved.
Creating both sets of Nicole's birthday earrings were a fun and rewarding bespoke jewelry project. I'll be sharing the story of her other earrings in my next newsletter.
~bec
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