Serene Blue Chalcedony

Last week’s post focused on rose quartz; this week I am looking at the second of Pantone’s colours of the year: Serenity. Pantone see these two colours in balance; the warmth of the rose quartz contrasting with the cool beauty of pale icy blue, perfectly realised by blue chalcedony. With its billowing translucency, this stone often glows as if lit from within. There are lots of examples on my Pinterest board; below are just a few that have caught my eye.

Pictured left is a pale blue chalcedony ring, set in solid sterling silver and oxidised to a dark, blackened finish. This is by Raphaela and Jenna of Fifth Heaven Designs, a team based in Brisbane, Australia, who love making interesting and quirky designs, and who specialise in one-off custom designs, hand-forged from silver and gold-fill. I love the edgy, industrial feel this ring has, the stark metal a perfect contrast with the soft blue of the stone.

Dana Evans of Dana Evans Studio is an architect-turned jeweller, who remains inspired by architectural forms and details; incorporating a love of shape and pattern into her work. Her silver and blue chalcedony Ravena earrings are part of her Etruria collection, part homage to the ancient Etruscans, who were masters of the art of granulation. You can see this technique in these earrings, which blend an ancient and modern aesthetic into a perfect harmony. I love the bold shapes and the contrast between bright silver highlights and oxidised background. Dana incorporates cast and hard-forged pieces into her hand-made work.

Bridget Clark takes her inspiration from primitive, industrial and organic forms which she simplifies into bold and striking pieces of wearable art. Pictured left are her sterling silver and Peruvian chalcedony long fob earrings; I love the matt silver finish and subtle elegance of these. Bridget states that she aims for a subtle asymmetry in her work, for interest and movement and I think this works perfectly, challenging the eye and the brain. Bridget makes all of her pieces herself and is constantly experimenting with shape and form.

I absolutely love mokume gane, and you don’t see alot of it about. That is most likely because it is a challenging, technical and precise technique, but Chris Ploof Designs specialises in it. It involves the bonding of many metals which can then be bent, twisted, cut, rolled, ground down or shaped with punches and chisels. These are then rolled out, to reveal the intricate, curving patterns. This hollow construction silver, 14 carat gold and white gold ring with blue chalcedony takes my breath away, the white metal acting as a perfect complement to the cool, blue stone.