Happy Winter Wonderland!

There was a dusting of snow last night in NYC. I was in winter wonderland mode this morning with my porcelain animal figurines from my childhood, sharing space with a honeycomb pattern soldering block from my jewelry bench. I’m not much for holiday decorating, so here’s my minimalist attempt at holiday decor.

In time for the gift season, I have launched my shop on the website. I just had a wonderful photoshoot to include products from the Manlier Collection- a new line for the rough and tumble man or edgy woman.

http://shop.allthingsbec.com/Manlier-Collection_c6.htm

Holiday Cheer!  -bec

I’m excited to be included as a designer in a very cool store, END OF CENTURY in NYC. Check them out. www.endofcenturynyc.com

To document my latest work, I recently had a wonderful photoshoot with a very talented photographer, Alex Minkin- www.alexminkin.com

Here’s a few images of some chunky new rings I’m making for men and/or women.

It wasn’t so easy getting these rings to stack up like a totem pole, but I love the resulting image.

Gouged Wood Ring is what I’m calling this style. I’m making a few pieces with this same texture that is inspired by my daily walks in the woods of Central Park with my dog, Ramona.

Glacier Ring is the name for this texture and shape that is inspired by elements found in both ice, rock and also wood. I’ve designed some other pieces with this same texture. The shape of this new ring is similar to an older design I used to fabricate in metal called the Pinch Ring.

Relic Ring with embedded shark tooth and anchor.  I was thinking about fossils and how shells have hitchhikers of other shells that have attached themselves. I also wanted to use my shark tooth in a chunky ring that a man would want to wear, but I knew my original shark tooth was too delicate. This ring is certainly not delicate. The anchor found it’s way into the design in the later stage of the wax carving process.

Gritty Heart Ring in yellow gold.

Tiny Conch Ring in yellow gold.

Nautilus Shell Ring with emerald in yellow gold.

Bird Nest Ring with chocolate diamond in yellow gold.

Sand Dollar Ring in peach gold.

Right now, I’m working on some new designs for men. I’m still in the wax carving stage, but hope to have some pieces cast in the next couple of weeks.

Since I’m thinking a lot about jewelry for men,  I decided to include some old designs. The rings below are a small selection of custom wedding bands I’ve made for guys.

Rough faceted file marked band. Shown in yellow gold with an antique finish.

The client had made a temporary ring from a washer at a hardware store that he wrapped in rafia. He wanted the custom ring to be similar to his original. Shown in silver with a patina finish.

This custom ring is made for a client that is a green builder. He wanted a ring that looked like a nut that he’d use in his own design projects.  This client was featured in Charleston Magazine and he said my ring is one of his favorite things. That’s so awesome! Shown in white gold.

Custom three ring band. This ring was designed to compliment the bride’s wedding set I made that had several thin stacking rings in different gold hues. Shown in silver.

I call this my doily ring, but that doesn’t sound very masculine. I call it that because the wedding ring for the bride did look like a doily. Her ring was tiny open circles that linked together and very delicate like a doily. His ring is very sturdy and not delicate. Shown in white gold.

My next posting will have some pictures of the bridal rings I’ve been referencing.

I’ve been thinking a lot about all of the custom designs I’ve been doing since 2003. Over the past seven years, I have been working with clients in a very unique and intimate process of transforming their past objects into a renewed and cherished object. Each client has a story, a history and a sentimental attachment to their past objects- whether it’s a former wedding ring, a tennis bracelet or capped tooth. There’s a greener “PastYour” (pasture) for their repurposed past object.

I thoroughly enjoy this intimate exchange with my clients and have always wanted to find an avenue of communication to tell others about this process. It’s green and it’s full of sentiment. I encourage you to take a good look at your own past objects and their potential for a new life. This will be the first of many entries on my stories of past objects transformations so please stay tuned.

These stacking rings of white gold and antiqued yellow gold with bezel set diamonds were originated from a client’s former platinum wedding band which housed all three diamonds.

The gold utilized to make this wedding set was from a client’s family gold. The couple had inherited gold on both sides of the family and requested it be used for both of their rings. The bride did not want to have diamonds at all and really wanted an opal. They are very fragile and not the best choice for an everyday ring. With my suggestion that it’s a little heartier, she settled on a pretty moonstone instead.

The silver that was used to make this ring was from a silver ring the groom used to ask his bride to marry him with. The original silver ring was a square shape. The bride wanted this ring to be worn on her right hand to compliment the above moonstone ring set. The stone is called a rutilated quartz and comes in many varieties of colors and striations.

All the gold in this ring is made from the bride and groom’s family heirlooms on each side like the moonstone ring set. The texture design is created with a rough file in the wax carving stage before it’s cast. This is the first ring the groom ever wore and he wanted it to be very comfortable. That is usually the only request I get from my groom clients.

This client, an old family friend of my parents had a big blue topaz that she had always wanted set into a pendant. The stone is quite large and angular. The hand carved setting has 3 prongs made from rose thorns to hold the topaz. All of the gold made for the wax carved setting was from past objects of gold from the client, including her uncle’s gold cap tooth! The tooth was still attached when she mailed it to me. What a surprise opening that package! I torched the tooth to get the gold to melt off which worked, but produced a not so pleasant burnt smell.

This client found about my nature inspired jewelry designs featured in Garden & Gun Magazine. He commissioned me to create a symbolic piece to celebrate his victory over lymphatic cancer. He’s a big hunter, so I chose to use this megoladon shark tooth from the waters of Charleston, SC. It’s not as big as some megoladon teeth out there- they can get really big, but it’s still a very strong symbol. On the back is engraved “NED” -an acronym for No Evidence Of Disease.  I loved doing this project. All of the gold used is from objects from his past. He was in a place of transformation and I was so happy to be able to create an object to assist him in this process.

The creation of the snake ring was a commissioned request from a client that had traveled to Greece and saw an ancient snake ring she liked and wanted me to created something similar to represent the strength she found within herself. She was no longer in a marriage and I used her former wedding rings to make this piece in it’s entirety. It was a very challenging project. This carved object is one of my favorites and it turned out so beautiful and strong- just like the client herself.

The same client had another platinum vintage wedding set. Her request was to use all of it in a necklace and earrings. This is the original delicate filigree prong setting for a fairly large diamond. I repaired some damaged prongs and added the bail for the white and gold cable chain to go thru. It’s a shorter necklace that rests in the delicate notch between the collar bone. The rest of the original ring had 2 tiers of tiny diamonds like little steps on either side of the large diamond. The tiny diamond tiers are attached to posts. I cut the shank in half and bent it to a curved shape to complete the look of small hoops or cuffs.  They are everyday small earrings. She wears them all the time. I don’t have a picture unfortunately.

This is a grouping of several custom rings and pearls that are all repurposed designs. Bespoke service jewelry- where I reuse client’s old fine jewelry into new high-end luxury pieces. Reusing the stones, fine metal and restringing pearls. Something old is now something new.

4 tiny rubies set in a clover pattern. Repurposed yellow gold and rubies.

Blue topaz bezel set ring in 14k peach gold.

Diamond cocktail ring using all repurposed diamonds and gold. 14k Peach gold hand carved and cast ring. Hand carved 14k white gold bezel for large diamond. Small diamonds are bead set.

Peach gold hand carved and cast dinner ring with mandarine garnet and diamonds. Repurposed materials with the exception of garnet.

I think I’ve already shown a picture of this ring, but thought it appropriate with the high-end grouping on the black sand. The stone is a rutilated quartz set in a vintage style hand carved prong setting. Cast in 14k peach gold.

Restrung pearls with handmade ball clasp. Incorporating client’s old diamonds into the design to go with her pearls.

I’ve now finally made the big move to NYC and am fairly organized. Here’s a couple of pictures of my jewelry studio. I also made my goal on Kickstarter and have successfully raised money to build an e-commerce component to my website. Soon, my wares will be for sale!

The white and black 10 drawer cabinet on the far right, I refinished before my move. I love how it turned out. I knew it would serve me well as an organizing vessel with all those drawers. It was well worth the effort.

To the right of the grinding wheel is my soldering station. I’ve already finished a custom job that needed to get done. The soldering station along with the rest of the studio is already being put to use.

First finished piece in my new NYC studio.

I’m moving back to NYC! This changes my original Kickstarter video, “Casting Call for Jewelry Designer”.  I no longer need to raise money to buy casting equipment- there are plenty of casting houses in NYC along with a jewelry district that I’m very excited about.

My new Kickstarter video, “Seeds of Change” is now launched. Please check it out and help me to successfully reach my project goal in time to raise money for an e-commerce site. That way, you can actually see all of my jewelry and find the perfect piece to buy for yourself or someone that will love it.

The link to my Kickstarter project is on the bottom right. Thanks for watching.

This is a fancy, but also earthy cocktail ring. Sculpted in wax and  hand cast in peach gold with a sand blast finish. The small diamonds are bead set and the large diamond sits in a hand carved white gold bezel. The cut out center part of the ring was made from a button I’d found and made a mold of. All of the materials are repurposed from client’s old gold and diamonds.