ask Dave West: The Jewelry Expert

Octobers Birthstones – Opal or Tourmaline

October has two of my very favorite gemstones for birthstones – Opals and Tourmalines.

  Tourmalines occur in a wide range of colors including some new earth tones.

   

Opals , like many gemstones, occur in a wider array of colors and varieties than are   popularly known. One of my personal loves is fire opal.   
 

David West Nytch CGA  www.westandcompany.com

Octobers Jewelry Design of the Month

October’s design is a pendant with a custom cut red-green bolder opal set in 18k yellow gold and platinum with 0.75Ct total weight of diamond accents. 

David West Nytch CGA  www.westandcompany.com  

Designing Jewelry Part 2

We are all products of our experiences. Our outlook on life, opinions and perception of what is going on around us is shaped to a very great degree by our past experiences and as unique as every individual.

Early in my freshman year at the School for American Crafts the class was given a design exercise to create a vessel using a pyramid. At first I remember thinking this was kind of a simplistic assignment for such a prestigious school – I mean how much is there to a pyramid!

Being nineteen - and stupid as only a nineteen year old male can be - I went storming into my professors office to demand a more challenging assignment. My professor calmly listened to my somewhat righteous tirade and just as calmly told me “I didn’t say what KIND of pyramid – you go think for a while”.

Our class was small – only thirteen kids – and when critique time came I will never forget the lesson I learned and what my professor was trying to tell me – is that thirteen people will have thirteen answers to the same question.

No photo was ever taken of my pyramid vessel – it was only a design exercise – but here is a computer render I made thirty years later from memory.

Speaking about being young and stupid – I ran across this hilarious video of Craig Ferguson on the subject:

Thanks to my blogging mentors Yvonne DiVita (Lip-Sticking) and Tom Collins (Books, Blogs, and Beyond) for pointing me to the video.

David West Nytch CGA www.westandcompany.com

Septembers Jewelry Design of the Month

 

 

This months ring is something a little different – we call it “The Twist”.

The center diamond is a 1.00Ct (one carat) along with 0.40Ct total weight of diamonds on the sides.

 

David W. Nytch CGA www.westandcompany.com