Looking through one’s jewelry box can be a trip down memory lane~underneath the sophisticated jewels you now possess is the ring your first boyfriend gave you, the simple strand of pearls you wore to graduation all those years ago, or in this case a pair of early 1990s yellow, gold, and black onyx earrings.
When my friend and client uncovered these relics from her past, she decided to keep the onyx and scrap the gold, which we applied as a credit lowering the cash outlay for the current job. She had the idea to make a jeweled pendant/brooch combination with the onyx holding center stage.
The design cycle was intricate and all the work was done via email. Initially, we started with all golden citrine in combination with the black onyx center.
My friend had other citrine jewels in her collection and loved its sunny neutrality. However, once all the citrines were laid out next to the onyx center, the piece had no pop! I felt that mixing the shapes and combining the cool, glacial blue topaz with the citrine’s sunny temperament would give this re-purposed onyx the life it needed. And it did!
Bringing my client’s vision to life, I created a design that would allow this pendant to transform into a brooch, adding balancing pins allowing it to lay flat, brooch-style and rest comfortably. The pendant is designed as a clip-on so it can be worn on a black cord, gold chain or pearls – even black onyx or rock crystal beads.
This is truly recycling at its best and most clever. One stone, re-purposed to create not one, but two jewels for all seasons. The diversity of colors used in the jewel allows the wearer many wardrobing options ~ depending upon the design, it can be worn with the client’s other citrine and blue topaz pieces and with other jewels in Cynthia Renee’s Icy Pastels® and Tropic Color Palettes®.
Custom made 18 karat yellow gold brooch/pendant featuring center black onyx accented by four blue topaz weighing 13.01 carats, eight citrine weighing 0.77 carats and four black onyx weighing 1.95 carats.
