Having my jewelry seen as pretty things to wear is fine, but I want to impart more depth into the pieces I create. To that end I often incorporate components of gemstones and fossils in my work. Whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, my belief is that creatures that inhabited the earth hundreds to millions of years ago represent a mystical connection to all things presently alive. Do you feel that way too?
These shark vertebra, ammonite, trilobite, and sea urchin fossils are far smaller than they appear in the above photo…the largest shark vertebra measures less than a half-inch in diameter so you can imagine how tiny the others are! They will be beautiful set in silver bezels! This collection is from Gary Wilson Lapidary (you can find him as rockhoundgaryb on Instagram). He’s at the Tucson Gem Show every February and various other venues, but thankfully he does mail order for those of us who can’t attend. I also have a collection of fossils on the way that I ordered from jewelsofthenomad.com. Susan Lenart Kazmer brought them back from her recent journey to Morocco. They’re in the mail now and I can hardly wait till they arrive!
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