YOJ Week 25: Wire and Gemstone Flower Ring

Gemstone Flower Ring

I could be getting addicted to these little gemstone flowers.  They are so much fun to make and sooooo cute!

I made similar flowers in these gemstone flower earrings and these ombre amethyst gemstone earrings.  The idea for this ring came from an extra component that I made for both of those earrings.  (That's a story for another day I suppose - I often forget to make the earrings reverse instead of exactly the same so that's how I have those extras).

Meeting the Challenge(s)

I used this ring for my Year of Jewelry Challenge (week 25) as well as the Color Combo Challenge on Facebook.  Combining a color challenge with a jewelry challenge is fabulous! 

I view the Year of Jewelry challenge as my commitment to continue expanding my skills and keep practicing - while the color challenge continues to push me to explore color combinations that I might not otherwise.  

I will definitely use this color palette again though.  It is so rich and elegant - and perfectly suited to using gemstones.  The list of gemstone options for these colors was fabulous.  Tourmaline, grey moonstone, my favorite labradorite, zircon, grey diamonds, peridot, garnet, ruby - I'm sure I could find more and more in my stash.

Gemstone Flower Ring Details

This ring uses 24g gold filled wire to wrap carnelian petals around what I believe is a silver grey zircon center.  The leaves are gorgeous light green peridot.  I was going to leave it at that, but my daughter thought it felt 'unbalanced' so I added the garnet - which is meant to be a flower bud. 

Of course, I love the ring and I goofed on the sizing and made it too big!  Just a little too big.  I'm considering wrapping the band with 20g wire to make it more substantial and also a little smaller.

The color palette