Time for Cocktails

Look, look! I actually remembered to photograph a magazine project before sending it off to the magazine! This is my project in Beads and Beyond this month. It's the magazine's 50th issue this month so one of the themes that we were given to get our creative juices going was the 1950s - a time when jewellery was big, blog, and glamerous. Cocktail rings were very fashionable, so I designed this ring with a rose cut smoky quartz cabochon set in ornate gallery wire. It gives the sparkle that a faceted stone in a prong or claw setting would have, but it's much easier to make - and, of course, it uses my favourite stone. Gallery wire comes in a wide range of designs, and the most important tip to remember when cutting it is to make sure that your two cut ends match up perfectly so that the pattern contimues seamlessly around the bezel. Cut the wire slightly too small if necessary and then enlarge it on a triblet for a perfect fit.