The stone that started it all!

Happy New Year !  May 2010 be a happy and healthy year for everyone.                                                                                                           This natural ruby is the stone that set me on the bath to jewelry design.  I set it in sterling silver rather than gold as I think the silver sets off the color of the stone better.  As you can see the stone is opaque and not at all perfect, but that is what I love about it.  My husband found it for me and had it cabbed at the mine then sent to me.  I has taken me 6 months to decide and learn how to set it.  I wanted to design the setting myself, but needed to learn how to do it before I could.  It is very busy with curls and silver beads, but that is the way it turned out when I set it.  I am not a designer who will ever draw a design and then create the piece.  As I work with a stone it decides how it shall be set.