Jackie bought this pendant when she fell in love with the unusual purple turquoise gemstone, even though she isn't really a necklace person. Instead of letting the piece languish in her jewelry box, she contacted me about transforming her sterling silver pendant into a simple bezel ring.
I hadn't encountered this type of purple turquoise before, so I did a little research. It appears that purple turquoise is often an altered, treated form of turquoise. Red and purple resin is combined with turquoise, and sometimes pyrite or other metallic elements are mixed in as well. You can see the golden streaks highlighted throughout this gemstone.
Since I suspected that this stone had been treated with resin, I proceeded with caution. After removing the jump ring and bail, I designed a simple shank that could be lasered onto the existing bezel. Lasering the pieces together instead of soldering means that the stone wouldn't come in contact with high heat, which could potentially damage the stone.
The finished piece is a simple, beautiful bezel ring that Jackie added to her everyday stack of rings.
xo,
Christine