Silver and carnelian fire ring

Handmade silver and carnelian ring with a 10mm beautiful carnelian and a sculpted fire design in size T.

Towards the end of last year, I found the 2 boxes of gemstones in the most atrocious jumbled mess still waiting to be unpacked since we moved to Dorset nearly three years ago. Some of them I’m very sure I can date to sitting in my collection for fifteen years. A meticulous evening was spent sorting each stone into a binder organised into colour, variety and size. This may sound boring to most but for a gem nerd like me, sorting lots of tiny sparkly things into stone type, size and colour with a bottle of red on the side and a supply of snacks and I’m as happy as a pig in mud.

Now what to do with them? I can’t continue to let them gather dust so an idea formulated. I would pick a stone from each page in the binder in turn and make a ring for it. A new ring for each week of the year, 52 rings in total. Why? Because I know me and if I don’t set myself a task they will linger again and they are too beautiful to remain hidden any longer. They need to be worn and loved.

Like the first 2 stones so far this year, carnelian is not a rare gem. It is very popular however due to its stunning deep colour. Carnelian can be found in the UK and on the Lincolnshire coast there used to be a beach known locally as carnelian bay because it was such a good place to pick up carnelian pebbles. Initially I intended to use one larger stone accompanied by two small stones on each side. On the day I was due to start the ring however I started to think of the stone as sun like and then went on to envision the stone as a fireball and by the time I had sat down at the bench, the design of the flames bursting from the stone had already seeded in my head.