Petoskey Stone Necklace

This is my first ever lapidary project,  the architect for the downtown Battle Creek project found this stone when the first section of Main Street was dug up last spring.  I met her this summer and she asked if I could make a piece of jewelry out of it, at the time I was taking a class at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and they have some awesome lapidary equipment, this was a chance to learn how to use it.  The first thing I did was cut the stone in half so it wouldn't be so heavy and it would give me a flat area to work with.  Next the stone got polished with a series of progressively finer grinding wheels.  Once I was finished with all that it was easy to mount in a rustic tab style setting.  I added my trademark chain, made out of copper dug up from the same street, to the mix and a strip of adjustable leather strap to the back so it sits nice on the neck and can be adjusted for any neckline.  

Rustic Set Petoskey Stone Necklace By Tracy Bell

Rustic Set Petosky Stone Necklace by Tracy Bell