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If you have followed Gary Glandon's jewelry for very long you may have noticed that he loves using textures in his silverwork. He often adds a texture to his pieces in order to liven them up with a bit of extra detail. However, he has taken this to the extreme with a new turquoise pendant and ring. The pendant alone has eight separate sections that include a combination of three unique textures. Let's jump into this profoundly interesting turquoise jewelry.
While writing blogs and descriptions for our turquoise jewelry I sometimes find myself sticking to a similar template. Typically, I will tell you about the stones before anything else. More often than not the stone is the focal point or the star of the show, if you will. With this jewelry, I am going to change things up because the silverwork is so unique and interesting. That's not to say that the turquoise in these pieces is not beautiful. It is the same high-grade turquoise that you are used to in Gary's work. The difference here is that Gary put a lot of time and thought into creating a style that is so distinctly original that it deserves to be at the head of this article.
Gary recently finished this turquoise pendant and ring. As I mentioned above, Gary used eight separate silver sections that surround the stones. Each of these was made one at a time and soldered on top. Gary created these textures using different tools that he has at his disposal. Two of the three textures were made by using hammers that are specially designed for this purpose. As crude as it may sound, you actually pound the silver until the area is filled. By impacting the surface of the metal you ensure that the design makes a lasting impression that will not wear away anytime soon. The other texturing that resembles pockmarks, is just that, pockmarks. Gary has a particular tool with a pointed tip on the end. This tool causes the point to oscillate very quickly which leaves pockmarks in the silver. It’s amazing what sort of textures and designs you can create with different tools.
Gary used textured silver sections to surround this beautiful Kingman turquoise stone.
Once Gary had all of these different sections finished he soldered each in place. He has been soldering silver for so long that even if you closely inspect the edges you cannot tell where the pieces were joined. This takes a great deal of care and years of practice. I cannot tell you how many times we have seen jewelry with shoddy soldering jobs. Gary always pays close attention to detail, even with something that few would ever notice. You may notice on the ring that Gary added extra texturing to the shank. He left an area near the top plain while texturing the bottom. I really enjoy contrasting sections like this. I think that it gives the turquoise ring a more contemporary look as opposed to texturing the entire shank. As you can tell, Gary put a lot of thought into the silverwork with these pieces.
This ring is packed full of textured detailing. Even its shank has been engraved and textured. You can't help but notice that lovely Kingman turquoise stone as well.
Now we come to the beautiful turquoise stones that are set in this pendant and ring. They are both from the Kingman turquoise mine, which is located in Arizona. You will see Gary use a lot of Kingman turquoise in his work. This is because the Kingman mine is such a large operation and it is the last major mine left operating in the United States. Because of its large size, there is a vast range of quality that comes from the Kingman turquoise mine. You can find very inexpensive stones that require stabilization all the way up to very high-grade and expensive material. These two stones come from one of Gary’s favorite sources for high-grade turquoise. He considers their material some of the most beautiful that is currently available. Both of these pieces of turquoise jewelry have stones with lovely blue coloring and an intricate matrix. As with most of Gary’s stones, these have beautiful colors and a whole lot of character. Turquoise jewelry is not exactly a rarity but this quality certainly is. You do not see this level of material often and, if you do, they tend to cost a lot more than what Gary charges.
On a slight side note, let me briefly explain my thought process with this jewelry. When I add jewelry to our website I am required to create titles for each piece. Ideally, each piece of jewelry will have its own unique name that is never repeated. This helps with some of the backend website functions, such as linking and URL creation. Admittedly, I sometimes violate this rule simply because of how difficult it can be to name hundreds of pieces of jewelry, even those that are as unique and exclusive as what we carry. Sometimes an inspiration immediately comes to mind and other times I have to give it some thought. The first thing that came to mind with this turquoise jewelry is wood. Somewhere in the chaos that is my subconscious, a little voice whispered that the texturing and shape of these pieces, the pendant in particular, resembled that of a tree stump. Unfortunately, no matter how I mulled it over in my mind, I simply could not make a tree stump sound elegant or sexy. That is why I stuck with something more rudimentary.
I love this pendant. It's styling is unlike anything I have seen before. All of its elements seem to coexist in such a perfect way.
That just about wraps up this article about Gary’s new multi-textured turquoise ring and pendant. If you are interested in this sort of design you should check out the large cuff bracelet that he made not long ago. This Silver Bar Bracelet has a similar style to the two pieces of jewelry that were discussed in this article. It was Gary's first iteration of this multi-textured styling. Together, these three pieces would make quite a stunning jewelry set. Furthermore, you are not likely to see anything like this elsewhere. When Gary first showed me these new pieces he proudly told me that it was a style that he had never seen from any other artist. You are I are the real benefactors when Gary gets really creative. We love seeing his beautiful creations!
See more of Gary Glandon's Turquoise Jewelry right here on our website. Stop in to Stagecoach, if you are able, to see much more jewelry than what is shown on our website.
Onward,
Skylar Glandon
Skylar Glandon
Author