untamed
Robin Callahan
What was your inspiration for this piece?
This commission was with a rare 159 ct Himalayan Topaz. I was given complete creative freedom and immediately envisioned this gem being gripped in talons.
Tell us about the creation process including any obstacles overcome or surprises.
First working with such a large gem is a challenge and I knew the design had to stick close to the gem so it wasn’t much larger. I was thrilled my design concept would work and I could focus on the details. For this particular design, I literally saw all elements clearly in my head before even sketching. Everything about it just worked and came together.
My process was to move from hand sketches to CAD 3 D and then grow a mold for casting. The mold doesn’t always work the first time on a big piece but I got lucky and it did. Casting went smoothly and there’s 30 grams of 14 k white gold and hundreds of rubies and diamonds. I would say the most challenging part of this pendant was setting all the diamonds and rubies in the bale. The second most challenging part was getting the extreme claw prongs to lay smoothly as there’s a lot of gold to move. Each challenge was a bit stressful but so gratifying when accomplished.
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Robin started her jewelry journey at the BARN in June 2014. She has won BEST JEWELER from Best of Bainbridge for 4 years in a row and has been featured in Lapidary Journal and In Color Magazine by the International Association of Colored Gems. Her commissions include cutting a sapphire for the Somewhere in the Rainbow Collection, University of Arizona Gem and Mineral Museum. She has been chosen to be one of the 100 Women in Jewelry featuring top women Jewelers from around the world in a book and a series of Museum Exhibitions starting at Sotheby’s in New York.
Robin started her jewelry journey at the BARN in June 2014. She has won BEST JEWELER from Best of Bainbridge for 4 years in a row and has been featured in Lapidary Journal and In Color Magazine by the International Association of Colored Gems. Her commissions include cutting a sapphire for the Somewhere in the Rainbow Collection, University of Arizona Gem and Mineral Museum. She has been chosen to be one of the 100 Women in Jewelry featuring top women Jewelers from around the world in a book and a series of Museum Exhibitions starting at Sotheby’s in New York.