Plettenberg Shell Cuff, Made for Vered

Vered travels a great deal, and she rarely comes home empty handed. Walking along the beach at Plettenberg Bay in South Africa, she found this shell lying on the sand. It had grown with a natural curve, the same curve as the outside of a wrist, and when she brought it to my studio it was clear to both of us what it would become. A shell is not a stone. It is built from thin layers laid down over years, and it can crack from heat or from pressure in the wrong place. To join it to the gold I drilled into it slowly, without letting it heat up, and set a gold pin into the drilled hole. At one end the gold also wraps around the edge of the shell, holding it the way a hand would. The cuff is built so that none of the strain of wearing it falls on the points where shell meets gold. I carved the cuff in wax around the shell itself, shaping the band to follow its underside and wrap the wrist beneath it. Once the first design was ready, Vered came back to the studio to try the wax on, and we set the diameter together before I went any further. From the first wax to the finished piece, the work took about two and a half weeks. The cuff is made in 14K yellow gold, with polished lines running along the band and a brushed end where it turns at the back of the wrist. This piece was made for Vered and is not for sale. If you have brought something home from a place that matters to you, a shell, a stone, a piece of a beach, bring it to me and we will find out together what it can become. Details Made for: Vered, 2020 Shell: found by Vered on the beach at Plettenberg Bay, South Africa Metal: 14K yellow gold Setting: drilled and pinned with gold, the gold wrapping one edge of the shell Made by hand in wax around the shell, fitted on Vered's wrist before casting Time at the bench: about two and a half weeks Not for sale. Commissions by inquiry