The pendant hanging from the chain on a light background: silver sphere, amethyst and morganite in a row

Collection Creazioni in Argento·Pendente

Sterling silver pendant with oval cabochon morganite and faceted amethyst, chain included

Name: Sterling silver pendant with oval cabochon morganite and faceted amethyst, chain included
Brand: Anna Gioielli
SKU: C61pum1morg
Price: 210.0 EUR
Availability: InStock

Forty-four millimeters of pendant, and the morganite cabochon takes up more than half of it.

€210,00 C61pum1morg

Drawn and built by hand at the bench, in Tosi.

The pendant hangs from the chain in three pieces in a row. The first is a silver sphere threaded onto the chain, rough and matt, with a grainy surface and a small round hollow at the center, like a worn pebble. Below, hanging from a ring, a faceted oval amethyst held by four claws: it is the small stone, and it is also the only one of the two that sparkles. At the bottom, attached directly beneath the amethyst, the largest: an oval morganite cabochon closed inside a continuous silver sheet setting that runs all the way round its outline, beaten over the edge of the dome and left polished. The pink is pale and milky, held together by white veils that show against the light, and the dome sends out no sparks but a single long reflection that moves as you move. Between the bright violet of the small stone and the pale pink of the large one there is no gradation: they are the two extremes of the same color, mounted one against the other.

Forty-four millimeters of pendant, on a round-link chain of forty-six centimeters included in the price; fourteen grams ten of silver at nine hundred and twenty-five thousandths, and the company states that weight once only, without saying whether it includes the chain. Morganite and amethyst belong to two families with nothing in common: the first is beryl, like emerald, and its pink comes from manganese; the second is quartz, and its purple comes from iron. That they end up next to each other is a choice of color, not of kinship. The morganite is cut as a cabochon and not faceted, and that is not an economy: the pink of beryl shows through the thickness the light crosses, so the stone is cut tall and full, because on a thin slab that color would disappear. The carat weight of the two stones is not stated, and we do not add it.

The material

Weights and carats as the workshop declares them.

14,10 gramsSilver 925‰

Round-link chain, 46 cm — included Silver, fineness not stated

Metals: Silver 925‰
Finish: Grainy, matt sphere; polished setting, claws and chain
Dimensions: Pendant height 44 mm · chain 46 cm
Technique: Made by hand: the silver sphere left grainy with a small round hollow at the center, the amethyst set on four claws, the morganite closed inside a continuous sheet setting beaten over the outline of the dome, the two elements joined by a jump ring and hung below the sphere. Round-link chain included, made up at forty-six centimeters.

The stones

Morganite

At the foot of the pendant, inside a closed setting

Cut: Oval cabochon
Note: Stated natural by the company; the carat weight is not stated

Amethyst

Between the silver sphere and the morganite

Cut: Faceted oval, on four claws
Note: Stated natural by the company; the cut is not stated and is read off the photographs; the carat weight is not stated

Resting against a white stone, in three-quarter view: the light veils inside the dome of the morganite

On marble steps: the round-link chain and the grainy sphere above the amethyst

Side view, the pendant lying down: the height of the dome and the polished band of the bezel

On a dry branch: the bright purple of the amethyst above the pale pink of the morganite

Close front shot: the four prongs on the amethyst and the pushed-over edge of the bezel

How it is made

The words of the trade, one by one, explained to those who do not know them.

Morganite: Morganite is beryl, the same mineral species as emerald and aquamarine: what changes is the impurity locked in the lattice, and here it is manganese, which tints the crystal a pink running from peach to lilac. The name is twentieth century and comes from a gem collector, J. P. Morgan. The pink is almost always pale, and the color shows through the thickness the light crosses: that is why morganite is cut into large stones, or cut down as a cabochon, whereas on a thin stone the pink disappears. Most of what is on the market is heated, a stable treatment that removes the orange component and leaves the pink clean. In hardness it sits between seven and a half and eight and stands up to wear, but like all beryls it can have veils and fractures inside, and on those a sharp knock does more damage than the hardness would lead you to expect.
Amethyst: Amethyst is purple quartz, and the purple does not come from a pigment: it comes from a few atoms of iron that ended up in the lattice in place of silicon and were then struck by the natural radiation of the rock. That is why the color is almost never laid on evenly — it arranges itself in zones and bands, deeper on one side and paler on the other — and orienting the stone properly on the lap is exactly what spreads it out. It is as hard as citrine, seventh degree, and it is worn every day with no care against scratches; but that purple is the most delicate thing it has. A strong, continuous light fades it, and heat wipes it out altogether: an amethyst heated enough turns yellow, and that is how a good part of the citrine on the market is born. Purple once lost does not come back.
Cabochon cut: No facets: the stone is cut down and polished into a continuous dome. It is not the easiest cut, it is the cut that hides least — on a smooth surface every undulation reads with the naked eye, whereas among facets it is lost. And the light does not come back in sparks: it goes in, crosses the thickness and comes back up carrying the color with it, so what you look at is the color and not the fire.
Closed sheet setting: The setting does not hold the stone with tabs: it is a continuous silver band, soldered all round the base, which is beaten over the edge of the dome until it covers it by a hair all the way round. The band has to be cut to the exact size of the cabochon before it is closed — a tenth too wide leaves the stone rattling, too narrow and it will not go in — and it is beaten over turning gradually, never one side at a time, because forcing it on one side lifts the gem on the other. There is one more risk than with claws: here the edge of the setting is all the metal you see around the stone, so a blow out of place stays on show, and to remove it you would have to file away the very sheet that is holding it.

I don't look at what others are doing: I would rather create in my own style. That is what makes our jewelry recognizable.
Fabio Gori — Anna Gioielli, Tosi

Made for you

Every piece leaves the bench made to order: sizes and details are agreed before the work begins.

The goldsmith's workshop is also the place where made-to-measure jewellery is created and family pieces are restored: if you have an idea, or something you want brought back to how it was, that is where it starts.

Ask for a made-to-measure piece

Made by

Anna Gioielli

A goldsmith's workshop in Tosi, on the slopes of the Pratomagno: Anna opened it in 1988, her sons Fabio and Francesco carry it on. Piercing, repoussé, chasing and burin engraving — the Florentine school, with the workshop in full view of the shop.

All the creations by Anna Gioielli