Mexican fire opal with sterling silver. Size 8.

The Designer:

After a two year apprenticeship with a silversmith. Samantha Goldberg launched her jewelry line in 2006. Sam Goldberg jewlery combines old-world silversmithing techniques with unusual natural rock formations. Every stone and setting is unique, making each piece 1/1 in an artist's series. The line of one of a kind creations has an edgy, other wordly aesthetic. Goldberg's work has been exhibited in Asia, Europe and North America.

Silversmithing:

Silversmithing has always been a time intensive art that requres a steady hand and a well trained eye. Many steps are invloved in designing a peice, which include cutting, heating, soldering, filling, chasing and polishing the finished product. This lengthy process requires a great deal of patience and concentration, as even the simplest forms can take hourst to create.

Druzy Quartz:

"Druzy" is a mineral with a coating of tiny crystals and is mined from caves in southern Brazil. Geodes with druzy are a small percentage of the mined stones and ones with fine crystal quality are even rater. Once the stones have been selectined for cutting , the outer rock is removed with as many as 18 saw cuts, leaving peices just thin enough to be set in jewlery. Copper, gold, platinum and titanium druzy occur when a rare high quality crysaline is vaporized in a vacuum chamber, leaving a permament coating. Druzy quartz is fragile; natural variations and imperfections are characteristic of the stones and should not be considered flaws.