Necklace in 18K Gold set with Bisbee Turquoise

Necklace by Sam Patania

Bisbee turquoise is one of my favorite stones to work in.  a career filled with amazing things to work with Bisbee is at the top. Natural high grade Bisbee, the deep blue with red matrix is very hard to come by. Treated Bisbee is very available but natural is rare. When want to make signature pieces in turquoise I work with Bisbee.

My grandfather’s influence on this design is unmistakable. He was the master of the floral spray necklace. I often wonder how his work would be viewed if he worked in 18K gold. As an apprentice I felt that a silversmith was not as valued as a gold or platinum smith by the public. I could be the best silversmith on the planet and people would still ask if I worked in gold. So I taught myself goldsmithing. I love working gold.

Bruce Mead bisbeerockman@embarqmail.com started coming into my store years ago with Bisbee turquoise. Bruce had the best Bisbee I have ever seen and still does. Bruce is a master lapidary and he gets the best Bisbee to work with, a winning combination for me. Bisbee is hard to match into sets but Bruce was able to come up with the set pictured above and I had to make the necklace.

This necklace sold right away to a collector of my family’s work. Selling this piece to someone who knows turquoise was very satisfying. My gold work placed the stones in the order they are in but the stone had to be great to have the effect I wanted.

Tagged as: Bisbee, Bruce Mead, Gold, My Jewelry Designs : from Inspiration to Construction, necklace, pantania, Patania, Patania Jewelry, turquoise