Wired Double Spiral Coil Pendant

I really like the double spiral coil and depending on what mandrel it’s coiled on, you can make it just about any size to fit any project. In these two designs I’ve spiraled on a large mandrel to get a both a medium and large focal pendent.

Designed in all natural Chinese turquoise, the center a medium double coil spiral is hand wired in silver non-tarnish wire. I’ve included a few smooth polished tube silver tone pewter beads as accents.

The colors of the turquoise are so striking, when I saw this strand in Tucson I just new that it would turn into something incredible. The mix of green mixed with rust, black, brown, toffee, and a hint of blue in some stones cut in a flat disk shape carry very well with this necklace.

This one is I’ve done the same double coil spiral a little larger than the first, also created in silver non-tarnish wire, again as the focal pendant. The necklace is then made from blue magnesite barrels and lampwork beads that are toffee background with red swish marks and silver tone pewter beads.

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Idaho’s Gem Owyhee Picture Jasper

Called King of the Picture Jasper Owyhee Jasper is colorful and popular picture jasper that probably derives its name from the Owyhee River. This material has been offered under several trade names including Owyhee Jasper Agate, Owyhee Junction Jasper, Owyhee Picture Jasper, and Owyhee Picture Rock.

Owyhee Jasper is basically petrified mud. There are three jasper mines within a mile of each other, the LED, Wildhorse and Rocky Butte. The Classic Owyhee Jasper has a wide variety of patterns and shapes. The jasper is known for its bright colored scenic patterns with and without blue sky. This jasper depicts desert scenes, high mountain ranges, winding roads and meadows or even the seas.

Where does Owyhee Picture Jasper Come From?

Owyhee Picture Jasper comes from the Owyhee mountain area, situated on the Idaho-Oregon border, along US 95 just south of Homedale Idaho. The Owyhee River begins in northern Nevada and flows north close to the Oregon - Idaho border. It eventually empties into the Snake River just south of Nyssa, Oregon, about 25 miles northwest of Jordan Valley, Oregon.

The river abruptly turns east for several miles, makes several loops and then turns north again. It finally flows into the Owyhee Reservoir. This is Eastern Oregon's high desert country in Malheur County and even spills over into Humboldt County, Nevada. Many types of picture jasper, plume agate, petrified wood, rhyolite, colored agates and saginites come from all these areas.

Owyhee picture jasper is a natural wonder depicting the great beauty of the earth it was born in.

This design features the famous Idaho gem, owyhee picture jasper in smooth polished rounds; the have been drilled on the diagonal to form the overlap, making designing with these types of cuts very difficult! I’ve hung a large puffy crystal heart in a light beige and the bail is many hand charmed crystal clusters, which area also in a few places in the necklace.

 

 

  

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Research material from mineralsnmore.com.