Our humble planet and the multitude of geological oddities that surface through its slow evolution are quite astounding to the senses. Combining the art of lapidary and the science of geology opens an immense world of stratified colors, opacity, textures, and strange sounding names that end with the letters -ite; like hematite, malachite, and davidite.

To add color and embellishment to my chain designs, I have been wrapping semi-precious stones and minerals for the past four years, encasing hundreds of fine geological specimens to showcase each gem's uniqueness. I buy polished stones, but I am also an avid rock hound and prefer to wrap stones that I have found throughout the greater Northwest, ranging from green jade coming out of raging riverbanks, to striking quartz crystals found on the Cascade mountaintops.

I wrap stones according to the shape of the mineral and utilize several different wire-wrapping and blacksmithing techniques to change the aesthetics of the centerpiece. The wrapped stone centerpieces shown here range from $20 to $60, according to the mineral and time spent wrapping it.

The wrapped fossil seen at right has been especially designed with a detachable clasp top. This addition allows the centerpiece to be easily added or removed from any of my chain designs.