I already wrote about the garnet man brooch that is January’s Jewel of the Month on Monday, but here it is again! I can’t resist, because Monica Stephenson — ANZA Gems founder, garnet provider, and customer — shared the brooch on Instagram, and I’m amused by her caption.
While I was the one who asked Monica to measure her husband Dave’s suit lapels to determine the size of the brooch, I hadn’t really imagined her in his closet, with a measuring tape, being all sneaky, like …
… and now that I have that image in my mind, I can’t stop laughing about it. I do manage to get many of my clients acting stealthy!
Separately, I’ve found a few more photos of the brooch as a work in progress. Here’s the sketch of the version that called for more spokes …
… a wax model of the final, streamlined design …
… and the 18K white gold plate that sits behind the garnet.
I also want to give a shout-out to Peter Torraca of Torraca Gemcutting — he’s the one that carved this beautiful faceted gem out a hunk of garnet rough.
Peter obviously didn’t get his hands on the small rough spinels and garnets used in my ANZA PURE x Wendy Brandes collaboration with Monica. (Sorry, Peter!) Monica shared a new photo of some of the single stud earrings from ANZA PURE today.
POW! She went for ALL the color there. More necklaces — including a lariat style — for ANZA Pure will be finished soon. Stay tuned!