Coral Reef Pendant

A branch of coral, forked and tapering, keeping the natural form rather than being cut to a symmetry. It is the subject of the piece, and everything else in the pendant answers to it.

The stones are set onto the branch as things living on it. Colombian emerald in octagon cut at the tips, ruby in oval and round beside it, orange sapphire in small rounds low on a limb. They sit where the coral allows rather than at measured intervals, so the composition shifts as the pendant turns.

Gold crosses the branch in bands of pavé, diamond and yellow sapphire together, following the contour. The two do different work: the diamonds read as movement across the surface, the yellow sapphires as the coral’s own colour carried on in stone.

Below, two Mexican fire opals hang free, the smaller above the larger, both cabochon. Fire opal is the one material here that shifts with the light, and hanging it clear of the branch lets it move while the coral holds steady.

50 by 32 millimetres in yellow gold. The weight sits low, where the opals fall.

Worn with the Coral Reef Earrings, the branches read as a single growth.

Please enquire for certification and viewing.