Diamond Earrings
The Making of … Diamond Earrings
Neil Lane's jewelry graces the forms of the famous and fabulous. Here's a
look at the creation of one of his designs in platinum and diamond
earrings
read first Diamond Neil
By Julie Gordon found at images.businessweek.com
jan '07
The Man Behind the Rock
A
knockout piece of jewelry starts with a creative idea.
Diamond Neil Lane Jeweler has had plenty of them since his career as a
"designer to the stars" started about 20 years ago. Lane himself
designs 99% of the pieces sold in his California shop. (His work is also sold in
other stores around the world.) He is known for his elegant, moveable pieces of
jewelry, including the heart-shaped pair of diamond earrings, which he has
created several times, featured in this slide show.
From
the Source
Lane uses diamonds from locations including South Africa, other parts
of Africa, Brazil, Australia, and Canada. He also uses antique stones, often
very valuable and likely hailing from Africa or South America.
In
the Rough
Unless a diamond is merely being reset, it arrives at its destination in
rough form, where it must be cut into the desired shape. Each of the one-carat
diamonds used in the earrings takes between four and eight hours to cut.
Cutting
Diamonds Shiny and New
The cutting stage is followed by polishing, which allows the true brilliance
of a stone to shine through.
Checking
Diamonds Out
After polishing, the diamond is examined for inclusions — internal flaws
— with a loupe, a magnifying device used by jewelers.
Platinium
wire Heavy Metal
It takes a lot of work to create the platinum-wire tubing used in Lane's
earrings. First, the platinum is melted and hand-shaped into a ball. The ball is
then flattened and milled several times in a contraption that looks like an
old-fashioned clothes dryer. Wire tubing is created from the grinding and
flattening actions.
Handmade
jewels
Done by Hand
The platinum tubing is hand-fashioned into the heart shape. Lane's jewels are
all handmade. "I do everything individually and based on the stone, so I
don't have a standard one-carat earring," he says. Hence, each of Lane's
pieces — including each earring in a pair — is different.
Unique
Stones
Lane points out that two earrings and the stones in them don't need to be
identical, because they are on either side of the face.
Diamond
Setting in Place
After the platinum is shaped, the metal is drilled with holes that allow for
the diamonds to be set. As with all other aspects of Lane's work, the setting
will be done by hand.
Finished
Diamond earrings Pair
This finished pair of earrings, which are about a carat each in total weight,
retails for between $15,000 and $20,000. Three artisans (not including Lane)
were involved in the creation over a period of four weeks: a platinum smith who
fashioned the metal to create the shape of the jewelry, a polisher, and a
diamond setter.
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