Mount Everest Pendant

July 27, 2020

I was contacted by B to see if I could somehow cut a stone from Base Camp Everest, and set it in a piece of jewellery for his beloved.

I'm always up for a challenge and I love a good back story, so I was hooked!

Stonecutting was something that I knew nothing about, so I experimented on some stones from my backyard. This worked out well and relatively easy.

Experimenting with yard stone before working on the everest Base Stone.

(Doing a trial run on some yard stones - polished like a tumble stone)

Of course I had no idea if the Everest stone would go so smoothly and I was petrified of ruining it, but it was a decent size and B told me not to worry, that whatever sort of shape I could put it, he would be happy with.

Working with the real Everest Base Stone which would be used for the everest Pendant.

(Trying out different sizes and shapes with the Real Everest Base stone.)

So onward I marched, into the unknown, and I was so glad that I did!

I hoped to get a polished tumbled stone look on it, I would have been happy with that, but I tried various grinder heads etc, and i managed to create a lovely trillion shaped cabochon stone.

Final cut and shape of the real everest base stone to be set into a pendant.

(Cut and shape the Everest Base Stone, polished and ready to be set!)

Once we decided on the cut and shape of the Everest Base stone, it was time to work on the design process of the pendant and start sketching some ideas for B.

Some initial sketches of the Mount Everest Pendant.

(The initial sketches for the trillion shaped Mount Everest Pendant stone.)

It was hard to fit this unusual shaped stone to a design that B liked. I was running out of time, it was getting close to Christmas, so I looked through one off pieces that I had already made, but not fully finished.

Some one off bespoke pendants that could be used for the Mount Everest Pendant.

(Some one off pieces of jewellery I had already handcrafted but not finished.)

Trying the Mount Everest Pendant stone in different one off pieces of jewellery.

(Trying to see how the Mount Everest Pendant stone looks in different bespoke pendants.)

I came up with a lovely flowy one that suggested a river, or journey of life, flowing towards the stone at it's base. I made a wee gold heart and soldered it on, along with 4 gold balls, to represent the 4 children in their family.

B would climb mountains for his darling wife, their love for each other knows no bounds.

The finished bespoke pendant with the Mount Everest Base stone at the centre.

(The finished Mount Everest Pendant.)

B was so happy when he saw the finished piece and really excited about giving to her on Christmas morning. The kids all knew about it too, and couldn't wait to see her reaction.

She was so stunned by it, by his determination to have something beautiful and meaningful, created from this dark stone that came from a mountain 4,500 km away.

The gorgeous Mount Everest Pendant - they loved it!

(Side view of the Mount Everest Base Stone Pendant.)

She loved it and there were tears.. on both sides... She had come through a difficult illness, and he and the children, wanted her to know how much they all loved her.

If you would like to create your own special piece to mark a special occasion, for you or loved one, please feel free to get in touch and I will be happy to help! It's all systems go at the jewellery studio at the moment - I need lots of time to slot special commissions in between normal work.

Thanks for reading...

Le Grá, Elena xx

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