Handmade sterling silver necklace featuring carved coral stones mixed with pebbles I found on beaches along the coast of Maine, where I lived for 7 years before moving to New York City. 
 
As a certified gemologist, I gained a lot of scientific and industry knowledge of gemstones, and even after all the stones I encountered, the ones that brought me the most joy were the ones I dug out of the sand myself. 
 
These beach stones are smooth and polished by the ocean, and once set into silver, they look just as beautiful as any cut and polished gemstone you can buy. Mixing these beach pebbles you can find for free in nature with stones we usually prescribe as “valuable” is my way of making sense of the excessive, and at times elitist, jewelry industry that I am now a part of. It is also my desperate attempt to remain connected to the ocean that I came to love, and carry it around with me wherever I go and share it with others. 
 
As the pebbles are a gift from nature, I do not charge anything for them. The final price of the pieces only include the silver weight, gem weight, and cost of my labor. Piece is entirely handmade with recycled silver.