Gold, diamond and rutilated quartz pendant

We've just finished this yellow gold, diamond and rutilated quartz pendant for our collection. Rutilated quartz is such an incredible stone, with golden needles that catch the light and glisten beautifully. It works wonderfully with 18 carat yellow gold which enhances the natural glistening straw-gold light of the quartz.

Each year we visit a small family of gem cutters in Germany, who have been cutting gems for 5 generations, and this is a find from this year's visit. We've worked with this combination in the past, each time these yellow gold and rutilated quartz pendants have been one-off pieces designed to suit a particularly striking stone. This latest pendant features an asymmetric 33 carat fancy cut rutilated quartz set in an 18 carat yellow gold bezel. The pendant is balanced by an offset 48pt marquise white diamond set in platinum.

The bezel for the stone was hand formed to fit the rutilated quartz:

Making a yellow gold bezel stone setting

A smaller bezel was created for the marquise diamond.

Yellow gold and rutilated quartz pendant in progress

Next we soldered the two bezels together ready to set them by hand. Below you can see the pendant embedded in setter's wax about to be set:

Yellow gold bezel in setter's cement

We've given the gold a soft brushed satin finish which contrasts nicely with the glittering stones. The pendant is now on display in our cabinets, come in and see it if you're passing by.

Yellow gold and rutilated quartz pendant

Yellow gold and rutilated quartz pendant