Cocktail Ring with Moonstone and Opals
We bring to you our favorite Kent Raible 'Cigar Band' style ring of all time! It's got it all in perfect detailing.... We see the larger basic shape with lovely curves, then, a second band that wraps the first, culminating in two smaller oval gemstones! Can you imagine how this ring would look without that interior band? Well, that's the difference, the thing that sets Kent's work apart! All the perfectly balanced subtle detailing presents an elegance always found in Raible's work. Bringing it all together is Kent's museum quality gold granulation. The soft glow of Moonstone is paired here with Australian Crystal Opal lending flashes of color. Lovely!
Moonstone 1.87ct 6/8 OV
Australian Opal .26ct 3/5 OV
9.8 grams 18 Karat Gold
See a video of this piece here:
Unlike much “designer” jewelry made today, all jewelry work is done under Kent's direct supervision, with the majority of pieces made entirely by his hand. Beginning with the artist's vision and his sketch, every aspect of the work is done in his studio: alloying the metals, pouring ingots from molten gold, then rolling and drawing the sheet and wire stock used in fabrication, making of granules and small parts used to produce each of Kent's fabulously intricate pieces.
All work is handmade in the USA.
".... Kent's pieces are the quintessence of sumptuous jewelry. Using gold, precious and semi precious stones, he brings to mind a fantasy world of sultans, sheiks and palatial surroundings. Kent's work is glorious in that it has a fantastical quality. It alludes to a time of opulence, when intensive labor was an end in itself. There's a sumptuous, sparkling, magnificence to his work."
- Kenneth Trapp, Former Curator, Smithsonian Institution, Renwick Gallery; National Museum of American Craft
About Kent:
"My life’s path is that of the goldsmith, a path of over 44 years now! To say I love my job would be an understatement! Because, in a world where few things endure, I am one of those who have chosen to celebrate that which defies the passage of time and the whims of fashion.
My life's works draw deeply from the most ancient wells - the archetypes, symbols, and themes that have persisted for millennia. But in my hands, they take on and follow the lines of that singular, internal vision of the practiced artist - one who speaks his own language that somehow bridges the past, present, and future.
My clients tend to call me a true Renaissance man. One could say, in fact, that the pieces I create are perfect time-traveling machines! Firmly rooted in ages-old tradition, each a conscious contributor to its own time, always with a keen and anticipatory eye on what might be next."