I promised three new rings by Wings for today, and I have them here!

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

I promised three new rings by Wings for today, and I have them here!  These are, quite frankly, amazing, all of them completed just yesterday. The stones are extraordinary on their own, but as always,  Wings has wrought the perfect setting for each.

A couple of caveats: First, as their descriptions note, these are all created to larger standards. Generally, what that means is that they're created and sized as "men's rings," although Wings tries not to limit his work by gender; the bands are heavier, wider, and sized to broader fingers. The last, of course, means nothing with regard to gender, but that's how most dealers would describe these.

The second is that these bands are stamped in very specifically ordered patterns. That means that resizing them will require special steps to preserve it. Thus, he's taken the rare step of adding a $25 fee for resizing; it doesn't even cover his time, never mind labor or materials, but the process with these will be much more laborious than usual. 

Now, the rings: First up is the one shown above, and my personal favorite, albeit only by the slenderest of margins. This is Alpine Lake, a reference to the stone, and it is staggeringly beautiful:

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's built around a spectacular and very unusual specimen of chrysocolla, electric shades of green with brown-black matrix banding that looks like an overhead view of stands of giant conifers extending outward into our own high-elevation lakes. The bezel is wrought entirely by hand, saw-cut and serrated freehand, and seated atop a heavy old-style band: 9-gauge sterling silver, stamped in a repeating pattern of radiant paired suns edged by crescent-moon borders on both sides. You can read its full description here.

The second ring is the least costly of the trio, but with these materials and weights, that's not an especially low bar. It's also named after out local watersheds, particularly one lake whose shape vaguely resembles the ribbon of blue here.  This is Where the Eagles Gather:

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

A lot of ribbon [or boulder] turquoise isn't particularly bright; the earth tones are pale, and the ribbons are, too. Not this one. This one is electric, an almost opalescent blue [probably Kingman] turquoise wending its way through the rich earthy brown veins on either side. It's set into another hand-made bezel, this one with an extended flange beneath it, and atop another heavy 9-gauge band. This band, though, features a pair of eagle feathers on either side of the focal, both of them deeply chased into the silver, followed by long, layered, old-school arrow motifs with fletched feather shafts, their points meeting at the center underside between paired stars. You can read its full description here.

And finally, we come to the third, which features an old, OLD stone that's been in his private collection forever, freeform, dazzlingly textured, believed to be old [and rare] Morenci turquoise. This is The Storm At the Edge of the Sky:

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

The band of this one is almost, but not quite, identical to that of the first ring, at top. It features the same paired radiant motifs down the center, and cloud-like crescents along either edge. The stone is a phenomenon unto itself:  The perfect intense blue of a high-desert sky, with a rolling freeform natural surface, richly textured with patches and pits of black chert and iron pyrite, all of them the classic old Morenci colors combined. We have no idea how old, exactly, this one is; it could be decades, or generations, even. Again, another hand-made bezel, each saw-cut section perfectly parallel to the next. YOu can read its full description here.

As always, Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. With fewer than three months left in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we need more than ever to make consistent sales now (I really, REALLY need to make some now, actually), so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.