The Natural Beauty of Carina’s Creations

"Zillians" - Brazilian Tourmaline

Organic jewelry is commonly referred as jewelry made from once living organisms. For Carina Rossner it means using recycled silver and gold that rests in a natural state after being melted and teaming it with minerals and gems with minor enhancements. The results are one-of-a-kind objects of adornment made of irregular (organic) shapes and forms that exude a rugged beauty. 

"Pink Trio" - Colbalt Calcite

I first met Rossner, who operates under the name Carina’s Creations, early this month at the Gem & Jewelry Exchange show in Tucson, Ariz. I then saw her again just a few days ago at the Buyers Market of American Craft show in Philadelphia (more on that event in the coming days). She hadn’t seen her Palo Alto, Calif., home in weeks—a far different lifestyle for the Harvard graduate who had a successful Silicon Valley career.

"Ocean Storm" - Ocean Jasper

 She does all of the lapidary work and metalsmithing herself in her studios in Palo Alto and nearby Menlo Park. The self-claimed “rock hound” sources her gems and minerals from all over the world, looking for shapes and colors that will transcribe into the types of finished products that define her work. “I don’t use the most ‘precious’ of specimens, preferring instead those that illustrate the physical properties of the mineral or stone,” she said. She then shapes the material into wearable pieces by cutting, trimming, and polishing them.

She has five techniques of melting and creating her organically formed precious metals, which result in several shapes, such as irregular teardrops and wraps.

"Embers" - Spessarite

“The final step is to create a marriage between a particular specimen I have prepared and a silver vessel worthy of its natural beauty,” she said.

Most of the pieces end up as pendants and earrings, but she says she is expanding into brooches and wrist cuffs and is exploring other forms of wearable art.

"Spells" - Chaorite