The story behind Robin Waynee’s Green Moonstone Bracelet
First Place, Gold/Platinum Category, 2011 Saul Bell Design Award Competition

By Sharon Elaine Thompson

With her first-ever entry in the Saul Bell Design Award Competition, Robin Waynee of Santa Fe, New Mexico, placed first in the Silver category in 2010 with a silver and pearl bracelet. She did it again in 2011, earning first-place honors in the Gold/Platinum category with the Green Moonstone Bracelet—a piece originally designed to feature the same pearls as her 2010 winner.

The change from pearls to a group of squarish green moonstones she had been saving occurred when her husband, jewelry artist Ryan Roberts, suggested she set the squares tip to tip. “The light came on,” says Waynee, who immediately revised the design in her head.

The color of the moonstones dictated her choice of gold for the metal—a warm, glowing contrast to the milky softness of the gems. Pops of blue-green color in the form of Paraiba tourmalines serve as accents in the piece. Waynee finds the combination of green moonstones and Paraiba tourrmalines particularly appealing, and she has used it before. “It’s very warm, very tropical,” she says. To bring out the most light and color in the moonstones, she set a highly polished white gold disc behind each stone.

In the spaces between the moonstone-set links, Waynee placed fan-shaped links edged with diamonds and tipped with a Paraiba tourmaline. The fan elements give the bracelet a sinuous scalloped edge, while the edges of the moonstones form a continuous line with the edges of the fans. The clasp is hidden so there is no break in the flow of the line as it moves around the wrist. Tube-set with a diamond, the clasp integrates smoothly into the design. The wearer simply presses the diamond to release the clasp.

Waynee typically fabricates everything—from alloying her own gold to drawing tubing. But this piece marked her first excursion into using cast pieces. To ensure that the angles of the fan-shaped links were absolutely consistent from one to the other, she carefully fabricated a model of one link and had it molded and cast in multiples. A bonus, she says, is that the casting process saved her time. Because it worked so well, Waynee says she may use this process again in the future.

Beginning each piece by drawing the design to scale on vellum, using the stones as templates, Waynee usually works out the kinks before she starts building a piece. But this bracelet held a surprise not obvious on a two-dimensional drawing. The base of each fan link forms a 90 degree angle. If you draw a line that passes through the point of the fan and continues through the center of the adjoining moonstone links, you’ll see that the angle between the fan and the square moonstone link—which is hinged—is 45 degrees. Waynee didn’t foresee that placing hinges at this angle would limit the flexibility of the bracelet. Instead of stretching out around the wrist, the V-shape formed by each fan and its adjoining moonstone links creates a slight zigzag up and down the length of the wrist, which shortens the overall length. In addition, the 45 degree hinging of each group of three links causes the group to cup inward slightly, further shortening the length. So even though Waynee had made the bracelet to a standard length, she said it wouldn’t even fit around her extremely small wrists. She had to add two more elements, making the bracelet length 8 inches overall. “But by the time it makes the circle,” says Waynee, “it wears like a 7-inch bracelet.”

The angle of the hinges and the limited flexibility also provided another, more pleasant surprise. In addition to the sinuous nature of the outline, the bracelet undulates slightly on the wrist, contributing to a snakelike look that perfectly complements the tropical colors and textures in the piece.

Waynee is already hard at work finishing up her entry for the 2012 Saul Bell Design Award Competition—hoping to capture her third consecutive win.

The color of the moonstones in Robin Waynee’s Green Moonstone Bracelet dictated her choice of gold for the piece—a warm, glowing contrast to the milky softness of the gems. To bring out the most light and color in the moonstones, she set a highly polished white gold disc behind each stone.

Hinges placed at 45 degree angles between the fan-shaped links and moonstone links limit the flexibility of the bracelet, shortening the overall length. The 8-inch bracelet wears more like a 7-inch bracelet. The limited flexibility also adds to the sinuous nature of the bracelet’s outline and causes it to undulate slightly on the wrist, contributing to a snakelike look that perfectly complements the tropical colors and textures in the piece.

 

Photos courtesy of Rio Grande