Triple Take

Go behind the design of Chatham’s reversible and convertible boulder opal earrings

By Tina Snyder

Lindsay Jane Chatham sketched at least 100 designs before arriving at the final concept for her 20.20 carat striped boulder opal earrings. “These stones were just so amazing, I could think of a million designs for them,” says Chatham, Graduate Gemologist and owner of Lindsay Jane Designs and K.Jons Jewelry Co. in Atascadero, California. “The trick was coming up with a system to make them detachable and reversible, all while walking the fine line of having a design that is unique without detracting from the focal point of the piece, in this case the opals.”

Her platinum reversible earrings feature French pavé-set diamond bezels (1.05 carats total weight) and a lattice design on the back with Paraiba tourmalines (1.5 carats total weight). She opted for platinum due to its malleability when setting the softer opal and tourmaline. The earrings are made in two parts: the top tourmaline cluster with post, and the opal drop, which loops over the post on the back of the earlobe, hanging between the Paraiba clusters and the earlobe, enabling it to be worn with either the opals facing forward or the Paraiba lattice facing forward. The design is essentially three earrings in one: The Paraiba stud alone, the opal drop added, and the reverse with the lattice facing front.

The first step in executing the design was finding the perfect accent stones for the opals, which would be used for the geometric stud element as well as the lattice on the back. Chatham knew she wanted to match the teal stripe in the opals so turned to Paraiba tourmaline.

“I spent hours at the Tucson gem shows, louping hundreds of tiny tourmalines to hand-select the cleanest stones,” she says. “Paraibas are so heavily included, making them susceptible to breakage during setting. I always start with the best stones and then buy double what I need, just in case.”

With all the stones selected, Chatham next had to find the right manufacturer for the job. She approached renowned jeweler Ricardo Basta of E. Eichberg Inc. in Los Angeles about the project. “I was so nervous to show them my sketches,” she admits. “They weren’t taking on new manufacturing clients at the time, but Ricardo said my design was refreshing and they would love to work with me. I was so honored!”

To bring Chatham’s vision to life, Basta used a combination of CAD/CAM and hand fabrication. “For the stud component with the Paraibas and the connector component that attaches to the opal bezel, those are very symmetrical and perfect for CAD,” explains Basta. “Lindsay likes volume, and she built different heights into the bezels in the stud component, which can be set perfectly using CAD.”

But for the opal settings and the lattice, Basta opted to hand fabricate the platinum. “The opal drops are so unique, we built the frames by hand, then made the bezels for the backs and pulled all the wires into the cross-hatch lattice design,” he explains. “We fabricated all of the metalwork for the drops, using lasers for tack welding, then soldering. We polished all components along the way to ensure a mirror finish, then set the diamonds and Paraibas. Due to their delicate nature, the opals were set last.”

The resulting piece is not only expertly crafted but also offers the wearer three unique looks in one earring design.