Mary van der Aa’s Alien Pendant
Beam Me Up
Behind the design of a Star Trek-inspired pendant
By Tina Snyder
(Originally Published by MJSA May 2023)
Most designers would agree: It’s a rare treat to be given creative free rein on a custom design project. Such was the case with this 14k white and 18k yellow gold moldavite, trapiche emerald, and black spinel pendant by Mary van der Aa of Port Huron, Michigan.
“One of my best clients asked me to make something ‘alien-like’ for him from a large piece of moldavite measuring about 46 mm by 38 mm,” says van der Aa. “I told him, to do this I needed total creative freedom and no deadline—and that he wouldn’t see any sketches or work-in-progress until the piece was finished—and he agreed!”
A type of tektite, moldavite is a green or blue-green vitreous silica projectile glass formed by a meteorite impact in southern Germany about 15 million years ago. The material is extremely fragile, thus limiting one’s design options.
“As a jeweler, you have to be very cautious during the setting process,” says van der Aa. “One issue I struggled with when designing this piece was how to set it in a way so as not to apply pressure and take the chance of the moldavite breaking.”
In fact, the design process took about a year, with van der Aa tapping into her client’s love of Star Trek to bring the alien theme to life around the unusually shaped moldavite. Designing around such a large stone required quite a bit of metal—5 ounces to be exact. When van der Aa asked her client if he wanted the piece executed in silver or gold, he gave her the green light on the latter.
Mary van der Aa
Port Huron, Michigan
The overall design pays homage to the satin-finished badges the crew wear on Star Trek. The front showcases the moldavite, with alien-like yellow gold claws holding it in place while green trapiche emerald alien eyes stare back at you.
“I knew I had to find the perfect complimentary stones for the moldavite,” explains van der Aa. “These trapiche emeralds are incredibly rare and were quite difficult to find in the right sizes, quality, and colors.”
With her client granting her total creative freedom over the design, Mary van der Aa created a Star inspired pendant featuring a large moldavite, trapiche, emeralds, and black spinel.
Keeping with the alien theme, she pavé set almost 300 black spinels into the 18k white gold frame, giving the effect that they are oozing over the side of the piece. The black spinels feature again in the back of the pendant, in a Trekkie star pattern design that houses the client and his wife’s initials.
Van der Aa hand carved the entire frame in wax in two parts: the top component that would hold the moldavite and the detailed back plate. To set the delicate tektite, she carved holes for the five prongs into the frame itself and ensured that each prong was cast to the height of the moldavite.
Once the components were finished and the emeralds and spinels were set, she simply used a laser to tack the pendant in place from behind, never putting a torch to it or applying pressure over the moldavite.
At the time of publication, van der Aa was preparing to present the finished piece to her client and his wife. “I ordered a model transporter toy that opens up and the pendant is going to be inside,” she says. “When I present it to them, I’m going to show them a video I made about the pendant’s origins and the aliens who made it as a symbol of their love.”
Regarding full creative license on the project, van der Aa says it was a welcome break from the norm. “I do a lot of production work now, so it was very cool for me to go crazy with a piece—and I’m so excited about how it turned out.”