LEFT: One-of-a-kind 18K yellow gold bracelet with carved turquoise, blue topaz, and carved natural quartz by Stephen Dweck. RIGHT: An 18K gold moonstone and quartz ring by Paula Crevoshay. Photo © C. Russ.

A practice almost as old as civilization provides the foundation for unique modern jewelry designs.

By Marlene A. Prost

Sometime shortly after jewelry design emerged from the mists of time, between the "put pretty rock on string" phase and the elaborate faceting and metalsmithing that we today regard as classic, an enterprising soul hit upon the idea of setting engraved gems in jewelry. What began as an attempt to enhance the mystical powers of gems with powerful symbols became an elegant decoration, one that's experiencing a rebirth in popularity today.

"People love it because it doesn't always look like jewelry. You can accomplish something beautiful [as a work of art]. It used to be people bought jewelry to express wealth or status or to mark an occasion. Now people wear it as an expression of [their] personal attitude," says jewelry designer Barbara Westwood of Monument, Colorado, who commissions some of the world's top gem cutters for her bold, geometric designs.

"It attracts regular people who have good taste and [think], 'How interesting, how clever,' " says jewelry designer Stephen Dweck of New York, who has hand-engraved stones for 15 years and is well known for his ancient-themed cameos.

Engraved citrine and moonstone dolphin earrings. Photos © C. Russ.

A great part of the appeal lies in the historical roots of engraving. The very earliest engraved jewelry was worn by the Assyrians and Babylonians, who hung cylinders carved with mythological or religious images from their necks or wrists. Not a lot is known about the purpose of those objects - they may have been talismans intended to protect, or simply seals used for documents - but they set an example that others eagerly followed.

The Egyptians, for example, carved scarabs onto gems like jasper, amethyst, lapis lazuli, ruby, and carnelian; because the scarab represented regeneration, it was often used in funerary jewelry as a symbol of rebirth in the afterlife. The scarab became such a popular motif that it was later adopted by the Romans, who wore gems with scarab engravings to bring courage in battle.

The Romans also borrowed astrological images from the East and carved signs of the zodiac onto signet rings. Even heroes such as Alexander the Great were thought to impart magical powers to people who wore gemstones engraved with their images.

Moving forward in time, the Victorian cameo image, a classic example of reverse intaglio, evokes an entire era with its elaborately decorative design. And so the tradition comes down to modern times, reinterpreted but still evoking ancient themes.

Jewelry designer Donna Chambers of New York likes to capitalize on the historic resonance of engraved jewelry - except her chosen period is neither ancient nor Victorian, but 18th century Britain.

Pearl necklace with designer Donna Chambers’ signature flair: ancient Chinese gambling chips made from engraved mother of pearl. Photo © Ralph Gabriner.

Chambers has developed a line of jewelry from antique engraved mother-of-pearl Chinese gambling chips. "I've always used mother-of-pearl in contemporary shapes," says Chambers. When she came across the gambling chips at a Tucson show 15 to 20 years ago, "I bought a couple of pieces, because mother-of-pearl is my thing and I thought it would fit."

Wealthy British families would commission the carved chips from Chinese artists, who put the family crest in the center and engraved the outer edges with flowers, butterflies, pagodas or geometrical designs. The chips' varying shapes - round, square, marquise, and oval - signify different amounts of money.

Chambers buys the chips from several different English antique dealers. "Some I cut and change the shape; some are broken, distorted, or have blemishes." The chips are set in 14K gold for bracelets, earrings, pins, cufflinks, and tuxedo studs; their wholesale price points range from $110 to about $2,000.

Earrings with mother-of-pearl gambling chips and colored stones from Donna Chambers, a line she says “marries history and style.” Photo © Ralph Gabriner.

Chambers has added faceted colored stones to her designs, such as amethyst, pink tourmaline, citrine, blue topaz, and fire opal. She has also used the pearl gambling chips in one-of-a-kind art pieces like the Pearl Goddess, whose body is made of chips, with a headdress of pearls and a face of carved tiger's-eye.

Another designer known for incorporating engraved stones in unique sculpted pieces is Paula Crevoshay of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who has 20 pieces of art going on display in May at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

One, for example, is "Freedom's Flight," a birdlike creature with wings of Montana agate hand-carved by Lawrence Stoller of Bend, Oregon. In the center is a breastplate of Mexican fire opal, with geometrical reverse intaglio engraving, also by Stoller. The headdress is of imperial topaz, and the tail is of Tahitian pearl.

In her jewelry, Crevoshay will commission gem cutters to engrave images such as a mermaid, a prehistoric fish, a honeybee, or an angel, "and I will produce a piece around it that mirrors it, perhaps with symbolism. . . . There's imagery I'm after with an historical, mythological impact. I might have connections to a certain period of time when intaglio was used, Roman, even Victorian. At different periods of time in jewelry, this art form was thriving."

Crevoshay has worked with engraved agate, moonstone, citrine, tourmaline, aquamarine, chrysoberyl, rutilated quartz, and topaz. "You might want to back it with metal to get a mirrorlike finish, [and to get] the visual effect of backing with white gold to keep the purity of the gem."

The work can be expensive because of the high-quality material, the complexity of the design, and the labor involved. But there is a market for distinctive, one-of-a-kind art with engraved stones, says Crevoshay. "I've always had a wonderful niche market for my work."

18K yellow gold necklace, bracelet, and pin with carved chrysoprase, carved natural quartz, “paraibo” quartz, South Sea pearl, mabe pearl, abalone, and mother of pearl from Stephen Dweck.

While some designers like to work with historical images, others enjoy using more modern, even playful designs. The lapidary technique of engraving is still uncommon enough to give the innovative designer a niche in the market.

"So much I look at looks the same. Homogeneous colored stones are all the same; there's the fancy traditional cuts, with so much concern with how many more facets to squeeze in the stone," says Dweck, who studied sculpture and painting before turning to jewelry design. "In the last 50 years, [engraved] design has kind of been forgotten about. . . . I am extremely fascinated by doing things to gems that people forgot to do, or felt wasn't necessary. It's extremely important to think out of the loop."

Dweck works primarily with engraved tourmaline, using "ethereal" images from nature. "I find it a very fascinating stone, so varied in color. It offers variety. I design thousands of pieces of jewelry a year; you have to keep yourself entertained."

Most jewelry designers will commission expert gem cutters to create a unique stone that they then incorporate into their own jewelry line or in a creative objet d'art. Cathy Carmendy relies on the talents of cutters in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, to realize her personal vision in gemstones.

Carmendy recognized the potential market for engraved gems about two years ago when she designed a ring for herself with an 11-carat pale blue sapphire engraved with the image of a black widow spider in a Victorian motif. The long, rectangular stone had an extremely wide table with a little edging, ideal for engraving. She wore the ring to shows, and it stirred so much attention that she decided to create a small, high-end collection called "Cameos."

The line features large pink, blue, and yellow sapphires engraved in Germany, rimmed with diamonds and bezel-set in platinum rings and pendants. The stones have to be in double-digit carats so they won't crack, she says, but they don't always have to be gem quality because cameo carvings, or reverse intaglio, cover the top of the stone. Carmendy described a 14.41-carat "bubble-gum pink" sapphire that was not clean enough to mount as faceted; she had it engraved with a "very pretty" woman. The ring retails for $38,000.

Cathy Carmendy’s engraved blue sapphire and platinum “Cameo” rings have sparked a lot of attention from those seeking jewelry designs that are different. Photo by Richard Rubins.

Carmendy finds that engraving complements her style as a designer. "I like very old, ornate, multilayered jewelry. The Victorians had a lot of layers. That's what my line looks like, old-fashioned, ornate, chunky, lots of texturing." Sometimes Carmendy draws the design, sometimes the cutters produce their own image. Thus far, the line has featured only intaglio spiders and cameo women, but she might explore other images, like crosses, in the future.

The one-of-a-kind rings and pendants are expensive, from $16,000 to $40,000 retail, and have been featured in fashion magazines, e-zines and trade journals, most recently in the September issue of Elle.

Whether the theme is modern or ancient, engraved gems speak to a part of the human psyche that remembers when gemstones were instruments of magic. It seems likely that they will continue to do so long after current fads have come and gone.