Jonathon Stopper

Each piece of jewelry that I create is a miniature sculpture designed and made to be worn. All work from the initial design to the final polish is done by myself without any outsourcing or CAD.
First is sculpting the wax model of the piece. The model has to be as perfect as possible to eliminate extra work once the model has been cast in gold. The piece then goes through the preparation phase. This entails filing, sanding and then bobbing compound in conjunction with horsehair brushes to insure that the entire piece is ready for setting and polishing. The initial polishing is done with a rock hard split lap charged with bobbing compound and then a muslin buff with White Diamond compound. Once the piece is prepped, the diamond channels are set. Each diamond being individually set, not tongue and grooved as commercial settings are. The piece is prepped again and is now ready for the center stone to be set. Once the center stone is set, the piece is then put through the final polish. Each piece of jewelry that I create is a miniature sculpture designed and made to be worn. Because of my passion for color, I start with the gemstone and make it the focal point of my creation. The piece is created around the gemstone to compliment it and enhance it.