Case Study 3
Case Study 3
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The final case study, revolved around the DIY-growth of crystals. The solution growth method, first documented to grow salt, sugar and alum, and later applied to the growth of ruby, was incorporated into the jewellery design process, and considered as methodology in the context of the author’s jewellery practice.
Alum, salt and sugar are not considered gemstone quality, and evidently have only been used by a limited number of jewellery designers to date. Because the growth of gemstone grade crystals (for example ruby, emerald, amethyst, quartz and citrine) generally requires more elaborate and high cost equipment, the first experiments set to test the methodology of 'Crystal Growing Design' for jewellery were conducted with sugar, salt and alum.
Please see my paper 'Crystals as Co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers' and 'Crystal Growing Design method: An investigation into the growing of crystals for jewellery designs' for more information.
Please see my paper 'Crystals as Co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers' and 'Crystal Growing Design method: An investigation into the growing of crystals for jewellery designs' for more information.
As a practice-based researcher, artist and maker, the limit in opportunities to engage with the subject of crystal growth beyond reading about it and discussing it with collaborators in meetings provided a catalyst to embark on a Do It Yourself (DIY) journey to explore crystal growth from a jeweller’s perspective. I wanted to prove that jewellery artists can also make meaningful contributions to the scientific discipline of crystal growth and break down the barrier between art and science. To date my own research into DIY crystal growth methods currently consist of a range of pieces where rubies have been grown in-situ in metal jewellery structures, which are believed to be the first of their kind.
Generally, gemstones are incorporated in designs by setting. Growing stones in-situ in a piece enables opportunities to reimagine how stones could be incorporated and fixed into jewellery. For the piece ‘Growth #1’ a seed, created from ruby waste material was grown to set itself into the platinum ring. The piece ‘Outgrown’ visualises how the stone has outgrown traditional setting practices, by literally outgrowing its setting and the piece ‘Polycrystalline’ demonstrates multiple seeds can be grown simultaneously too.
Generally, gemstones are incorporated in designs by setting. Growing stones in-situ in a piece enables opportunities to reimagine how stones could be incorporated and fixed into jewellery. For the piece ‘Growth #1’ a seed, created from ruby waste material was grown to set itself into the platinum ring. The piece ‘Outgrown’ visualises how the stone has outgrown traditional setting practices, by literally outgrowing its setting and the piece ‘Polycrystalline’ demonstrates multiple seeds can be grown simultaneously too.
Evident in these experiments is the individual shapes each crystal displays, and the unpredictable direction the growth of the crystal has. As a result of their trigonal crystal structure rubies grow in a hexagonal shape. When incorporating gemstone growth into the jewellery design process, the artist has to consider that the gemstone will grow into a shape that, in the processes applied, cannot be pre-determined, inviting an element of uncertainty. The unpredictability of the growth, in direction and through the appearance of facets determined by the material’s crystal structure, means that each time a seed is grown a different outcome will be materialised. Aligning with bio-design, this co-creating with nature challenges the notion of man-made gemstones as synthetic.
This ring was created to allow multiple seed crystals to be grown simultaneously, in order to incorporate a range of crystals in an organised pattern and study the formation of polycrystalline crystals. The platinum ring was purposefully designed, in order to juxtapose the natural growth with the geometric appearance of the platinum host ring.
Whilst the process is being perfected, during each run, there are some crystals that grow on the side of the crucible. These spontaneous nucleations can be harvested and also used for the production of jewellery pieces.
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