Blue Sugilite Nevada Pendant Necklace w/ Tree Stand

Howdy folks, thanks for checking out my latest piece. I must warn ya, this post is pic heavy.

A friend wanted a blue Nevada pendant he could wear AND display on his desk. So after many talks with him on what he likes (he loves his home state and everything that's hand crafted) we decided on : Blue Sugilite for the pendant (in the shape of the state of Nevada, for where he was born), copper salvaged from old phone lines from Las Vegas (city of his birth) in the shape the state tree (bristlecone pine), and for this to sit on top of a piece of Conglomerate rock I brought back from a trip to one of our local mountains. The walnut base I added to give it a little something extra. Hope ya like my project.

Decided on this little nugget of Blue Sugilite

Scaled an outline of Nevada to fit the stone

Cut out a little slab

Above is the front  Below is the back

Picked the better side and did a rough outline

Tossed a penny next to it for size comparisons

I did the slabbing and rough outline cuts on a modified tile saw (I used an AC Motor Speed PWM Controller Regulator to control the speed of the blade)

Used a awl to make the outline of NV

And prepped it for the dop

I cut/polish on an American Facetor

Cutting/grinding the sides

Starting to take finale shape

Now the toughest part, the face. Had it all done and on the finale polish, something got on the lap and scratch the stone right down the middle. I had to completely redo the face twice, uugghh, but the finale time I was very careful and successful.

Here's the backside

And the front

I like this picture because I can read the words on the lights bulbs reflection, lol

I used a draw plate to remove some of the protective coating on some of the wires so the tree would have different tones/hues

Tree starts to take shape

Working on the branches

Finished the roots and test fitting to the rock. I wound up drilling into the rock at several spots and mounted the roots into the rock. No epoxy needed, the roots firmly secure the tree.

Now for the wood base

Found a piece of I believe walnut in my shop that will work nicely

Cut it to an oval and routered a little step to the edge

I used a water base polymer coating for stain protection and mild shine

The 3 holes in the base match the 3 roll pins I put into the bottom of the stone to mount it to the base

Now comes mounting the clasp to the pendant. I put tape on the pendant so I wouldn't scratch it up.

When drilling into the stone, the oil turned reddish purple, looked like I was hurting the stone, lol

And there she is!!

I hope he likes it (I like it, but I'm probably a little biased, lol)