New Phalaenopsis Necklace in the making...

New Phalaenopsis Orchid Necklace
New Asymmetrical Orchid Necklace is in the works.

I will be starting this necklace in
about two weeks. I want this piece to be super comfy and a bit smaller than my typical Phalaenopsis Orchid in the past.

New Cattleya Orchid Necklace

Cattleya V Necklace in Sterling Silver, Antiqued

Cattleya "V" Orchid Sketch

Cattleya sculpted in wax

Cast in Sterling Silver (unpolished)

The Cattleya orchid necklace is still in the rough, it was just recently cast but this piece will be available in all sterling silver or sterling silver with a touch of 14k yellow gold.

The finish will be a high polished or antiqued with a chain included as shown above.
Size: 3.5 Tall by 2.5" wide

Please email me if you are interested in this piece using the Contact form on the right.
Please identify piece as: Cattleya "V" Necklace.

Fusion Murex Shell Cuff Bracelet

New Fusion Collection Cuff Bracelet

Half Sea Fan Coral and half Murex Shell

Earring, Necklace and Ring will be introduced this spring,

please send me a message if you would like to know where you can purchase this piece.

dawnvertrees@gmail.com

Please send using "Fusion Murex Shell Cuff"

Now Available at the Cheeca Lodge & Spa

Ocean Reef "Flip" Cuff

12mm Natural Fresh Water Pearl with a solid 14k Yellow Gold Starfish

Hand sculpted sea fan coral cast in Sterling Silver

Matching Ocean Reef "Flip" Necklace

9mm Natural Fresh Water Pearl with 14k Yellow Gold Starfish on Sea Fan Coral, all pieces are hand sculpted by Dawn.

Matching Ocean Reef Flip Ring is also available at the Cheeca Store with matching 7mm Pearl.

New Ocean Reef "Flip" Collection now available to purchase at the Cheeca Lodge Signature Store in Islamorada in the Florida Keys.

Suzy, Seahorse Ring & Pendant now available at Cheeca Lodge & Spa!

Suzy the Seahorse

You can now order Suzy the Seahorse Pendant and Suzy, the Seahorse Ring at the Cheeca Lodge & Spa Store or Online at www.cheecasignaturestore.com

This is an Exclusive Item only available at Cheeca Lodge & Spa.

Suzy is the Cheeca Mascot for the Lodge and you can read more about it Suzy the Seahorse here: Suzy's History

Instore December's Look at the Newest Jewelry Ad

The Sealife Fusion Collection featured in this months Instore Magazine, Opening Lines in the 

December Issue!

For more Wholesale Information, please contact me at: 

dawnvertrees@gmail.com or (954) 594-2186

or you can use the contact form on the right and I would be more than happy to send 

you our wholesale information.

David's Gift to Susan...a beautiful Cattleya Orchid Necklace.

I have the privilege and the approval to post the Cattleya Hawaiian Wedding Song Necklace below being sculpted...

Once sculpted from wax, the necklace will be cast in solid Sterling Silver and 14k Yellow Gold. I have already decided that I have some tweaking to do on the bud placement, but that's the great thing about sketches...it's a place to start.

I will be posting my wax updates here, and I hope it's will be exciting to see the piece being made, I know I get excited seeing something going from a sketch to a three dimensional necklace.

Quick Photo before casting this beautiful necklace for Susan!

Casting Completed...

Raw Castings, unpolished at this time.

14K Solid Gold Orchid Buds...these turned out beautiful, actually everything turned out beautiful.

Fusion Sea Fan Coral Ring with a 1.35ct Natural Rose-Cut Red Diamond

Fusion Sea Fan Coral Ring with a 1.35ct Natural Rose-Cut Red Diamond 

Well it seems I've been bitten by the Natural Diamond bandit and I love it! It's soooo me.

I've never been a huge fan of "prongs" or White Diamonds for that matter but the Natural Rose-Cut Diamonds have my name written all over it. I have a client who wanted a silver ring but wanted a white diamond in the setting, it just didn't sound right to me so I started looking around and found these beautiful natural diamonds. I purchased one for him and I purchased one for myself...and here is the wax model I sculpted around the stone. It's a 1.35ct Natural Rose Diamond, Pear shaped and RED with fire inside the stone. Band is 1/2" wide.

This ring will be displayed at the Verace's Gallery in St. John, VI

I'll try to do a quick sketch showing the details. It will be cast in Sterling Silver & 14k Yellow gold and it's a one-of-a-kind ring as well.

  

No price yet, I haven't weighed the piece but I'll do that asap...just wanted to show what's being made in my studio this week.

Fusion Collection

Fusion Starfish Cuff

Awesome News! I have been asked to submit my photos to Instore Magazine. One of my vendors sent pictures of my work and they instantly replied for me to submit my work!

Fusion Starfish Pendant

There are two top Jewelers Magazine in this industry and Instore Magazine is one of them. The magazine was created for the American jewelry store owners, and to me that's huge. 

Fusion Shell Ring

The section they are thinking about adding it to is called, "Opening Lines" which is for new, up and coming lines. 

I am so excited about this!

Fusion Murex Shell and Sea Fan Coral Ring

Fusion Shell and Sea Fan Coral Ring

A Murex Shell with Sea Fan Coral fused into the design now becomes part of my Fusion Collection.

I hand sculpted the shell in jewelers wax and then carefully carved out the sea fan coral as though the two were meant to be together.

Made-to-Order - Please allow 3-4 weeks to ship.

Note: This is one of my high-end adjustable rings but before it ships, I will set the ring in your size.

Materials: Sterling Silver

Finished: Polished and Oxidized

Item Number: DV-FSR-SS

Price: $300.00

Fashion Jewelry - The Emerald Leaf Collection

DV Emerald Green Collection I Cuff Bracelet
Emerald Green and Lavender Faceted Crystals
Pear and Round shaped Bezel Settings
Gold plated cuff component with lobster clasp and extender

DV Emerald Green Collection II
Emerald Green & Lavender Faceted Crystals
Pear shaped Bezel Settings
Gold Plated Curb Chain or optional Gold Plated Snake Chain

DV Emerald Green Collection I
Emerald Green Faceted Crystals
Pear shaped Bezel Settings
Gold Plated Snake Chain
Note: Optional Lariat or fixed style.

DV Emerald Green Collection Dome Ring
Emerald Green Enamel Dome Ring with 3 Leaves
3-White Faceted Crystals

DV Emerald Green Collection III
Emerald Green & Lavender Faceted Crystals
Pear shaped and round shaped Bezel Settings
Plated Gold Tone Metal

Ocean Reef Sea Fan Coral Cuff Bracelet

Sea Fan Coral Cuff Bracelet

This has been floating in my head for some time, I guess it just needed to let the design spill out so that I can add some more designs to my brain, I guess I have limited space up there. My teacher told me once, I needed to get crackin' on the sketches! He told me, I was going to go broke if I tried to make every one of my designs that I came up with.

So while I'm in the drawing mode, I have at least 5 different hinge options available for this piece...I think the next thing I'll draw, are all of my hinge options. Being taught by a Master Jeweler from Germany is that they are all about the functioning details...he loved the mechanics of jewelry making.

He didn't teach me how to design or how to carve wax, that's was already in me but he did teach me about all the different ways a piece of jewelry could be made and that was priceless.

New longer Fusion Necklaces - 24"- 36"

Fusion Starfish Necklace
Fusion Copyright 2013
Introducing the Fusion Starfish Necklace, sterling silver with black oxidation.
Available in 24" - 36" Chain Lengths

Contact: dawnvertrees@gmail.com

Fusion Shell and Pearl Necklace

"Hermit"

Fusion Shell and Pearl Necklace

I think it's time I made this piece. Designed in 2011, this is when the Fusion concept was entering my mind and now I think I'm ready to start sculpting. As always...in my mind, I get to change it 20-30%

I'm a woman, it's my prerogative...but I guarantee it will be better if I do.

Sea Fan Cordial Glasses

My first non-jewelry project!

Needless to say my brain is going nuts over the possibilities. 

I see trays, silverware, candlesticks, you name it. This was just a fun project developed for a corporation.

Fusion Murex Shell and Sea Fan Coral Collection

I'm taking the Fusion Starfish and Sea Fan Coral Collection into a new direction...I'm including the Murex Shell into the mix of things. 

The Murex Shell has that natural edgy look that I love, and combining that with the Sea Fan Coral just works beautifully with my Fusion Designs.

As you know, I always start with the WOW pieces, I guess that's where all of my excitement and energy first flows to my fingers, so I'm sculpting the wide Fusion Shell Cuff first. I'm still working on this piece, it's about one week before I'll turn it over to be cast in Sterling Silver, it still lacks detail but that's what I'll be doing in the next few days...adding character that will speak to you...besides designing, that's my favorite thing to do, I get so into the detail.

The sketch to the right is going to be my Fusion Shell Necklace,
it's only a third completed but putting it on paper takes away a lot of the mental guessing game.  The cuff on the other hand was a no brainer...just looking at the shell was enough to start sculpting the piece.










The ring took a lot of work...being small, it had to say a lot. I sculpted the Murex Shell Ring and then incorporated the Sea Fan Coral. I took a quick picture of it being 3/4 completed but afterwards, I added addition Sea Fan Coral into the

design before it was cast.

You can see a little bit of the Sea Fan Coral one the side but once I completed the wax model, the Sea Fan Coral took over half of the shell. It was cast on Friday, on Monday it will be polished and oxidized like the Fusion Starfish Cuff. I'll post pictures on Wednesday of the finished piece.

New pieces being designed are the earrings as well as a line of stack-able rings and bracelets....this is where the pieces are smaller but equally cool.  Thanks for looking...I hope I put a smile on your face today.

Dawn Vertrees Jewelry Designer

Fusion Collection

Copyright 2013

dawnvertrees@gmail.com

Orchids Made Easy Interview with Dawn Vertrees Jewelry Designer

        I love doing interviews, especially when it's about my Orchid Jewelry. 
Ryan, with Orchids Made Easy asked me some really great questions that took me back a few years. I hope this will give you a little bit more information about who I am and how I came about making Orchid Jewelry. I hope you Enjoy!

Orchid Jewelry by Dawn Vertrees

The following guest post is an interview with Dawn Vertrees, who designs and creates gorgeous jewelry. She is an extremely talented individual and I highly recommend you check out her Etsy site Dawn Vertrees Jewelry to see all of her beautiful pieces…

And by the way, if you’re a Green Thumb Club member, save 10% off everything including custom work and Free Shipping in the USA at Dawn’s online store. If you’re not yet a member, you can click here to sign up now and start saving money :-) Okay, now for the interview…

How It All Got Started…

Ryan: What’s your background?

Dawn: Actually it wasn’t jewelry, my first job that lasted 25 years was Marketing Manager for Mobilite Exhibit Systems…our family business designed, manufactured and sold trade show exhibits all over the country.

Ryan: How did your Jewelry business start?

Dawn: When I retired from the Tradeshow Industry in 2001 and moved to Florida I was kind of clueless about what I wanted to do for the other half of my life, I knew I enjoyed sculpting clay from 5th grade so we went out and bought a kiln. My husband Don, took me to the Orchid Society and bought me a book, The World’s Most Beautiful Orchids by Greg Allikas & Ned Nash, so I started sculpting orchids in porcelain and selling them on Ebay but I decided I wanted a good pair of orchid earrings which was difficult to make in porcelain. So Don and I started looking for a solution on how to make jewelry. That’s when we found a jeweler who really liked my clay orchids. He explained how he made jewelry and then gave me three sheets of wax and told me to go home and sculpt a flower. Don was great, he took me to a jewelry supply store and he bought me everything I needed to make that first flower. In about a week, I had sculpted my first piece, a Susan Fender CattleyaOrchid shown below.

I will never forget my husband’s first comment when he saw this piece in wax on the kitchen table, he said; How did you get that, pointing at the flat sheets of wax, to look like an orchid? I just laughed and really was clueless myself, it was just inside of me waiting to come out but I remember when my hands touched the wax for the first time, I told myself…I can do this.

Needless to say, once the piece was cast in metal, I was hooked and before I could put my tools down, I created my second orchid piece which took 6 months to complete…

The Phalaenopsis Necklace which was later featured in the St. Petersburg Times “Bay Magazine” in 2009 and won best of show at the Orchid Show in Miami.

Ryan: How long have you been in business?

Dawn: I’ve been making jewelry for about 6 1/2 years but art was in the family, my father was considered one of the best wildlife painters around. He started painting at 46 but only painted 6 paintings before he died. Each one of his paintings took a year to create.

Unique Designs…

Ryan: We are absolutely blown away by your incredible Orchid Jewelry. Can you tell us about how these pieces came about? (Collaboration with the AOS 50th anniversary?)

Dawn: Thank you, I started out using pictures found in books but living in Ft. Lauderdale, Orchids and Orchid Shows were everywhere in South Florida and my need for detail made me want to see them in person. So Don took me to an Orchid Show and my excitement was more than I could stand, I took a ton of pictures and then running back to my makeshift studio, I started sculpting ladyslipper pendants,cattleya rings, and phalaenopsis earrings…I loved orchids and I just couldn’t stop.

I wanted to start selling my Orchid Jewelry at art shows and was invited to show my work in Jupiter, FL at the ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival as an emerging artist but it didn’t take long before some of the Orchid Art lovers were inviting me to show my work at the Orchid Shows…I was thrilled!

I became friends with many of the society members and was commissioned to make several pieces of jewelry as well as sculptures to be auctioned off to raise money for the American Orchid Society Education Research including the AOS 50th Anniversary where I sculpted a Oncidium Jiuhbao Gold ‘Tainan’ AM/AOS Pendant in 14k Gold. This was an honor!

How Are the Jewelry Pieces Made?

Ryan: The orchid pieces are so intricate. How exactly are they made?

Dawn: It’s a process called “Lost Wax” The method goes back to the Roman days about 4000 years ago and is still used today for making jewelry.

First, I sculpt a wax model which is also called a pattern, it’s first weighed so the amount of metal required to fill the mold (gold, silver, etc.) can be determined.

Then the wax model is attached to a base, and a flask is slipped over the base. Once the model is in the flask, a kind of plaster that looks like pan cake batter called investment, is mixed up, put in a vacuum to get all the air bubbles out of it, and then poured into the flask. It is then left to dry and harden. This takes a minimum of two hours.

Once the investment (cake batter) is dried, the base and flask are removed. Now the piece is put into an oven to burn out my wax model. Next a vacuum is used to force the melted metal into the investment mold. The Investment is washed away and then finally, the piece is cleaned up by filing and polishing it.

Ryan: What materials do you use?

Dawn: I use different metals, Silver is my favorite because it allows me to go bold with my designs. I also create pieces using gold and silver (two-tone jewelry) which adds character as well as depth to my jewelry. I also enjoy casting in Bronze…I have made several Orchid sculptures using the lost wax process and hope to make several more.

Ryan: How long does it take to create one piece?

Dawn: It depends, some pieces can be sculpted in a few days but in most cases, I would like to have a week and up to 4 weeks to make a piece of jewelry or bronze sculpture. It really depends on what the customer wants.

Favorite Orchid…

Ryan: What’s your favorite orchid to recreate and why?

Dawn: Oh definitely the Cattleya Orchid, I love the velvety ripples in the lip and petals but I always find something interesting in every orchid I sculpt, they are all so unique, that’s why I fell in love with Orchids.

Other Jewelry Creations…

Ryan: Do you create jewelry in other forms? Tell us about it.

Dawn: Yes, I’m a huge fan of sea life, I enjoy sculpting jewelry to mimic Fan Coral, Branch Coral and all of the sea life that’s living in the ocean such as this Starfish Cuffs, it’s called the Fusion Collection, it’s a collection of jewelry that combines the Starfish and Fan Coral such as the cuff to the left.

My newest collection is the Ocean Reef Flip Collection…where the Fan Coral design has a simple little flip that holds a pearl. (picture on right side)

Can I Request a Custom Piece?

Ryan: What about custom jewelry pieces? Do you do pieces on commission?

Dawn: I love making custom pieces, here is a perfect example of one of my commissioned pieces I completed a few weeks ago. The client wanted an Orchid Cuff based on her favorite African Orchids. She had seen my work at a past orchid show and emailed me several pictures of her orchids. Once I saw her orchids I immediately saw the design in my head, no sketches were needed this time…but I did give her an example of a past tropical cuff I had made to see if the cuff’s width was doable for her.

I always keep the customer involved in the sculpting process, I will send multiple pictures of the process to make sure we are on the same page. I started with the main orchid first and then made the base to the cuff. And here is the final Orchid Cuff in wax that I made for her.

To the right is the cuff after the piece was cast in Sterling Silver, polished and then oxidized to bring out the detail. I am happy to say, Sarah was thrilled with her new cuff and so was I.

How Can I Order One Of My Own?

Ryan: What’s the best way for someone to reach you if they are interested in having your create something for them?

Dawn: I love for people to go to my blog (www.dawnvertrees.com) where I show my work in progress including some of my finished pieces. I also have an Etsy site where I sell some of my finished work: My Etsy Store.

I’m pretty easy to contact, you can reach out to me via my website or my Etsy Shop. I love pictures, so if you would like for me to create a piece of jewelry or a bronze sculpture for you, please email me and send those pictures if you have them, pictures speak volumes to me when designing an orchid piece.

Your Orchid Collection…

Ryan: Are you an orchid grower?

Dawn: Don’t laugh but no…I can barely keep a pansy alive but all of the orchid friends have told me, it’s OK…for me to just keep on sculpting.

Ryan: How many orchids do you currently have as models?

Dawn: I have several orchids, as soon as I sculpt the orchid based on the live plant, I give them to my mom, she has a wonderful way of keeping them alive…at her house.

Orchid Advice…

Ryan: What’s one of the best orchid tips or tricks you’ve picked up along the way, that you think would be helpful to share with folks?

Dawn: Oh I wish I had one to share. But my mom has never owned an orchid until I started bringing them to her house. One day I asked her how does she keep them blooming every year? She told me that they have to live with her schedule which was watering them once a week. I laughed because I think that’s what they like. I guess I’m just a country girl from NC who likes to water them as if they are corn, green beans or potatoes

Any Last Words?

Ryan: Anything else you want to share?

Dawn: I just want to give a shout out to all of those Orchid growers, who love their passion and to allow me to create a piece of art for them…every piece has been a pleasure. Thank You!

---

Dawn Vertrees is a jewelry designer from Cornelius, North Carolina. Her intricate orchid jewelry pieces have been featured by the American Orchid Society and have won numerous awards, including Best in Show in Miami, FL. Each piece is created using a process called ‘Lost Wax’ from silver, gold, and/or bronze. Be sure to “LIKE” her on Facebook to keep up with her latest works.

And remember, by signing up to the Green Thumb Club today, you’ll save 10% off everything including custom work and Free Shipping in the USA at Dawn’s website. After becoming a member, you’ll get access to a special coupon code (not available to the public) which you can use to get the discount off her site.