Last October on
Day One at the
Autumn Cayucos Gem, Mineral & Jewelry Show I purchased from
Keith Olivas a fine little
Ernie Porter jade find made on the
Big Sur Coast back in the 1950's or 1960's. The Porter family had commissioned Keith starting the previous weekend at last year's
Big Sur Jade Festival to sell off various of Ernie's remaining jade pieces in order to raise money for his mounting medical needs. I did not wish to miss out on California jade-hunting history so I jumped at the opportunity and got one. Initially I got a smaller one with the intent of just having it in my collection. However, by
Day Two of the show I had gotten more ambitious and upgraded to a larger and more beautiful one worthy of becoming a pendent with the intent of commissioning my friend and master
wire wrap jewelry artist
Diana March to transform it into a unique jade pendent which challenge she enthusiastically and with great respect for the Porter legacy proceeded to undertake. This past Saturday I received her completed work while I was out of town at Gem Faire in
San Rafael, CA, and only this morning finally got around to opening up a beautifully-packed piece of fine wearable art from Dianna worthy of the piece and of the man's legacy who decades ago found it. Today I wore it with pride to my college classes and showed it off to one of my past instructors (history teacher and historian
Dennis Judd) who is an old jade hound in his own right. I highly recommend Dianna March for your wire wrap jewelry needs (particularly gifts) as her work is of the finest quality but her prices are quite reasonable and the service is top-notch!
Below are some hasty images I captured of the piece but they do not adequately convey the beauty of the piece so I will try again in the future with a better camera.
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| Front |
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| Back |
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| Interior of box package. |
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Exterior of box package.
All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved). |
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