raw stones & silver.

lately i've been fascinated with raw, uncut stones and trying to set them in rustic claw settings, like a cocktail ring redux. i've pretty much given up - at least for now - on learning how to sink set, rub set, or properly seat cabochons, but the concept of a unstructured claw setting didn't seem so far out of reach.  i had some lovely rough, uncut turquoise lying around, so i based my ring design on one of those.  i used some scrap sterling that i had saved up and constructed a simple ring shank, but in the end, the setting was way too large for the stone i had chosen.  digging around in my inventory, i did find a center drilled hunk (seriously, there is no other word for this stone) of amethyst in deepest purples, and it fit.  while i am not too thrilled about the fact that the ring isn't what i initially envisioned, i am pretty pleased with the overall outcome.  the ring has also held up to the mini's rough and tumble testing - surprisingly - so i think i might try my hand at setting the smaller turquoise after all.

thoughts?