TRANSFORMATION Ricardo Basta From learning as a jeweler’s apprentice doing repairs on vintage and estate pieces, fabricating at the bench, wax carving, casting, and all phases of manufacturing, I began exploring my own design and techniques. This particular piece melds hand carving a wax for the outer quilt, which is very tactile for me, to the inner ring that I produced using a combination of CAD and bench fabrication. Personally, I am fascinated by using many different technologies or techniques to achieve one harmonious piece. It is very reflective of my humble beginnings from 1979, utilizing everything I have learned and stored away in my head (I don’t use a computer) and orchestrating my hands and mind to assemble my imagination into metal and stones, in other words, a piece of tangible, artful jewelry. I have been working at what I do for 38 years and I am still learning and am still striving to see what the future holds for us to learn in the jewelry industry. 42