River of the Pharaohs
I’ll let you in on a little secret.
Whenever an artist tells me, “Send me the stones and let me play with them,” I get excited.
Not because I know what I’m going to get.
Because I don’t.
That’s the whole point.
When Ronald agreed to make pieces exclusively for Hespera, we weren’t trying to recreate something he’d already made. We wanted to hand him exceptional turquoise and see where his imagination went.
These three Egyptian stones arrived on his bench as individuals.
They came back as a single story.
That’s one of my favorite things about working directly with artists. You stop buying jewelry and start collecting conversations.
Why This Piece Matters
This pendant represents exactly what Hespera hopes to preserve through its collaborations with living artists.
Rather than commissioning reproductions of successful designs, Ronald Tom was given remarkable Egyptian turquoise and the freedom to compose something entirely new. The result is a one-of-one pendant that balances sculptural silverwork with three extraordinary cabochons whose color and matrix create a natural visual progression.
The pendant is unmistakably Ronald Tom—not because it repeats an earlier design, but because it reflects the design instincts that have made his work so respected among collectors.
Artifact Registry
Maker: Ronald Tom
Origin: Navajo Nation
Materials: Sterling Silver & Natural Egyptian Turquoise
Weight: 32 grams
Adjustable
Form: Statement Pendant
Commission: Custom made exclusively for Hespera
Era: Contemporary
Collector’s Gallery Value: $1,800–$2,300
Curator’s Field Observation
Egyptian turquoise possesses a personality unlike almost any American turquoise. The vivid robin’s-egg blues often flow through rich iron matrix that ranges from burnt sienna to deep chocolate, producing dramatic natural contrast.
Ronald leaned into that character instead of trying to homogenize it. Each cabochon is intentionally different. The upper stone displays intricate webbing, the center stone offers bold islands of blue within warm matrix, and the lower stone blooms into an almost painterly network of color.
Instead of competing, they create movement.
The silver architecture reinforces that rhythm. Deep oxidized scrolls frame each stone while hand-placed silver drops soften the transitions between them. Every decorative element serves the composition rather than distracting from it.
Even the generously sized engraved bail feels like part of the sculpture instead of an attachment.
Eric’s Notes from the Field
This is exactly why I love commissioning jewelry.
If I wanted another Ronald Tom pendant, I could go find one.
What I wanted was to see what Ronald would create for us.
That’s a completely different experience.
Watching artists interpret stones is one of my favorite parts of this business. The same three cabochons could have gone to ten different silversmiths and come back as ten completely different pendants.
This is Ronald’s answer.
And I love that when I look at it, I don’t just see beautiful turquoise.
I remember the conversation that started it.
River of the Pharaohs
I’ll let you in on a little secret.
Whenever an artist tells me, “Send me the stones and let me play with them,” I get excited.
Not because I know what I’m going to get.
Because I don’t.
That’s the whole point.
When Ronald agreed to make pieces exclusively for Hespera, we weren’t trying to recreate something he’d already made. We wanted to hand him exceptional turquoise and see where his imagination went.
These three Egyptian stones arrived on his bench as individuals.
They came back as a single story.
That’s one of my favorite things about working directly with artists. You stop buying jewelry and start collecting conversations.
Why This Piece Matters
This pendant represents exactly what Hespera hopes to preserve through its collaborations with living artists.
Rather than commissioning reproductions of successful designs, Ronald Tom was given remarkable Egyptian turquoise and the freedom to compose something entirely new. The result is a one-of-one pendant that balances sculptural silverwork with three extraordinary cabochons whose color and matrix create a natural visual progression.
The pendant is unmistakably Ronald Tom—not because it repeats an earlier design, but because it reflects the design instincts that have made his work so respected among collectors.
Artifact Registry
Maker: Ronald Tom
Origin: Navajo Nation
Materials: Sterling Silver & Natural Egyptian Turquoise
Weight: 32 grams
Adjustable
Form: Statement Pendant
Commission: Custom made exclusively for Hespera
Era: Contemporary
Collector’s Gallery Value: $1,800–$2,300
Curator’s Field Observation
Egyptian turquoise possesses a personality unlike almost any American turquoise. The vivid robin’s-egg blues often flow through rich iron matrix that ranges from burnt sienna to deep chocolate, producing dramatic natural contrast.
Ronald leaned into that character instead of trying to homogenize it. Each cabochon is intentionally different. The upper stone displays intricate webbing, the center stone offers bold islands of blue within warm matrix, and the lower stone blooms into an almost painterly network of color.
Instead of competing, they create movement.
The silver architecture reinforces that rhythm. Deep oxidized scrolls frame each stone while hand-placed silver drops soften the transitions between them. Every decorative element serves the composition rather than distracting from it.
Even the generously sized engraved bail feels like part of the sculpture instead of an attachment.
Eric’s Notes from the Field
This is exactly why I love commissioning jewelry.
If I wanted another Ronald Tom pendant, I could go find one.
What I wanted was to see what Ronald would create for us.
That’s a completely different experience.
Watching artists interpret stones is one of my favorite parts of this business. The same three cabochons could have gone to ten different silversmiths and come back as ten completely different pendants.
This is Ronald’s answer.
And I love that when I look at it, I don’t just see beautiful turquoise.
I remember the conversation that started it.
