Miniscule Marvels

The 21st-century aesthetic may be semiconductor technology.

by Janice Stillman

Rick Becker is giving new meaning--and value--to the idea of art by the numbers. Using semiconductor technology, Becker makes artistic images with infinitesimal amounts of 18-karat gold on disks of synthetic semiprecious stones.

The 46-year-old Becker, a former English literature teacher, theology student, and industrial designer, is introducing a new dimension to the jewelry industry this year.

That's not to say that Becker's venture has been an overnight success. In 1988, bored with research and development in a major semiconductor firm and stifled by the corporate environment, Becker asked to be laid off during a downsizing phase. Then, assembling a team of computer experts (most of whom forsook compensation for a stake in Becker's company, Refractal Design) and using equipment acquired at "industrial yard sales", he built a lab to explore using microprocessing technology in aesthetic applications. The result is a limited edition gold-on-sapphire pendant called Deepsea Rising that is about 1-1/2 inches in diameter and mounted in a solid 18-karat gold and platinum setting studded with natural sapphires and diamonds. The 100 pendants are priced at $25,000 each.

So minute are the details in the patterns, Becker includes a Hastings triplet loupe by Bausch & Lomb with every purchase. Each pendant is packaged in a custom-made raw silk case and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

"We are making a new art medium. We aim to paint in a palette of precious metals--such as 24-karat gold and pure platinum--in colors that nobody has ever seen before," he says.