EQUINE Bling!

How an Oklahoma Saddle Maker Uses Moissanite, Gold, Silver Turquoise tc to Adorn Saddles Jewelry

- CAROL MOWDY BOND

Oklahoma custom saddle maker Clinton "Doc" Hole is taking saddle building into the stars. He is integrating moissanite into the decorative elements on custom saddles he builds. In its rare and natural form, moissanite may be found in meteorites. But the stone, which is growing in popularity because of its similarity in appearance to diamonds, is now available as a manmade stone.

BEYOND LEATHER TOOLING

"There's a lot of high-end collectors out there who like the leather tooling," said Doc. "What can I add to my saddles that will attract someone to buy my saddles over someone else's? I started using moissanite on saddles because it's hard on the hardness scale. It's 9.25 on the Mohs Hardness Scale, compared to diamonds which are rated 10.

It's hard, which makes it easy to set. You bang on the settings and you don't want to break the stones. The hardness of the stones lends itself to the ease of setting because you're whacking on them. You're hitting them.
Also, they're a very affordable alternative to diamonds. Even manmade diamonds are expensive. If you use diamonds, you want to use a really good diamond, and you're going to pay at least $2,000 for a good-sized stone.

It's expensive to mess up or lose a diamond.

But I can pay several hundred bucks for a nice moissanite." Doc, who owns C Bar H Saddlery in Yukon, OK, has a big customer following, including ranchers, rodeo people, ranch hands, ropers, barrel racers and horse trainers. He builds saddles for just about any horse and rider. But he's also well known for building saddles for the Gypsy Cob horse breed.

"Not a lot of people are really setting stones in their saddle work," Doc said. "So, why wouldn't you? It opens up a whole new look.