unusual jewelry for interesting and unusual people
HOW OUR JEWELRY IS MADE
Making Jewelry is a fascinating, yet labor intensive task. Many techniques that we use today have their origin far back in history, and have been learned over the ages. Please scroll down this page to see a brief description of each of the following:
the lost wax process
crocheting silver mesh
the art of stained glass
The
Lost Wax Casting Method Of Jewelry Making
The
artist creates an object in a special jeweler?s wax by carving or building up
the form. If a single copy is desired, the wax object is then placed in a small
container into which a form of plaster called Investment is carefully poured. Once
the bubbles have been shaken out of the plaster, and it has settled down, the
container is put into a burnout oven and the wax is burned out. This leaves a
perfect shape into which the molten metal is poured at high speed, making a
metal (silver etc) model of the original wax. The model is then broken out of
the investment and is finished by hand or machine to make a perfect piece of
jewelry. Findings are added so that it can be worn as a pin, or pendant or a
ring.
If more than one copy is desired, then the metal model
is pressed into a silicone mold to create another perfect copy of the piece of
jewelry. A new wax is made and the process is repeated . The silicone mold can
be used over and over to create several copies
FINE SILVER CROCHETED JEWELRY
Crocheted Mesh jewelry is made entirely by hand. Each piece is unique and one
of a kind. Old fashioned crochet stitches are used with Fine Silver
Wire and the smallest of crochet hooks. Fine Silver is used instead of
Sterling because it is almost 100% silver, and therefore is softer and
less likely to tarnish than Sterling Silver.
After the
basic necklace has been crocheted, the semi-precious stone beads and
freshwater pearls are added individually, by hand. The clasps are also
hand made, some of Sterling and some of Fine Silver. They are all
different, designed to fit the needs of each individual piece.
We use a
wide variety of semi-precious stone beads and freshwater pearls chosen for their shape and
color.
Crocheting fine silver wire is a labor intensive,
and time consuming task. But it is well worth it. The resulting jewelry
looks like Silver lace and makes unique and elegant necklaces that
are also very light and comfortable to wear. Sometimes we use brass wire whose gold color complements the silver. The technique of crocheting brass wire is the same as of that of silver wire.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION
OF HOW STAINED GLASS IS MADE
It takes a great deal of practice to
perfect any art or craft, and Stained Glass is not any different.
Although the procedures are relatively simple once they are understood,
actually getting to perfection-or even near it- takes time and practice.
To make a Stained Glass panel, one must first choose or create a design
that is appropriate. Too many small pieces will cause difficulty, as
will pieces that are too large. After the design has been chosen it is
drawn on three layers of paper, separated by carbon paper, so that three
copies are produced. One copy, usually on brown paper, is tacked to a
board and becomes the template (or pattern) for the piece. One copy is
used as a guide, and the third copy-usually of Oak Tag, is cut up into
pattern pieces.
Once the glass has been chosen for each part of the image,
the pattern pieces are placed on the glass, and are outlined with a
special pen that marks glass. These pieces are then cut out of the glass
by a variety of methods--by hand, or with the help of a circular saw or
both.
In order for the glass pieces to stick together, a thin
strip of copper foil with glue on the back is carefully placed all
around the edge of every piece of glass to be used for the pattern.
Assuming they all fit well on the template, lead came (strips of lead)
are heated with a soldering iron . The molten lead is pulled along the
copper foil seams and the glass pieces are held together. Polishing the
glass is the last step in a very satisfying, if difficult craft.