This is my latest commission piece - a 14K gold pendant with a 4mm round faceted ruby. Due to the high cost of gold (eeek!!! $1,004 per oz as of this very moment), I sweat solder a piece of 14K with a piece of 10K, to achieve a .006 inch (1.5 mm) thickness of this pendant. Hey, you skimp where you can , right? The rest of the necklace is all 14K. The ruby was set with bead prongs that were raised from adjacent materials. This technique is the basis of pave stone setting, which is one of the most challenging of all stone setting techniques.
After setting the stone, I put a sandblasted texture on the front and back. Edges are brought to a high polish. Finally touches are the quality stamps and then I signed on one of the edges. Ah yes, I still need to design and have a hallmark stamp made. Soon!
The group of photos below are my progress pictures. 
5 comments:
Beautiful piece, Theresa! And so interesting to see how you did it!
I agree with Judy! Like a little tutorial! Gorgeous pendant!
This is a beautiful, striking piece!
This is very nice! Such a clean, uncomplicated design, yet so dramatic. Thanks for sharing how you made it!
Lovely necklace and a very nice tutorial!
Post a Comment