Design of the Week: Silver wildflower 'Natalie' pendant

This week's design is a silver wildflower pendant, designed for my friend Natalie's birthday. I wanted to make her something pretty and nature-inspired, delicate enough to wear to work or casually. She doesn't wear many necklaces, but the ones I've noticed are quite simple and classic. I wanted to give her something a bit different to this: nothing that could be shop-bought - but also not a chunky or statement piece that wouldn't fit with her style.

I love the variety in different wildflowers (like the one below) and the petal shapes - couldn't help but try and replicate something similar in silver. This wildflower pendant was the resulting design and is really versatile to wear.

Wildflower photo by Steve Berardi

I made it from three layers of 0.5mm sterling silver sheet, pierced, lightly textured, formed then sweat-soldered together. I finally added some granulated silver balls to the middle for stamen, and a jump ring bail.

I actually made this week's design about three months ago, but it has taken me this long to finally finish the piece as I've been missing a crucial piece of equipment. I found it very difficult to polish between the layers of petals with a radial brush, and didn't want to risk the barrelling machine.

New toy: Magnetic Polisher

I have been saving for a magnetic polisher for ages, ever since using one in a workshop to polish my filigree pendant. I fell in love with how quick it was (just 15 minutes) at polishing and how perfectly tiny and compact the whole machine was (approximately 15cm x 15 x 25).

For such a tiny machine, however, it's quite pricey - looking at around £270 to import one from China, although I did find a cheaper one for just over £100. I ended up finding mine on ebay, the model I wanted from China but sold second-hand by a British seller instead, for a bargain £150.

The machine works by polishing light / delicate pieces with its tiny steel pins, which are moved around by the magnetics inside. It does a slightly different job to the barrelling machine in that it will only polish - any scratches and edges will be left the same, not softened in any way.

I'm very happy with the results from the polisher - the tiny pins managed to get right into the smallest gaps and the result was a beautifully polished piece. Natalie received her present this weekend, and I'm happy to report that she loved it and wore it straight away. I love being able to give my friends / family something I've made as a present!

Design of the Week: Modern square cufflinks

Modern squares

Not a technically difficult one this week, but I'm really pleased with the outcome. I designed a slightly more modern and clean cufflink with a dual texture - shiny and brushed matte. Still slightly on the geometric design theme...

These are 15mm square and 1.5mm thick, soldered to the standard solid silver cufflink fittings. I pierced the cut-out areas and paid a lot of attention to filing these evenly and straight - and because the silver is nice and thick, it retains it's shape well. Polished in a barrelling machine and used a wire brush attachment to create the matte area (using tape to mask the crisp line). Just re-polished all edges afterwards, as I wanted them to be shiny.

I think I'll make a few more of these!

Look pretty good with a crisp white shirt

Design of the Week: Opal drop necklace

I've had a pretty crazy couple of weeks and haven't been able to post as much as I would've liked - fortunately some of that was because of good things, like a long weekend in Paris with my boyfriend (Eiffel tower, Disney, Champs Elysees, Laduree macarons).

I've been back in the workshop the last couple of evenings though, busy making new things which I'll be able to share soon. For now though, I'm long overdue a Design of the Week post so I'm going to have to cheat - this one is something I created quite a while ago. I love wearing it though (wearing it right now, in fact) - it's quite delicate and goes well with workwear.

Here's my opal drop pendant - made from sterling silver. It's a black opal - but looks blue in most light, with lots of green flash. Opals are one of my all-time favourite stones; I have spent a fair bit of time browsing the internet for opals to buy since starting this hobby!

The bezel was slightly tricky for me when I made this, as I had never set a pointed stone before. The trick is to press in from the corner and file it down bit by bit, until the bezel is properly pushed over. The rest of the pendant is made from slices of various silver tube (which made me put a chenier tube cutter on my wishlist, as it's not as easy to cut as you might think!).

Tomorrow, I've organised a last minute photoshoot in London, with a proper model. I've been planning, but as an amateur photographer I feel a little bit nervous as I don't know the model personally and don't want to waste her time. Fingers crossed I get some good shots out of it!

Design of the Week: Treasure Chest pendant

I'm rather proud of my efforts in this week's design - this tiny little treasure chest pendant made from silver. It's only a dinky 15mm across!

Inspiration for the design

I've always been fascinated by jewellery which opens up or has the potential to keep something secret hidden within it - lockets, poison rings, perfume bottle necklaces - all these things have held my interest for a number of years.

About two years ago, I remember searching all over Etsy for a sterling silver treasure chest locket, because it just seemed like a really sweet idea. I didn't find many, and actually never bought one in the end, but I remembered this idea recently.

I've been toying with the idea of trying to make a hinge: a more slightly advanced technique which looked doable to me. I've also not really had a go at making a box yet by scoring and folding metal, so thought this chest might be a good design to try out both techniques. Perhaps a little ambitious, but I try not to do things by halves.

I didn't meticulously design all the details beforehand - it was a little made-up-as-I-went-along in this case. If I made it again in the future I would probably try and do a few scale drawings first... but I think it turned out ok in the end!

The little clasp on the front keeps the lid shut and conceals all the treasures

Full of gold treasure!

Making the design

The whole pendant was constructed from 0.5mm sterling silver sheet, 0.4mm sheet in 2mm strips, 1.2mm sterling silver tube, 0.6mm and 0.8 silver wire.

More on how I made this design & image after the jump >>>

Design of the Week: ‘Susie’ silver ring

I recently decided that I’d like to make this blog become well-rounded, providing not only some insight into my discovery of new silversmithing techniques and designs, but also some general tips, reviews and inspiration (with my personal take on things) to provide anyone else with an interest in designing and making jewellery with something interesting to read.

So, I’m going to try and post a ‘Design of the Week’ feature here each week to talk about one of my latest jewellery designs, alongside my posts on a wide range of jewellery-related topics. This is also going to help me keep on track with trying out new skills and techniques!

DotW: ‘Susie’ silver ring 

This week’s design is a delicate ring made in sterling silver, with a green tourmaline cabochon. I designed this for one of my best friends as it was her birthday this week, and so this ring is named ‘Susie’ after her.

Inspiration for the design

I based my design on two things: firstly, my knowledge of Susie’s taste in jewellery, and secondly, Susie’s favourite colour – light ‘sea’ green.

I have lived with Susie for several years at University, so I’m familiar with her style and existing (abundant!) jewellery collection. Typically, she wears delicate pieces, long necklaces, minimal and tiny bracelets (like this one I bought for her last Christmas) and rings. She loves the quirky jewellery brand ‘Les Nereides’ and has a penchant for pearls.

I therefore wanted my design to be delicate, pretty and quite girly but also quite simple and clean. I decided a ring would be a good choice as she loves wearing rings, and I saw this tourmaline which reminded me of the lovely sea colour which Susie is so fond of.

Making the design

This is the design I ended up with: a simple bezel-set tourmaline cabochon, with a hammered, wavey band. I thought the imagery of waves suited the sea green stone. I made the band out of two pieces of 1mm silver wire, bent with half-round pliers, hammered flat and then soldered together at the crossover points. I textured the wire with the end of the hammer, to give a subtle ‘random lines’ pattern.

I’m giving this to her tonight at a friend's dinner party, so I hope she likes it!

More images after the jump>>>