Gold and silver plated jewellery were developed to be cheaper versions of items that would otherwise be solid metal. And though plating is commonly just a thin layer of gold or silver applied over a base metal, in appearance it appears very much the same as solid pieces.
Precious metals, especially gold and silver, are probably the most commonly in jewellery making. But there are many other materials widely used, such as copper, bronze and even aluminum. Then there are modern materials such as Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and the Copper and Bronze clays. The list keeps growing in our modern times.
Continue reading Precious Metals, and Similar Materials
The plan was to make spiral drop earrings with both copper and sterling silver wire.
When designing the earrings I had a couple of things to consider. One was to be able to glue a glass cabochon on to wire. The other thing was to make the design in a way so that the light could shine through the cabochon to show up the colours in the glass. So my thought was to make a spiral with the wire so that the cabochon could be glued onto it and also allow light to shine through the glass cabochon.
Well I really don’t know if that was a good Idea as I had some issues .
Continue reading Making Spiral Wire Drop Earrings – Copper Versus Sterling Silver Wire Part 1
Ann is our resident silversmith and these images are all about her adventures.
The silver classes have been great for finding out new techniques such as this cleaning solutions for jewellery. It is simple and cheap to make up.
Continue reading Cleaning Jewellery