$65.00
Stunningly elegant, these amazingly textured reticulated silver earrings will shimmer and dance on any occaision from gorgeous long Argentium Silver ear wires.

All items comes gift wrapped, with a care of jewelry pamphlet directly from my studio to your door anywhere in the world with my complimentary world-wide shipping!

First I have to discuss the science- just a little bit, I promise! Silver and gold are a very soft metals, which means they can only become so strong through being worked before they crack, or break. Generally, they are much to soft to create any reasonable amount of structural strength. So, sometime in the 12th century in northern Germany, people started mixing other metals into molten precious metals to help make them stronger. For this article, I will take silver as our example, but it is identical to the process used for gold. The majority of the mixture, called an alloy, is silver, with the balance of the material generally consisting of copper. Now, when a silver alloy is heated with a torch, the surface of the metal becomes black as the copper of the alloy oxidizes in the heat.

Metalsmiths use various kinds of dilute acids to remove these copper oxides, leaving a very thin layer of pure silver on the surface of the metal. The artist will continue removing copper oxides, anywhere from 5 to 50 times, which will gradually thicken the outside layer of pure silver. Pretty much rinse and repeat- for hours.

Nothing disastrous yet, right? In fact, maybe a little boring…

Then comes the test. If the artist thinks they’re good enough, has nerves of steel, and excellent timing, they’ll continue on to the next step. Taking the prepared sheet of silver, and a very hot torch, the metalsmith gradually moves the torch millimeters away from the pure silver surface of the metal watching carefully until- as if by magic- gorgeous wrinkled textures appear in the wake of the passing torch. Peaks! Valleys! Waves of beautiful silver!

Very carefully not jumping up and down while holding a torch can be a little difficult at times.

While resisting the jumping, and watching the lovely texture appear, two things are happening underneath that torch. First, the interior of the metal- the part that still has copper mixed in, is melting. It can in fact, be boiling. Second, the outside of the metal, while very close to the melting point, is about 50 degrees away from becoming a puddle, and is actually holding it’s shape while conforming to the suddenly moving interior alloy.

Do you see the danger? Quite aside from all the hours of work wasted, the artist is narrowly avoiding liquefying an innocent, expensive, piece of silver on the workbench in the pursuit of extraordinary textures. Speaking from personal experience, managing to develop the best textures is generally where you are most likely to develop very large holes as well.

However, as you can see from the piece shown above, the entire hours long process results in some truly fabulous organic-looking textures that cannot be achieved any other way- but only if one’s nerves are up to it!

If you have any more questions about reticulated gold or silver, please convo me!

If you enjoyed the description of reticulating metals in this listing, you can find the rest of the article as well as more of my thoughts on jewelry processes and artistic endeavors on my blog: http://www.kaelindesign.wordpress.com . Thank you for your interest!

$48.00
Handforged anti-tarnish Argentium Silver spins itself beautifully around your wrist in this stunningly elegant 2.75 inch bangle bracelet accented with drops of Argentium silver.

This piece will arrive beautifully wrapped via complimentary shipping from my studio to your door anywhere in the world! If you would like a loved one's name calligraphied upon the gift tag, or would like me to use specific colors in your package, please tell me so before purchase or in the Note to Seller section of your checkout order form.

$65.00
Stunningly elegant, these amazingly textured reticulated silver earrings will shimmer and dance on any occasion from gorgeous long Argentium Silver ear wires. These earrings feature my artist's mark on the reverse.

All items comes gift wrapped, with a care of jewelry pamphlet directly from my studio to your door anywhere in the world with my complimentary world-wide shipping!

First I have to discuss the science- just a little bit, I promise! Silver and gold are a very soft metals, which means they can only become so strong through being worked before they crack, or break. Generally, they are much to soft to create any reasonable amount of structural strength. So, sometime in the 12th century in northern Germany, people started mixing other metals into molten precious metals to help make them stronger. For this article, I will take silver as our example, but it is identical to the process used for gold. The majority of the mixture, called an alloy, is silver, with the balance of the material generally consisting of copper. Now, when a silver alloy is heated with a torch, the surface of the metal becomes black as the copper of the alloy oxidizes in the heat.

Metalsmiths use various kinds of dilute acids to remove these copper oxides, leaving a very thin layer of pure silver on the surface of the metal. The artist will continue removing copper oxides, anywhere from 5 to 50 times, which will gradually thicken the outside layer of pure silver. Pretty much rinse and repeat- for hours.

Nothing disastrous yet, right? In fact, maybe a little boring…

Then comes the test. If the artist thinks they’re good enough, has nerves of steel, and excellent timing, they’ll continue on to the next step. Taking the prepared sheet of silver, and a very hot torch, the metalsmith gradually moves the torch millimeters away from the pure silver surface of the metal watching carefully until- as if by magic- gorgeous wrinkled textures appear in the wake of the passing torch. Peaks! Valleys! Waves of beautiful silver!

Very carefully not jumping up and down while holding a torch can be a little difficult at times.

While resisting the jumping, and watching the lovely texture appear, two things are happening underneath that torch. First, the interior of the metal- the part that still has copper mixed in, is melting. It can in fact, be boiling. Second, the outside of the metal, while very close to the melting point, is about 50 degrees away from becoming a puddle, and is actually holding it’s shape while conforming to the suddenly moving interior alloy.

Do you see the danger? Quite aside from all the hours of work wasted, the artist is narrowly avoiding liquefying an innocent, expensive, piece of silver on the workbench in the pursuit of extraordinary textures. Speaking from personal experience, managing to develop the best textures is generally where you are most likely to develop very large holes as well.

However, as you can see from the piece shown above, the entire hours long process results in some truly fabulous organic-looking textures that cannot be achieved any other way- but only if one’s nerves are up to it!

If you have any more questions about reticulated gold or silver, please convo me!

If you enjoyed the description of reticulating metals in this listing, you can find the rest of the article as well as more of my thoughts on jewelry processes and artistic endeavors on my blog: http://www.kaelindesign.wordpress.com . Thank you for your interest!

$295.00
Nestled in the center of a stunning piece of flame textured reticulated silver is a mysterious blue sapphire gemstone in this gorgeously elegant pendant. Featuring my artist’s mark on the reverse, this pendant is suspended on an 18 inch sterling silver snake chain.

The sapphire in this piece is a AAA VS dark blue natural sapphire. The pendant measures 1.25 inches in length, and is approximately 1 inch wide.

All items comes gift wrapped, with a care of jewelry pamphlet directly from my studio to your door anywhere in the world with my complimentary world-wide shipping!

First I have to discuss the science- just a little bit, I promise! Silver and gold are a very soft metals, which means they can only become so strong through being worked before they crack, or break. Generally, they are much to soft to create any reasonable amount of structural strength. So, sometime in the 12th century in northern Germany, people started mixing other metals into molten precious metals to help make them stronger. For this article, I will take silver as our example, but it is identical to the process used for gold. The majority of the mixture, called an alloy, is silver, with the balance of the material generally consisting of copper. Now, when a silver alloy is heated with a torch, the surface of the metal becomes black as the copper of the alloy oxidizes in the heat.

Metalsmiths use various kinds of dilute acids to remove these copper oxides, leaving a very thin layer of pure silver on the surface of the metal. The artist will continue removing copper oxides, anywhere from 5 to 50 times, which will gradually thicken the outside layer of pure silver. Pretty much rinse and repeat- for hours.

Nothing disastrous yet, right? In fact, maybe a little boring…

Then comes the test. If the artist thinks they’re good enough, has nerves of steel, and excellent timing, they’ll continue on to the next step. Taking the prepared sheet of silver, and a very hot torch, the metalsmith gradually moves the torch millimeters away from the pure silver surface of the metal watching carefully until- as if by magic- gorgeous wrinkled textures appear in the wake of the passing torch. Peaks! Valleys! Waves of beautiful silver!

Very carefully not jumping up and down while holding a torch can be a little difficult at times.

While resisting the jumping, and watching the lovely texture appear, two things are happening underneath that torch. First, the interior of the metal- the part that still has copper mixed in, is melting. It can in fact, be boiling. Second, the outside of the metal, while very close to the melting point, is about 50 degrees away from becoming a puddle, and is actually holding it’s shape while conforming to the suddenly moving interior alloy.

Do you see the danger? Quite aside from all the hours of work wasted, the artist is narrowly avoiding liquefying an innocent, expensive, piece of silver on the workbench in the pursuit of extraordinary textures. Speaking from personal experience, managing to develop the best textures is generally where you are most likely to develop very large holes as well.

However, as you can see from the piece shown above, the entire hours long process results in some truly fabulous organic-looking textures that cannot be achieved any other way- but only if one’s nerves are up to it!

If you have any more questions about reticulated gold or silver, please convo me!

If you enjoyed the description of reticulating metals in this listing, you can find the rest of the article as well as more of my thoughts on jewelry processes and artistic endeavors on my blog: http://www.kaelindesign.wordpress.com . Thank you for your interest!

$150.00
Hand forged fine silver loops and twirls around a stunning Crazy Lace Agate cabochon in this beautiful pendant. Gracing an intricate sterling silver chain, this pendant measures approximately 2.5 inches long, and 1.5 inches wide.

I had a wonderful time creating this pendant, and I have been inspired into a new direction of wrapped stone-set pendants. Look for more pieces coming soon!

As always this piece comes with my Care of Jewelry brochure, as well as complimentary gift wrap. Please consult my shop policies for full details on my shipping and packaging policies.