Prelude to Betty

Betty's ring that is.  I have my next commission ready to go and thought for good measure, I should do a "test" ring.  So that's exactly what I did.  I chose a lovely faceted rhodolite garnet and worked in sterling and gold to get reaquainted with the process and here is the end result:

I used 22k yellow gold for the bezel and hammer set the 8 x 10mm garnet.  The balls around the bezel are 24k yellow gold and just glow against the brushed sterling silver. 

I'm geared up and ready to go with the commission.  Look for pictures soon!

Commission Follow-Up

Labor Day weekend has come and gone and despite the beautiful weather calling my name, I managed to get some work done in the studio.  Continuing with my commission talk from the other day, one should always remember that the original design might work better in a drawing than in real life, so always remain open to adjustments and modifications.  For instance, today I remade a clasp for the seven-strand pearl choker because the original one that I drew and even fabricated, didn't allow the wearer to experience the best fit.  I'm pleased with this change and it minimally changes the overall design.

I'll go through the steps for this new choker from drawing through execution:

You can see the basic design and sizes listed, as well as the original clasp design.  Next up are the actaul fabricated silver components:

This is the frontispiece where a 40 x 30mm black onyx cabochon will be bezel set in fine silver.  The bars show the loops that the pearl strands will be connected to after being strung.  The same loops are on the backside of the frontispiece too. 

I'm using 5.5-6.0mm freshwater, nearly round white pearls.  They will be strung on silk and joined to the clasp and frontispiece with silver bead tips. 

The completed necklace: 

It's ready to be tried on for size and overall fit.  Note the clasp design change from the drawing.  I found using a classic bar end with a loop and hook clasp allows the necklace to be drawn in tighter or slightly loosened by easily changing the loop.  Details are below:

 

I'm still contemplating adding a spacer bar to hold the pearl strands together; however, when I tried on the necklace, they laid nicely in order, so I'll wait on that until I show it to the client.  I feel so lucky to be able to create such a striking, yet classic necklace and luckier that I have the perfect client to wear it!