The stone, a dark Green Tourmaline and the metal.
The ingot of metal after it is alloyed to 14K Yellow and stone.
The metal after it is rolled into a ruffly square bar before it is cut and drawn to make round wire.
I then took the metal and rolled part to a 4mm wide by 2.5mm thick bar stock and drew down the wire to 2.5mm round and 1.5mm round. Also in this picture I have already bent and weld the 2.5mm round wire into the start of the crown(what holds the stone).
Here I have started to welding the cross bars onto the crown, this helps support the crown and looks good from the side view of the pendant. Also the bail for the pendant has been shaped and rest to the left of the crown.
At this point all cross bars have been welded in along with the front of the bail.
It is now time to mark where the diamonds will go in the bail.
A different view of the placement of the diamonds.
Setting the diamonds in the bail. The red stuff is a type of sealing wax used to support the arch of the bail as I set the stones. The stones are flush set. I will show how this is done in a later post.
Another view of the stones after they are set but not finished out.
What the bail looks like after cleanup and polish.
Pre-fitting of the center stone to see what needs to be cut away or moved to make room for the stone
A look back at what we started with and what it looks like now.
You will notice that this view is not the same as what is drawn. The design changed from diamonds in each prong and none in the bail to no diamonds in the prongs and six in the bail. Set in a soft arch pattern to follow the shape of the pendant better.
Back in the red shellac(sealing wax), to set the center stone this style of setting is prong setting.
Starting to set the stone notice the lines in each prong. This is so that I only have to move a small piece of metal, this makes moving the metal over the stone easier.
The finished pendant. This is a forged or fabricated pendant, with no pre-made parts or pieces.
In this view you can see the back of the bail that opens so that you can put this on any chain.
I hope you enjoyed looking the making of this pendant as much as I did making it. This was made in 06. Have a great day.
It is now time to mark where the diamonds will go in the bail.
A different view of the placement of the diamonds.
Setting the diamonds in the bail. The red stuff is a type of sealing wax used to support the arch of the bail as I set the stones. The stones are flush set. I will show how this is done in a later post.
Another view of the stones after they are set but not finished out.
What the bail looks like after cleanup and polish.
Pre-fitting of the center stone to see what needs to be cut away or moved to make room for the stone
A look back at what we started with and what it looks like now.
You will notice that this view is not the same as what is drawn. The design changed from diamonds in each prong and none in the bail to no diamonds in the prongs and six in the bail. Set in a soft arch pattern to follow the shape of the pendant better.
Back in the red shellac(sealing wax), to set the center stone this style of setting is prong setting.
Starting to set the stone notice the lines in each prong. This is so that I only have to move a small piece of metal, this makes moving the metal over the stone easier.
The finished pendant. This is a forged or fabricated pendant, with no pre-made parts or pieces.
In this view you can see the back of the bail that opens so that you can put this on any chain.
I hope you enjoyed looking the making of this pendant as much as I did making it. This was made in 06. Have a great day.David
2 comments:
You are one amazingly talented man. I love looking at your work!
I agree!
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