Have you ever looked at the ring on your finger and wondered how the raw metals and gems were formed into that particular shape? Then come along with us for an in-depth explanation.
It All Starts with a Glimmer of an Idea:
Peering into a drawer full of gems, our designers cast an experienced eye over the colors and shapes until one stands out and says “Me. It’s my turn.” Sometimes the design is immediately visible in our minds, sometimes it takes a bit of study and sketching. Do we want accent stones, or a focus on just the one gem? Should this be created in gold or silver?
Here’s a half-moon chrysocolla Sarah chose, with a baguette chalcedony accent:
On to the Wax Stage:
Once we’ve settled on a design, a wax model must be crafted. This can be done one of two ways: hand sculpting, or CAD (Computer Aided Design)
This piece got the hand sculpting option because she wanted a bit of a rustic feel to the pendant. Using a combination of extruded and injected jewelers’ wax, Sarah carefully formed a bezel around each stone, then added the links for the hinge mechanism so that the piece will have some movement. She uses an old school alcohol-burning lamp and an assortment of modified dental tools to heat fuse the parts together. Each color of wax you see in this photo represents a different melt temperature and rigidity.
Finishing with some texture around the bezels, it was then ready for the next step…
You Really Vaporize All That Work?
Sure do. Sometimes, in order to have creation, you must have destruction.
The next step was Jason’s task. He carefully attached the delicate wax pieces to a sprue system (also known as as a wax tree or casting port). This was then placed into a vented steel flask. Then he poured liquid investment over the pieces. Investment is a silica based powder that, when mixed with water, has a consistency similar to plaster of Paris.
Once the investment hardened, the entire flask was placed into a kiln and heated to 1,400°F for several hours. All that delicate sculpting work melted and vaporized, leaving the perfect impression in the now-rigid investment.
Time to Bring the Heat:
Once the wax left a cavity in the investment, Jason alloyed the metal. Sterling Silver is 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% alloy (mostly copper). Since he weighed the entire wax tree before investing, he was able to calculate down to the tenth of a gram how much metal to melt.
The metal arrives to us in this bead form called ‘shot’, and once weighed, is placed into a crucible, torch melted at temperatures around 1,800º or more, and stirred to mix the alloy. Borax flux is added to this composition to protect the metal.
Next, Jason placed the vented flask into a vacuum caster, carefully poured in the molten metal, and allowed it to cool. He often casts three to six flasks at a time, each one a different metal.
Once the metal cooled enough to be handled, the investment is chipped away, then the residue was washed off, leaving a beautiful matte silver casting.
Cut, File, Bend, and Polish:
That fresh casting was ready to be snipped from the sprue, filed smooth where any casting ports allowed metal to flow, and prepped for stonesetting. Once it was ready, Emily took over.
She painstakingly formed the hinge between the stones, soldering both that and the bail shut so they’d last a lifetime. Now comes the magic moment- dropping those stones into the settings and carefully wrapping the metal over the edges. This requires a tremendous amount of patience so as to not mar the surface of the stones.
The final touch was a series of polishing steps, using a variety of tools to reach the tight spaces.
Ready to Dazzle!
The finished one of a kind piece was now thoroughly cleaned, polished, and ready for some expert photos taken by Julie. She uses a sophisticated jewelry photography machine and software, such an upgrade from the digital camera and printer paper setup we started with!
All said and done, this single necklace represents over a hundred years of combined experience. Every minute detail and production step comes from years of trial and error, which is why we’re able to stand behind our product.
