Monday, March 10, 2014

Gold and Blackened Silver Jewelry

As I play more and more with black oxidized silver, I've found myself craving gold. For years I've collected images of jewelry from artists that I admire which features the pop of bright gold with black. It's one of my favorite color combos.

So I finally dove in. I ordered a single ounce of fine gold casting grain to combine with some unused 14k gold rings from the jewelry box to combine for 22k casting. From this investment I have a collection of birds, flowers and leaves to try out in some new jewelry.

Goldfinch earrings
©2014 Vickie Hallmark
Argentium sterling silver, 22k gold

Here are the first few things I tried. First, a simple pair of earrings with birds in the treetops, obviously goldfinches. I've learned that I need to redo my models and molds, as these gold birds are much thicker (and more expensive) than they need to be.

Goldleaf earrings
©2014 Vickie Hallmark
22k and 18k gold

And I also made a pair of plain gold leaf studs, where I added 18k gold posts and nuts (my first time to solder gold, which went smoothly).