For those of you who haven't seen this yet... this was one of my latest experiments that actually went well.
I have been attempting to incorporate different lower cost materials to balance out the cost of the insanely high precious metal prices. So I came across some old antique watch crystals, spinel rough (it’s the red stones in their natural crystal state) and the bezel is made out of Palladium 950.
I ran into some issues with the Palladium. Palladium is in the Platinum family… it has the same color and is quite workable, but is 1/2 the specific gravity of Platinum. Well, basically, all the technical information says it works EXACTLY like Platinum… trust me, it does not. The metal oxidizes with hit with the flame and it creates a purple stain on the metal. Also, it cannot be welded like Platinum.
But, overall, I have gotten some good feedback on this pendant. Using rough stones and the crystals keeps the price down. Also, I just came across a vendor that can get me a great deal on the domed watch crystals. So, I’ll consider making more of these.
2 comments:
I think it's AWESOME. Very different and clever! And who doesn't like to make a little music as we move.
Trace! This is fabulous - and so is the blog. Today, I want to be a wiener....
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