So, I bought some of these druzy quartz stones from one of my gem dealers, I initially thought that I would electroform them, which is a process of coating them with a metallic compound and dipping them into a special solution with an electric current, but I am seeing that type of thing all over and wanted them to be a little different than that, so I decided to set them the old fashioned way! I started the process by making bezels out of different wires to fit each stone perfectly.
I then solder the bezel onto a sheet of sterling silver using flux and solder, the flux helps the solder flow when it gets really hot with the torch and the solder joins the bezel to the silver sheet.
The silver then gets a "bath" in warm acid to remove fire scale and get it nice and clean. I use a jewelers saw with a tiny saw blade and carefully saw the new bezel away from the sheet. I file the piece carefully and double check to make sure that all joints are secure.
Then I decide how I want the new piece to be used, for this picture I am showing how I am attaching an adjustable ring band to the newly formed bezel and it goes through the whole bathing process again and then gets a tumble in a tumbler with steel shot to polish the piece.
Come and see these beauties this weekend at Shop Hop in Bexley, don't forget Mother's Day is Sunday and Graduation!!
http://www.bexleyshophop.com/
