February 2009
All Good Things Take Time

When I began making jewelry in 1988, patience was not my strongest attribute. My painting background usually offered instant gratification. Now that I've matured as an artist (and otherwise) the process of making jewelry is truly a joy! This month, I will share with you the basic steps to creating a piece of handcrafted jewelry and the patience involved in this endeavor. In future articles I will go into more detail about these processes.

Step 1: Come up with an idea (often in the middle of the night!)

Step 2: Make a detailed drawing

Step 3: Make a model from the drawing (making the "master" piece)

Step 4: Make a mold (from 5 hours to overnight depending on the type used)

Step 5: Make a wax replica of the design and then invest the wax (don't worry; Bernie Madoff is NOT involved in this process!) The investment must harden overnight.

Step 6: Burnout the wax (up to 5 hours)

Step 7: Cast the piece (metal is melted and poured into the investment mold)

Step 8: Clean the casting (sawing, filing and sanding oh my!)

Step 9: Set stones

Step 10: Assemble the piece (attaching chains, findings, etc.)

Step 11: Polish & clean

Wheew! I'm tired just reading about it. But now you have a shiny, beautiful piece of jewelry ready to wear!

Fun Facts

It is believed that it takes as much as three million years or more for natural diamonds to form. That's quite a wait for the raw materials necessary to make a stunning piece of jewelry. Suddenly, six more weeks of winter doesn't seem that long, does it?

March 2009

How Inspiration Becomes Art

For my jewelry collections I take an idea and rough sketch and translate that into metal. This is not always easy as some things look better "on paper" than in three dimensions. I will often make an exact drawing to the size I want. Then I scan it into the computer and print it out so that I have a template to use when making the model. This also gives me a backup incase I need the image again. I often make a few sizes of each piece to use as different elements in a collection so once the images are in the computer, I can size them up or down as needed for templates for future models. Before I had the computer, I used to photo copy drawings and size them up and down from there. Hurray for technology!

Fun Facts

Alex Franckel spent a year planning how to cut the 434.6 carat "Light of Peace" diamond. As the 14th largest diamond in the world it was finally cut into 13 diamonds weighing a total of 172.46 carats. The largest individual diamond from this stone is the "Light of Peace". This pear shaped beauty weighs 130.27 carats, has a D color and VVS1 clarity. Now that's inspiring!

April 2009

The Master Piece

A majority of my designs are made from cast pieces. In order to cast a piece of jewelry one must start with a master model. This is an object made exactly like the finished product which will be molded to create multiples. All future pieces will be made from this original one. First I create an exact drawing of my design keeping in mind the final size of the finished product. A finished piece will end up about 5% smaller than the original due to shrinkage during molding and casting. Then I choose the thickness for the finished piece. Once the proper stock is selected, I glue the drawing onto the metal and then cut it out with a jewelers saw. I then form this piece into the exact shape I like with all of it's curves and bends. Finally, I attach a sprue which is a round rod that allows the metal to flow into the piece during casting. That's it. I'm now well on my way to another "masterpiece"!

Fun Facts

The Great Star of Africa is a 530.20 carat pear shaped diamond set in the Royal Scepter which is kept in the Tower of London along with the other Crown Jewels of England. The Great Star of Africa is the largest cut diamond in the world and originated from the largest diamond crystal ever found, the Cullian I which was 3,106 carats. Now that's a masterpiece!

May 2009

How To Make Multiples

Last month I showed you the master model. Molds are made from the model usually from rubber or silicone. I try to use rubber whenever possible because one rubber mold can make up to 1,000 waxes. Silicone has many advantages but the mold does not last as long. To make a rubber mold, thin sheets of rubber are cut to fit inside of a steel frame. (usually rectangular in shape) The layers of rubber are carefully placed on both sides of the metal master model to create a sandwich that will fit inside the steel frame. The steel frame containing the rubber and model are then placed in a vulcanizer which will melt the rubber while under pressure to create and exact mold of the original master model. This process takes about 5 hours. The mold is then carefully cut open to remove the original model. Finally, heated wax is injected into the opening of the mold to create an exact wax replica of the original piece.

Fun Facts

Diamonds do not have duplicates... Did you know that no two diamonds are alike? Each crystal is as unique as a snowflake, a finger print or maybe even you! OK, nothing is as unique as YOU are but you get the idea!

July 2009

Creating the Void: How To Invest And Burnout Wax

Once the wax replicas are created they are attached to one main wax section called the sprue. This sprue is then connected to a rubber base using melted wax. The rubber base containing the waxes is then joined with a steel metal cylinder called the flask. This is where the casting will take place. A plaster-like substance called investment is mixed to the consistency of pancake batter and poured into the flask. The invested flask is left to dry for at least 2-3 hours and then put into a kiln for burnout. Over the course of 5 hours, the flask will be gradually heated up to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit. This process completely removes all of the wax from the plaster creating an exact replica of the waxes in the form of a void. Next month I will share the ways that this void is filled with the metal of choice through the lost wax casting method.

Fun Facts

If you think spending 5 hours at 1200 degrees Fahrenheit is a lot, imagine being a diamond forming far beneath the earth's surface. Many diamonds form up to 100 miles under the earth's surface and we all know it's way more than 1200 degrees. There's a lot of heat and pressure down there!

September 2009

Casting Jewelry into Metal: Ready, set, action...

The lost wax casting method Once the wax model is burnt out from the metal flask we are ready for casting. Finally, we will see our design come to life in metal! The two main types of casting commonly used in commercial jewelry making are vacuum casting and centrifugal casting. Vacuum casting is when the melted metal is pulled into the mold by using a powerful vacuum. Centrifugal casting is when the melted metal is thrown into the plaster mold using a high level of centrifugal force created by using a spring system to create rotation of the flask. In either case, the flask is first removed from the burnout oven while still very hot. Next, the jewelry metal is melted in a crucible until red hot and molten. Finally, the metal is poured into the mold if using vacuum casting or the spring is released during centrifugal casting to throw the metal into the mold. After some cooling has taken place, the hot flask is placed into a bucket of water to release the new jewelry piece from the plaster. Voila! You now have a metal replica of your original design! In my next installment of the jewelry making process I will share with you the final steps to creating a beautiful piece of wearable art jewelry!

Fun Facts

Did you know that diamonds can be cast in place? Some manufacturers set diamonds into the wax model and let them go through the casting process which cuts down on setting time.

December 2009

Clean, Set, Assemble & Polish: Your new favorite piece of jewelry is now ready to wear!

So here we are with our metal replica of our original design. What to do? Clean it of course. This step involves filing and sanding the metal until it has a fine finish that is ready for stone setting. The stones are set by using a bur to cut the metal to the shape and size of the selected stone. Next the stone is placed in the hole making sure that it is level. Finally metal is pushed carefully over the edges of the stone to hold it in place. To assemble the piece findings such as chain, jump rings or earring posts are soldered to the piece to make it into a wearable piece of art. The piece is then polished to a high luster or in some cases brushed to produce the desired finish. Finally a trip through an ultrasonic cleaner and steamer reveal the final product...your new favorite piece of jewelry!

Fun Facts

Did you know that Takashimaya department store in Tokyo had a diamond Christmas tree for sale in 2007? The tiny tree made of preserved roses contained 100 carats of diamonds and was listed for 1.8 million dollars! I think I'll stick to my $25 needle dropping special with my parents' 40+ year old angel at the top. Happy Holidays everyone!!!

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