My dabble in jewellery making.

[ShashiRatna]

Hi,

Wanted to share this with you guys. I crotched using Argentium Silver. I used using semi-precious gemstones - Amethyst and Cherry Quartz chips.

Planning to graduate to pearls soon.

Cheers,
SR

 

[pattye]

Lovely! What a graceful way to display! How about a closeup so we can see the actual crochet part? Thanks in advance!

 

[claudenancy]

Lovely color combination. How do you like the Argentium silver?

 

[Pearlcat]

I've use Argentium silver too. I especially like using it when making jewelry for gifts because the gift receiver doesn't have to worry about much, if any, tarnish. It is shiny like white gold but at the fraction of the price. It is slightly more expensive than regular sterling. One drawback, however, is that it is more brittle than regular silver and I have snapped a few headpins when making earrings. Nevertheless, I'm planning on ordering a bunch more findings soon.

ShashiRatna -- your necklace is beautiful. I've got the pearl stringing thing down, but now I need to graduate to making jewelry like yours!

 

[ShashiRatna]

Thank you all for the compliments. I appreciate it.

Pattye,
Attaching some closeups. I would have done it sooner - but then I started having fun with my camera. Hope you can see the crotchet part.

claudenancy,
I used Argentium Silver for the first time on this necklace end of last year and so far I don't see any tarnish. The necklace is not stored in a box or nothing.

In my research on Arg Silver in another group, a lady said that Silver and Arg Silver work-harden and become brittle and metalsmiths use annealing to retard this process. Lower the content of pure metal - quicker the wire will "work-harden". But I didn't have any issues with ArgSilver. That's probably coz it is a thin wire. I am going to try with Silver for my next project.

Pearlcat,
Do you mind sharing your source for Argentium Silver findings?

Thanks,
ShashiRatna

 

[ShashiRatna]

Attaching another pic.
-SR

 

[pattye]

SR,
Thank you! Just the Yummiest colors!! The crochet is hidden in the middle, fascinating! Do you string the nuggets on before you start?

 

[ShashiRatna]

Yes Pattye, I string the nuggets before I start. Becomes quite time consuming especially when I make necklaces using small seed beads.

Cheers,
ShashiRatna

 

[Pearlcat]

SR -- I'm soooo impressed with your necklace! If I may ask, how long to did it take to make?

For argentium findings -- the last time I ordered it was from G&S Metals (http://www.gsgold.com/cart/idxargentiumssmillproductsandfindings.asp) and was pleased with my purchase. They require a $25 minimum purchase and do not have wire.

I haven't ordered from them yet but this time I plan to buy from Argentium Silver Findings (www.argentiumsilverfindings.com). They require a minimum $50 purchase and they do have argentium wire.

Kate

 

[barbie biggs]

Wonderful choice of colors. Is it heavy?

 

[ShashiRatna]

Pearlcat,
I really didn't keep track of how much time it took me to do this particular necklace. I usually work while I am watching TV. I think this one might have taken about me 2 full hour shows - my guess.

Thank you barbie biggs. It's not really very heavy.

Cheers,
ShashiRatna

 

[jerin]

It is beautiful with this colour mix! Beautiful work, Shashi!

 

[ShashiRatna]

Thank you Inge.

Cheers,
SR