Here’s another collage of work-in-progress shots I took of another pendant I created for a co-worker to give to his wife (the same person that I created the sterling silver Om overlay pendant and stacker ring for)…
He had given me a ring they had bought in Mexico that had been stamped with “.925” (indicating it was sterling silver), but in reality turned out to be plated brass, which even had the plating wearing away in spots, and a nickel silver bezel for the stone (none of which is real silver, and very illegal to sell as such, even in Mexico). Buyers beware, not everything for sell by beach walkers in Mexico is authentic!
They knew the metal wasn’t worth saving (I returned it to them for recycling anyway), but were wanting me to create a pendant or something with the stone, since at least that was real, and had a pretty flash. So, I figured I would take on the assignment and see what I could come up with.
The stone was a beautiful Rainbow Moonstone. When I removed it from its cheap bezel I found that the bottom of the stone was polished as well (likely from having been tumble-polished), but had just as much, if not more, flash as the top and I wanted to do something to show that off, too.
I had received some really pretty pattern wire in from Rio Grande and decided it would make for a great bezel border, so made a base pierced with moon phases (appropriate for a Moonstone belonging to someone that’s into meditative crystals and such, right?!), and inset it into the bezel and border. The pictures show the tight fit before soldering, as well as after the soldering and sanding cleanup.
The next step was to create a bale for the pendant. After giving it some thought, I chose to use a piece cut out of a small ingot I had poured, then drilled and filed it to shape, giving it three ridges with two valleys.
These above shots show the ingot slice I used, and the bale after the drilling, rough and final shaping were done, and then fitting it to the pendant for a clean solder-job to come next.
You can also see a bit of the pattern wire design I chose for the border, though it really doesn’t “pop” until the piece is finished, oxidized, and the stone set and final polish done.
Below is another collage showing the finished piece. I wish my photography skills were better, but the piece turned out very well and has probably received the most “likes” on Instagram that I have had on any of my postings there to date.
As the pattern wire was just about right for a light-weight stacker ring, and since the last pendant I had made for the co-worker to give to his wife included a stacker ring, I decided to do the same and even had a little 5mm Rainbow Moonstone to use on it, which makes for a perfect match to the pendant since they use the same type of stone and pattern wire.
Not the best lighting by far (especially for showing off the moonstone’s flash), but above is a closer frontal shot of the completed Rainbow Moonstone pendant that the work-in-progress collage pictures covered.