Category: Earrings

A pair of green Moss Agate and sterling earrings made to go with a matching pendant (see the previous post Sterling Silver Green Moss Agate Pendant for pics/info on that). The 12×8 mm pear-shaped stones are set in backless step bezels which were made from 16 ga. square wire set inside 28 ga. sheet.

For the earrings I also formed pear-shaped studs for the posts, connected to the bezels on the stones with 1.3 mm flat drawn cable chain so they will dangle.

To form the studs I rolled out a small ingot to 2.25 mm thick, cut it in half then super-glued the pieces together, back-to-back. By doing this it allows me to cut, file and form the studs so they match in size and symmetry. Once the forming is done, warming them slightly with the torch breaks the bond, and acetone removes any remaining glue residue left behind.

Here’s a shot of the back of the earrings (and pendant) showing the backless step bezels made to highlight the transparency and green mossy inclusions of these beautiful stones.

A pair of sterling silver and Amazonite cabochon earrings I created back in 2016 for a friend to give to his daughter that match the stacker rings (also with Amazonite cabochons) I had previously been asked to make for him to give her on her birthday.

A pair of Lotus Flower stamped dangle earrings. Both sides are stamped on sterling silver discs, which are then aligned and sweat-soldered together (though only the back side has the .925 stamp).

By linking the soldered and drilled discs with jump rings, and graduating the sizes of those discs, a nice pair of dangle earrings can be made.

For these I also had graduating sizes of the Lotus Flower stamp from previous projects (earrings, stacker rings and charms) which fit nicely, but plain hammered or textured discs would look great, too. Ignore the T-pin in the picture used so they hang vertically, I didn’t have anything else handy at the moment. 😉

Another pair of earrings on the bench getting their prongs finished off. These earrings are set with faceted 4 mm green Cubic Zirconia stones.

I use a small block of 1″x1″ wood with small holes drilled to accept the earring posts, then fill the holes and surface with melted shellac to anchor and keep the earrings stable while I set the stones and finish the prongs.

With the block set in a small vise that rotates, it makes for a great way to set stones in earring prong settings without bending those posts! 😉

Finishing off the prongs on this pair of lab-created Blue Sapphire earrings…

The 4mm faceted stones were set in pronged tube settings. I filed V-shaped galleries in the tubes between each prong, which allows light to enter the setting from underneath the stone to enhance its appearance and sparkle. The tube settings were then soldered onto a base plate, which in turn allows the posts to be soldered on.

Below are those 4mm lab-created faceted Blue Sapphire earrings completed, and you can more easily see the V-shaped gallery cuts made in the settings to allow more light to enter the stone from the underside before the base and posts were soldered on.

Here’s a picture of the opal earrings I made for my mother-in-law back in 2014, and which kind of kicked off a “rediscovered” passion for silversmithing after an absence of over two decades in a way.

I had often missed creating silver jewelry, but never really had a place where I could do more than a quick repair, or something very simple as we were apartment dwellers never in the same place for long due to my job at the time.

Made from sterling sheet and wire, the bezels were hand-serrated and set within a twisted rope border. The opal stones are about 5-6 mm triangular free-form cabochons that I had acquired well over 30 years earlier, too.

In fact, when I originally purchased them, I had also purchased another slightly larger opal that I later used in creating a ring for Kathy back in the late 80’s (and is when I discovered apartment living really *does* limit what you can do when it comes to silversmithing). 😉

It was after I had made Kathy that ring and her mom had seen it, that I wound up promising to make a pair of earrings with the other two opals for her. You can read more details about that on this site’s About page.