Handcrafted Sterling Silver Mountain, Moon and Star Pendant that I've named "Colorado Sky"
Approx 7/8" round.
Features a gemstone and a hidden clasp on the back so the piece so that the clasp does not interfere with the design.
How it's made:
The background is prepared by cutting a silver sheet into a circle and a random star pattern applied.
Then the mountains and moons are hand cut as well as a silver tube for the gemstone. Then the mountains, moons are soldered or fused to the circular piece and the pendant is shaped to be convex. A stone setting is soldered to the front. And a hidden clasp for the chain to slide through is created and soldered to the back.
After it's been cleaned up I tumble the pendant in a tumbler until it looks beautiful. Then I carefully apply a patina making sure the mountains and moons are patina free and tumble it some more.
Then I apply a wax to the patina to seal the color and use a heat gun to ensure it's melted and smooth.
Using tools, I create a bezel for the specific gemstone at hand and set the gemstone.
Finally I do any final finishing and sign the back of the piece.