What is precious metal clay?

Precious metal clay is a relatively recent newcomer on the handcrafted jewelry scene.  It is fine silver in clay form.  It consists of tiny particles of silver, bound together with organic binders.  You form, shape and texture it much as you would clay, then dry the piece to bisque stage. When completely dried and finished, the very fragile clay is ready to go in the kiln. Once it reaches a certain temperature, the binder material burns, the silver sinters and you are left with a piece of solid fine silver.  After firing, the piece is then burnished and polished, giving it that gorgeous shine.

Metal clay is wonderful for creating pieces of rich texture, as well as for setting glass, gemstones, cubic zirconia and other interesting accent pieces.  Because it is fine silver (99.9%pure), it does not tarnish like sterling and requires only an ocassional polish with a polishing cloth to regain it's lovely luster.

How do you create your mixed metal pieces?

All mixed metal pieces start as sheet metal.  The design is drawn on the metal and cut out with a jeweler's saw, including any inside cuts that are part of the design.  All edges are then filed and sanded to satiny smoothness. The pieces are then stamped with design features, hammered with texturing hammers, domed or any combination of those processes. 

The next step is the patina process. This is done either with a torch creating an incredible array of colors from greens and blues to purples and red, or through the use of a bottled patina like liver of sulpher. Each piece is then burnished to a gorgeous glow and coated in a sealant to seal in the color and eliminate any chance of discoloration on the skin or clothing.

 The final step consists of wiring each piece together with highlighting accents, and  being strung with whatever design element highlights its specific features -- semi-precious gemstones, pearls, glass or other metal elements.