Carnelian Silver And Gold Earrings

These beautiful vibrant earrings remind me of the walls of temples and mosques which were often decorated with precious and semi precious stones.

The design for the etching was taken from my Indian pattern book and etched onto sterling silver.

Etching is an interesting process. The pattern is copied onto blue Press and Peel paper. It is burnished onto heated sterling silver sheet. Once the piece cools, the paper is peeled off, the design is left on the silver, sort of like a tattoo. The piece is placed in an acid bath which etches the design into the silver. After the etch is deep enough the silver is placed in a neutralizing solution. The remains of the blue paper is cleaned off. The piece is sawed away from the sheet silver, filed, refined and polished. 

I depletion gilded this piece and burnished 24K Gold Foil on parts of the heated silver. Burnishing Gold Foil onto pure silver is an ancient Korean process is called Keum Boo.

I made a tiny bezel for the oval carnelian I wanted to place in the middle. I cut a heart shape in the center of the bezel. This allows light to shine through the stone when it is set. I painted a little patina to define the scalloped pattern around the stone. 

Dimensions : 1 inch X 1 and 1/4 inch. Sterling Silver Leverbacks. These can be switched to comfortable sterling silver clip ons.