Oak Leaf Silver Dangle Earrings
These white oak leaves are made out silver and lightweight enough that they don’t weigh down your ears, but they feel substantial. I try to find a gauge that feels nice and is also light. The piece is hand fabricated with the texture details coming from me pounding the silver on an anvil with hammers. I love all the leaf shapes and these are quite stunning on. The look really nice with your hair up or down, as the silver shines against hair or adds a classy and dramatic touch to short hair or an updo.
SIZE: Oak leaves measure about two inches. These earrings are on the long side, with a full drop length of about 3.00”.
The Process:
Each of my pieces is hand fabricated, not cast. This means that each piece is cut from silver wire and sheet, folded, hammered, soldered and finished all by my hand. This creates a truly unique piece, as each one is made individually. I use a hammer and anvil to create the textures that appear on the silver. I also use a technique called “fold forming” which requires me to repeatedly heat and fold the metal to create lines in the metal. You can see much of my process by visiting my instagram @sydneymetaldesigns where I make jewelry and other art!
I like to say I’m not a jeweler, I just make jewelry. I am currently using metal smithing techniques to explore the details and beauty in nature by recreating the natural world in silver jewelry form for us to appreciate.
The Material: Argentium Silver
I use a relatively new alloy of silver called Argentium, which has a slightly higher pure silver content than sterling and a small amount of germanium. This alloy is 94% pure silver, while sterling has a purity content of 92.5% (why some sterling jewelry has 925 stamp). I find the slightly higher silver content makes the silver more tarnish resistant and gives me the ability to fuse the material instead of just soldering. The silver has a lovely, whitish brightness to it that I really enjoy! I clean my silver with toothpaste and a brush for the hard to reach areas. But you can clean this silver the same way you clean your sterling silver.
These white oak leaves are made out silver and lightweight enough that they don’t weigh down your ears, but they feel substantial. I try to find a gauge that feels nice and is also light. The piece is hand fabricated with the texture details coming from me pounding the silver on an anvil with hammers. I love all the leaf shapes and these are quite stunning on. The look really nice with your hair up or down, as the silver shines against hair or adds a classy and dramatic touch to short hair or an updo.
SIZE: Oak leaves measure about two inches. These earrings are on the long side, with a full drop length of about 3.00”.
The Process:
Each of my pieces is hand fabricated, not cast. This means that each piece is cut from silver wire and sheet, folded, hammered, soldered and finished all by my hand. This creates a truly unique piece, as each one is made individually. I use a hammer and anvil to create the textures that appear on the silver. I also use a technique called “fold forming” which requires me to repeatedly heat and fold the metal to create lines in the metal. You can see much of my process by visiting my instagram @sydneymetaldesigns where I make jewelry and other art!
I like to say I’m not a jeweler, I just make jewelry. I am currently using metal smithing techniques to explore the details and beauty in nature by recreating the natural world in silver jewelry form for us to appreciate.
The Material: Argentium Silver
I use a relatively new alloy of silver called Argentium, which has a slightly higher pure silver content than sterling and a small amount of germanium. This alloy is 94% pure silver, while sterling has a purity content of 92.5% (why some sterling jewelry has 925 stamp). I find the slightly higher silver content makes the silver more tarnish resistant and gives me the ability to fuse the material instead of just soldering. The silver has a lovely, whitish brightness to it that I really enjoy! I clean my silver with toothpaste and a brush for the hard to reach areas. But you can clean this silver the same way you clean your sterling silver.
These white oak leaves are made out silver and lightweight enough that they don’t weigh down your ears, but they feel substantial. I try to find a gauge that feels nice and is also light. The piece is hand fabricated with the texture details coming from me pounding the silver on an anvil with hammers. I love all the leaf shapes and these are quite stunning on. The look really nice with your hair up or down, as the silver shines against hair or adds a classy and dramatic touch to short hair or an updo.
SIZE: Oak leaves measure about two inches. These earrings are on the long side, with a full drop length of about 3.00”.
The Process:
Each of my pieces is hand fabricated, not cast. This means that each piece is cut from silver wire and sheet, folded, hammered, soldered and finished all by my hand. This creates a truly unique piece, as each one is made individually. I use a hammer and anvil to create the textures that appear on the silver. I also use a technique called “fold forming” which requires me to repeatedly heat and fold the metal to create lines in the metal. You can see much of my process by visiting my instagram @sydneymetaldesigns where I make jewelry and other art!
I like to say I’m not a jeweler, I just make jewelry. I am currently using metal smithing techniques to explore the details and beauty in nature by recreating the natural world in silver jewelry form for us to appreciate.
The Material: Argentium Silver
I use a relatively new alloy of silver called Argentium, which has a slightly higher pure silver content than sterling and a small amount of germanium. This alloy is 94% pure silver, while sterling has a purity content of 92.5% (why some sterling jewelry has 925 stamp). I find the slightly higher silver content makes the silver more tarnish resistant and gives me the ability to fuse the material instead of just soldering. The silver has a lovely, whitish brightness to it that I really enjoy! I clean my silver with toothpaste and a brush for the hard to reach areas. But you can clean this silver the same way you clean your sterling silver.