materials ■ Sterling silver wire:

■ Rectangle, 4 x 1 mm, 2 in. (51 mm) ■ Round, 18-gauge (1.0 mm), about 13 in. (33.0 cm)

■ Double half-round, 0.173 x 0.33 in. (4.39 x 0.84 mm)

■ Sterling silver sheet: 24-gauge (0.5 mm), 1 x 2 in. (25.5 x 51 mm)

■ Sterling silver earring post with pad, 2 ■ Briolette, vertically half-drilled, 16 x 6 mm, 2

■ Pearl, half-drilled, 2–5 mm, 2

toolboxes ■ Wirework ■ Sawing/Piercing ■ Soldering/Annealing

additional tools & supplies

■ T-pins ■ Dapping punch ■ Disk cutter ■ Circle template ■ Wood block ■ Baking soda and water solution ■ Liver of sulfur ■ Microcrystalline wax ■ Cyanoacrylate adhesive

EARRIN

GS

Double-movement Teardrop Danglesby Marthe Roberts/Shea

These earrings are especially nice because

they not only move from the earring top,

the internal stone has its own movement

as well. These earrings would make a fabulous gift

or a welcome addition — with a bit of sparkle —

to your (or somebody else’s!) holiday attire.

For even more dramatic earrings, patinate the silver, bezel-set a bullet cab, and add a burst of gold.

1 Use a jeweler’s saw with a #2 blade to cut a 1-in. (25.5 mm) piece of 4 x

1 mm rectangle sterling silver wire. Use a #2-cut half-round file to file the ends of the wire flat. Use half-round pliers to bend the wire into a ring.

NOTE: Repeat each step in this project twice to assemble both earrings at the same time.

EARRING TOP

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2 Use T-pins to stabilize a ring on a soldering board.

Apply flux to the join, and place a small pallion of hard solder at the seam. Heat the ring until the solder flows. Pickle, rinse, and dry the ring. Use the file to remove excess solder from the outside of the ring.

3 Sand the ring in a circular motion on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper, alternating sides until both the top and

bottom edges are smooth.

4 Place the ring on top of a small piece of 24-gauge (0.5 mm)

sterling silver sheet. Apply flux, and place a pallion of medium solder inside the ring. Heat the assembly from the outside. Aim the flame at the point where the wall of the ring meets the sheet; this will draw the solder out, ensuring a solid join. Pickle, rinse, and dry the assembly.

5 Use the jeweler’s saw to cut away the

excess sheet. File the cut edge smooth.

6 Place the assembly sheet-side up on a steel bench block. Choose a

dapping punch that’s slightly smaller than the ring’s diameter. Use the flat face of a ball-peen hammer to strike the dapping punch to create a shall- ow divot in the sheet.

7 Use 18-gauge (1.0 mm) round sterling silver wire to make one ring each in about the following sizes: 3 ⁄16-, 15 ⁄64-, and

5 ⁄16-in. (5 mm, 6 mm, and 8 mm) outside diameter (OD). (The sizes don’t need to be exact.) Set the 3 ⁄16- and 5 ⁄16-in. (5 and 8 mm) jump rings aside.

Use a scribe to make a divot centered on the side of the ring. Use a #54 (0.055-in./1.4 mm) drill bit to drill a hole at the divot. Make a second divot horizontally parallel to and about 5 ⁄32 in. (4 mm) from the first hole.

NOTE: In order to allow the 15 ⁄64-in. (6 mm) OD jump ring to be inserted, the holes must be about 5 ⁄32 in. (4 mm) apart.

If you can’t insert the jump ring through both holes from the outside, use a round needle file to enlarge the holes until the ring passes through them easily.

8 Apply flux to a piece of 24-gauge (0.5 mm)

sterling silver sheet, and sweat medium solder onto it. Place the assembly ring-side down on the sheet, on top of the solder. Apply flux to the join, and position your flame as before to solder the assembly. Pickle, rinse, and dry it.

Use the jeweler’s saw to cut away the excess sheet and use files to refine the hollow form.

9 Use cross-locking tweezers to hold a

sterling silver earring post pad-side down. Sweat a pallion of easy solder onto the bottom of the pad.

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EARRIN

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10 Place the hollow form front-side down onto the soldering

pad. Hold the earring post to the back of the hollow form. Don’t press down; you don’t want to bend the post or put a dent in the earring’s back. Use a soft, bushy flame to solder the post to the hollow form. Pickle, rinse, and dry the assembly.

11 Insert a 15 ⁄64-in. (6 mm) jump ring through the holes in the hollow

form, and close the jump ring. Use T-pins to anchor the earring top on the soldering board. Take advantage of the holes in the honeycomb board to hold the earring post. Apply flux to the jump ring’s join, add a pallion of easy solder, and heat the jump ring until the solder flows. Pickle, rinse, and dry the earring top. Set it aside.

12 Use half-round pliers

to bend a 3-in. (76 mm) piece of 4.39 x 0.84 mm (0.173 x 0.33 in.) double half-round sterling silver wire into a teardrop shape. Make sure that a 16 x 6 mm vertically half-drilled briolette is able to move freely within it and is about 5 ⁄16 in. (9 mm) down from the top of the teardrop.

13 Spread the ends of the teardrop, and use the file to miter the top inside

edges of the wire ends; this miter will help the two ends solder together cleanly.

14 Use T-pins to hold the ends of the teardrop together on the soldering board. Apply flux, and place a pallion of

hard solder inside the teardrop where the ends meet. Aim the flame near the join from the outside until the solder flows and is drawn out. Pickle, rinse, and dry the teardrop.

15 Use a fine-tip permanent marker to mark one side of the teardrop at 5 ⁄32 and 9 ⁄32 in. (4 mm and 7 mm)

from the top of the teardrop. Repeat on the other side. Make a mark centered on the bottom of the teardrop. The 5 ⁄32-in. (4 mm) holes are for a jump ring; the 9 ⁄32-in. (7 mm) holes are for the bar that the briolette will dangle from, and the hole at the bottom of the teardrop is for the pearl peg. Make a divot at each mark, and drill a hole at each divot.

NOTE: You’ll be drilling into an angled surface, so drill from each side independently, rather than straight through the teardrop from one side to the other, to ensure the holes are parallel.

Use a half-round needle file to remove burrs from the inside of the bottom hole, and use a flat needle file to remove burrs from the inside of the holes near the top of the teardrop.

16 Cut a 5 ⁄8-in. (16 mm) piece of 18-gauge (1.0 mm) wire. Insert it into the bottom hole. Apply flux, and place a pallion of medium solder inside the teardrop.

Heat the assembly from the outside until the solder flows. Pickle, rinse, and dry the teardrop.

Use flush cutters to trim the excess wire inside the teardrop. Use the half-round needle file to file the inside smooth. Test your pearl on the peg to make sure it fits. If the peg’s too large, use the flat needle file to reduce the diameter of the peg.

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17 Use a disk cutter to cut a 15 ⁄64– 1⁄8-in. (2–3 mm) disk. Use a circle

template to mark the center of the disk. Make a divot at the mark. Use a #60 (0.040-in./1.02 mm) drill bit to drill a hole at the divot.

NOTE: This disk will be hard to hold because it’s so small. Use parallel-jaw pliers to hold the disk flat against a wood block while you drill it.

19 Thread the wire through the hole in the disk. Place the wire

into a hole in the honeycomb board. (This keeps the piece upright when soldering and prevents the peg from overheating.) Apply flux and place a pallion of easy solder where the loop meets the disk. Heat the assembly until the solder flows. Pickle, rinse, and dry the assembly. Test the fit of the briolette on the finding. If the peg is too big, reduce the peg’s diam-eter as before.

18 Cut a ¾-in. (19 mm) piece of 18-gauge (1.0 mm) wire. Form one end of the wire into a plain loop.

Use easy solder to close the loop, and then pickle, rinse, and dry it.

BRIOLETTE FINDING

20 Insert the pearl peg into a hole in the

honeycomb board, and use T-pins to stabilize the teardrop vertically. Cut a ½-in. (13 mm) piece of 18-gauge (1.0 mm) wire. Thread the wire through one 9 ⁄32-in. (7 mm) hole in the teardrop, the finding’s loop, and the second 9 ⁄32-in. (7 mm) hole. Apply flux, and place a pallion of solder on the wire on each side of the teardrop. Heat the assembly one side at a time until the solder flows. Pickle, rinse, and dry the assembly.

Trim the wire extending from each side of the teardrop. Use a triangle needle file to remove excess solder and wire from the outside of the teardrop.

21 Thread a 5 ⁄16-in. (8 mm) jump ring through the 5 ⁄32-in. (4 mm) holes at the

top of the teardrop. Close the jump ring, and lay the teardrop on a soldering pad. Use easy solder to close the jump ring.

Use T-pins to support the teardrop verti- cally on the soldering board. Thread the 3 ⁄16-in. (5 mm) jump ring through the jump ring in the earring top and the jump ring at the top of the teardrop. Use cross-locking tweezers in a third hand to support the earring top. Use easy solder and a small, focused flame to solder the 3 ⁄16-in. (5 mm) jump ring closed. Be careful not to reflow the solder on the other jump rings. Pickle, rinse and dry the earring.

NOTE: Soak the earring in baking soda and water after rinsing to neutralize any pickle trapped inside the form.

Finish the earring as desired, then patinate the recessed area of the earring top with liver of sulfur. Use microcrystalline wax to seal the patina.

22 Use a T-pin or needle to apply

a small amount of cy- anoacrylate adhesive (superglue) inside the pearl’s hole and its peg. Place the pearl on the peg and press it until it meets the the teardrop.

Repeat to attach the briolette to the briolette finding.

Marthe Roberts/Shea’s work has been shown in galleries nationally. She teaches jewelry making at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts (Cheltenham, Pa.) and the Main Line Art Center (Haverford, Pa.). She is also the president of the Pennsylvania Society of Goldsmiths. You can reach her via her website, www.jewelrybymars.com.

FINISHING Illustrations by Marthe Roberts/Shea.