silver jewelry – rosebud arts

Just for fun, a large size (1 inch). Sterling and fine silver.

Fabricated Sterling. Approximately 2 1/2 inches.

This is my take on the traditional Bavarian/Austrian hat pin. I altered the traditional shape and the fastening mechanism.

The pin is designed to hold either a feather or a bundle of hair (goat and badger are typical). It is held in place with a screw.

The downy feather is from a peacock. I found it at a zoo.

Here is the pin and its pieces.

The threaded points are inserted into the hat, and the round nuts secure it from inside the hat.

Fabricated from 14 g Sterling and Star Sapphire.

The inspiration for this ring came while I was rereading Lilith by George MacDonald. Here’s the section:

“The sun was very bright, but I doubted if the day would long be fine, and looked into the milky sapphire I wore, to see whether the star in it was clear. It was even less defined than I had expected. I rose from the breakfast-table, and went to the window to glance at the stone again. There had been heavy rain in the night, and on the lawn was a thrush breaking his way into the shell of a snail.
As I was turning my ring about to catch the response of the star to the sun, I spied a keen black eye gazing at me out of the milky misty blue. The sight startled me so that I dropped the ring, and when I picked it up the eye was gone from it. The same moment the sun was obscured; a dark vapour covered him, and in a minute or two the whole sky was clouded. The air had grown sultry, and a gust of wind came suddenly. A moment more and there was a flash of lightning, with a single sharp thunder-clap. Then the rain fell in torrents.”

Here it is in the sunlight. The star is quite clear testifying to a sunny day.

Even without the sun revealing the star, the sapphire is quite enchanting. Alas, I have yet to see an eye looking back at me from out of the stone. I’ll keep looking, however.

The shank is rather heavy, 14 gauge.

Fabricated Sterling. Approximately 1 1/2 inches.

This pair of crosses was commissioned for a confirmand and sponsor. They’re a variation of some I’ve done previously. These are smaller, and with a little difference in emphasis.