Astro jewellery

[Adamski]

Hello,

I'm studying applied arts at college at the moment and have started using astronomy as inspiration. I am still in the very early stages of making a few bits which will eventually be a lot more refined. Silver and pewter are the materials that i like to use. I am making the master copies at the moment but when i start production properly the silver will be hallmarked. Making moulds and then casting molten silver and pewter.

I hope you like the pics of my progress so far, any comments and criticism will be very useful. Also any ideas that you may have or personal designs that you might like made into one off pieces, maybe?

Cheers.

Adamski

[kniclander]

th blue one kind of reminds me of soemthing but I don't want to say what...

how about following in Kepler's footesteps with the silver cup that shows how the distance of the planets follows a simple mathematical/ musical formula (wrong but aparently the cup was nice)

[jamespels]

Some things that could be interesting...

- a small section of the moon showing craters, etc. Would give a nice relief without standing out too far

- not sure if it would be feasible but a flattened star cluster, possibly with stars held out on thin stalks (much like a pin with a pinhead) though this could end up looking like just a "splat"

- necklace or similar with the planets on (obviously not to scale!)

- some fantastic patterns appearing on the sun at the moment - not sure how you could use them though.

Hope this is of some help, and best of luck with this!

J.

[Beulah]

Some things that could be interesting...

- a small section of the moon showing craters, etc. Would give a nice relief without standing out too far

- not sure if it would be feasible but a flattened star cluster, possibly with stars held out on thin stalks (much like a pin with a pinhead) though this could end up looking like just a "splat"

- necklace or similar with the planets on (obviously not to scale!)

- some fantastic patterns appearing on the sun at the moment - not sure how you could use them though.

Hope this is of some help, and best of luck with this!

J.

Some great suggestions, James.

I am familar with jewellery craft as I studied it some years ago - silver clay is EXCELLENT for textured crater effects (pendants, etc). You shape your piece, fire it, and it fires to pure silver. (sorry if I am teaching granny to suck eggs here)

Heat treated/chemicals applied to copper can create some interesting textural effects simliar to the surfaces of gas giants...

As can enamel - you can replicate interesting nebula affects with fired enamel.

As for sun CMEs, you can use fine feather parts (the same fine feathers you see on fascinators) attached to a firey coloured felt brooch and embellished using the embellishing machine, if you are allowed to explore textiles.

[travellerinthedark]

Whilst down at Astrofest this year I did notice at one of the books and astro bits and pieces tables a necklace of different stones cut and polished each representing a planet or moon and arranged in the order of the solar system with the sun at the centre which I kind of liked.

You could possibly take that idea and make a chain of disks using both silver and pewter and possibly copper and maybe other metals? Polished to different irregular texture levels, pinched and punctured to imply surfaces, each disk representing an object and scaled in size, you could even make a swirl or two to represent a galaxy to include? Work out how to imply rings around Saturn?

I think the disks need to be flat pebble like rather than spheres perhaps, round balls would be too lumpy to wear I think; you'd have to play with that. Needs to be very tactile.

I my head I don't think I see something short that sits on the neck, I see something that has a bit more length. Nothing symmetrical.

If I had a scanner I'd draw you it and post up the drawing lol

I might have to have a go myself now I've designed it in my head