Color me beautiful!

My jewelry design process is pretty fun. I begin making my one of a kind pieces by selecting a unexpected matches of colorful gemstones. Sometimes, pairs and combos are left to ponder upon for days, even months. When I feel the zing of the AH-HA moment, I know I've nailed it.

I played with the gemstones in my Michele Bracelet for weeks until the perfect trio of color, texture and shape came together.

I use only 22 karat yellow gold in my jewelry. I alloy the gold myself in my studio. I heat "fine" or pure gold shot to its melting point of 1947.52 °F with my largest acetylene torch. I do this on a dense charcoal block where I've carved out a small bowl.

Exact proportions of fine silver and copper are then added to the molten pure gold, creating an alloy suitable for making jewelry.

 

The final ratio is 22 parts pure gold to 2 parts fine silver and copper.The tradition of using 22k yellow gold and the methods I use to make my jewelry are centuries old. 

After the gold, silver, and copper are blended an alloy of 22k gold is formed.The alloy is cooled in the form of an ingot or dollop.

Read Part 2