Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Pieces and Parts....

I've finally finished designing my first collection of jewelry for retail stores- yay!! And as I was designing, I tried to have certain thematic elements that repeated, in order to have some cohesiveness to my collection. This jewelry is called the Etruria Collection, and features pieces with small granules (or balls) of silver fused onto a base. The ancient Etruscans mastered this technique- sometimes using balls as small as a head of a pin!! (google 'Etruscan granulation' and be prepared to be wowed...) All my pieces are named for the ancient cities in the land of Etruria, which is now Italy.

So my pieces have a satisfying decorative quality that is at once ancient-feeling and modern in it's graphic appeal. Here're some new pieces soon available in my shop:


This Amina ring has a shank that is twisted and granulated. It 'matches' with many of the pieces because it has the same elements- the twisting and granulation you can also see in the top of the ring. 





I am also using this same ring shank (cut 1/3 as long, though!) in the bail for this Ravena Necklace. Again the granules pick up some of the same elements in the pendant.




And lastly, I am using the same ring shank, again 1/3 as long, as a toggle for this Galatia Bracelet, and all of my layered necklaces! The Ravena necklace above also has this toggle and the same element as a bail. All I do to make the toggle is solder on a jump ring to the underside of the section of ring shank. Voila! 

I am hoping that these small details will help unify the collection as well as underscore some of the design elements.