Don
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He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Oct 17, 2016 15:28:12 GMT -5
I finished these up a couple weeks ago for an art festival. Turns out, I shouldn't have bothered. Regardless, I now have to beautiful cuffs to show off on Etsy. I lucked out on a beautiful and solid piece of Sonora chrysocolla rough that I used to inlay into these cuffs. The silver is tarnish resistant and fire scale resistant argentium sterling silver. Fun fact: you cannot quench argentium. If you do, it becomes brittle and cracks. Air cool after soldering only, then pickle. The greatly reduced fire scale is worth it.
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Oct 17, 2016 15:31:58 GMT -5
Those look awesome,great craftsmanship Don............
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Post by vegasjames on Oct 17, 2016 16:23:09 GMT -5
Beautiful work.
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Post by drocknut on Oct 17, 2016 18:39:35 GMT -5
Those look totally cool. Beautiful and nice workmanship.
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NDK
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Member since January 2009
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Post by NDK on Oct 18, 2016 11:26:07 GMT -5
Beautiful cuffs Don! Do you sand/polish the stone after it's set in the cuff? Also is the underside of each also concave to match the radius?
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Oct 18, 2016 11:44:23 GMT -5
Beautiful cuffs Don! Do you sand/polish the stone after it's set in the cuff? Also is the underside of each also concave to match the radius? Yes, I carve out the back of each stone to match the radius of the cuff. the stones are cut and polished after they are set in the cuff.
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icatz
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2015
Posts: 453
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Post by icatz on Oct 21, 2016 8:07:31 GMT -5
I assume you mean they didn't sell. That's crazy, these are top notch gorgeous. Great work!
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fireforged
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 215
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Post by fireforged on Oct 21, 2016 8:43:44 GMT -5
Those look incredible. Wow.
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monna0000
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
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Post by monna0000 on Oct 21, 2016 8:51:42 GMT -5
I can't even imagne how you got the inlay to match the shape of the cuff. Amazing and so so pretty.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Oct 21, 2016 10:59:24 GMT -5
Outstanding craftsmanship and materials! Having done a few "art" festivals myself I'm sure a fair price for such fine work probably sent most wanna-be buyers scurrying. Few people understand or appreciate the skill involved in making such fine pieces, nor the scarcity and difficulty of working with top quality stones. As the late, great Shel Silverstein wrote: "Everything's gonna' be plastic by and by..."
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metalsmith
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Post by metalsmith on Oct 21, 2016 15:07:31 GMT -5
Beautiful work
re plastic ... that's why I'm here: buck the trend, keep it real!
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Oct 21, 2016 16:05:58 GMT -5
Beautiful work re plastic ... that's why I'm here: buck the trend, keep it real! I think that's why most of us are here. But public perceptions of value have been so skewed by cheap "plastic" imitations it's increasingly hard to overcome the "flash for the cash" syndrome.
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metalsmith
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Member since October 2012
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Post by metalsmith on Oct 21, 2016 16:10:51 GMT -5
Beautiful work re plastic ... that's why I'm here: buck the trend, keep it real! I think that's why most of us are here. But public perceptions of value have been so skewed by cheap "plastic" imitations it's increasingly hard to overcome the "flash for the cash" syndrome. Cheap plastic and "bling" Not to mention cheap labour.
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Oct 21, 2016 17:59:32 GMT -5
I assume you mean they didn't sell. That's crazy, these are top notch gorgeous. Great work! Yup, sales were abysmal. A $5-$10 crowd...those folks had money too, just didn't want to part with any of it. Oh well, just means I get to enjoy my pieces a little longer.
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Oct 21, 2016 18:04:45 GMT -5
Outstanding craftsmanship and materials! Having done a few "art" festivals myself I'm sure a fair price for such fine work probably sent most wanna-be buyers scurrying. Few people understand or appreciate the skill involved in making such fine pieces, nor the scarcity and difficulty of working with top quality stones. As the late, great Shel Silverstein wrote: "Everything's gonna' be plastic by and by..." Yup, my booth neighbor's sign pretty much says it all:
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Oct 23, 2016 5:37:03 GMT -5
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2016 13:16:20 GMT -5
What a shame! Gorgeous pieces & with so much work involved! I guess one way to fool the cheapskates would be to mark them up really high then mark them down 50%. Just kidding..........................sort of! That technique works. I cannot explain why,but it does work.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Oct 30, 2016 13:47:33 GMT -5
@shotgunner, it sure does. I remember during the last big turquoise craze several major stores had "Special 50%" off signs on all their turq jewelry. The laughable part was that the signs stayed up permanently; there was never an attempt to sell the stuff at non-sale prices. Customers gobbled it up. The joke among my friends was "50% off what?"
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2016 14:28:50 GMT -5
@shotgunner, it sure does. I remember during the last big turquoise craze several major stores had "Special 50%" off signs on all their turq jewelry. The laughable part was that the signs stayed up permanently; there was never an attempt to sell the stuff at non-sale prices. Customers gobbled it up. The joke among my friends was "50% off what?" I went to a sushi bar advertising 50% off, I'm a bit of a sushi whore, so I went in. When I looked at the menu I learned base price was triple normal price! 50% off meant my cost was 50% high!!
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hh5
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2012
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Post by hh5 on Oct 31, 2016 12:12:35 GMT -5
Very nice work Don.
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