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Sterling Silver Hoops with Glass Cabochons




I went through a hoop phase a couple of weeks ago when I just had to make some hoop inspired jewellery. I quite often get these urges - sometimes it's for enamel, sometimes it's etching, it just depends. I'm currently in the grip of a hollow form phase but I'm having to wait for supplies before I can go any further which is a bit annoying but does serve to make me think about it a bit more before diving in!


I wanted to continue my bezel setting practice so I added cabochons to the hoop earrings and pendants. I stamped a circle design onto the hoops and added a jump ring at the top then pierced out the part of the hoop in the centre of the jump ring to make a cute hanging hole.


The glass cabochons are from a Turkish shop on Etsy and are lovely!  They remind me of jelly sweets.
Tip! Put a piece of aluminium foil behind the glass cabs before setting them. The foil gives them a luminous glow in the light and avoids the backs of the bezels darkening and dulling the colour due to the silver oxidizing over time. Cutting the foil discs neatly to avoid too many creases is easier said than done! Luckily these were the same size as one of the holes on my disc cutter so I used that to cut them. One thing I soon realized was that the silver on the bottom of the bezel needs to be completely smooth otherwise any bumps (from solder, etc) will transfer through the foil and show on the bottom of the glass cabs as dark patches. I had to abort two pairs because of this before I figured out what was going on. I think the solution is to add a disc of sanded copper under the foil so then you know it will definitely be completely flat and smooth.


 I love the delicate ghostly colour of the pink glass.





A simple pair using the greeny-turquoise colour glass. This is the first time I soldered jump ring links onto the tops of bezels to thread the earwires through and thankfully I managed ok and it worked. It can be fiddly and I'm not that great yet with the combination of soldering and fiddly. Still learning!

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Comments

  1. Fanciful PonderingsWednesday, May 29, 2013

    You say your still learning but I think you have it down pat, beautiful work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ManekiWednesday, May 29, 2013

    The look lovely! Frosted glass gets such a beautiful glow when backed with foil -- it's a small detail that makes a big difference, really.

    (Myself, I've added variegated leaf metal to tumbled cabs and rivolis, getting both glow and colour/pattern.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cinnamon JewelleryThursday, May 30, 2013

    Thanks for your comments!
    I am finding setting cabs a bit easier the more I do.... :D

    I also thought about putting different colour paper (maybe?) or foil behind the frosted glass cabs to see what the effect would be but haven't tried it yet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownMonday, June 17, 2013

    Wow such a beautiful earring.With this earring we wore matching dress.
    Thanks for sharing this.

    Jewellery Gippsland

    ReplyDelete

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