Description
Cuttlefish cast, single sided sterling silver pendant 2.5cm diam x .5cm, on sterling silver snake chain, 1.6mm X 45cm long
Note – Combined weight of pendant and chain = 71 grams
Creating an Island Icon. The process begins with the time consuming task of walking the island’s pristine beaches searching for just the right sea urchin skeleton. With hundreds to choose from this can take days and even involve fishing, surfing or the occasional swim.
Having found the shell it is then carefully pressed into a prepared piece of cuttlefish bone, the collection of which requires similarly grueling beach activities. This process requires great care since the urchin shell is very fragile and only a small indentation can be made before brushing out the dust and repeating the process again and again. Once the required depth of indent is achieved the cuttlefish is perfectly matched to a second piece and molten metal (pewter) is poured into the space creating a replica of the shell pattern and the ‘master’ for the pendant.
A rubber mould is made of the finished master, wax is injected into the mould and then these wax ‘models’ are cast in precious metal (in this case sterling silver) using the lost wax casting method, a standard method of jewellery casting. The castings require further finishing (grinding and polishing and drilling) and the silver jump ring is added to complete the piece.
Shipping weight and dimensions listed under Additional Information.
