Black Sphere Earrings

Off the bench: Earrings for Odette.

I thought you might be interested in the process...

Black Earrings with Gold fittngs; what to make them from?

Ebony or Horn were the choices, (both recycled... of course)

I tested the ebony, turning up a ball on a 'rudimentary lathe'... (Ive waited a long to time to say that in context) just putting a dowell into the chuck of a drill press and tooling with a file.

Deciding that the horn was denser and blacker, I went with that, but also ended up with a little ebony doming punch. Perfect for doming-up the cups that will hold the black spheres.

I rarely do any doming, so dont actually own a set of punches... for a soft material like 22k Gold, wooden punches work very well.

Being a simple design, I thought it best to hand-build every part, so as to give it that certain quality... So I made the 'butterfly' clips too, which I have never bothered to do before. A moderate level of asperity in shape and finish seemed desirable too; a little wabi-sabi, refined roughness. To this end, I simply cut out the flat shape with little scissors, (chamfered the sharp edges...) I pierced a hole with a pin, then bent up the the 'wings' of the clip, which are essentially springs that need to curl around and grip the post, holding it securely in the ear.

Cups soldered to posts... at this stage they need a little cleaning up.
Next, fit the black horn spheres.

                                                 

                                                             Fin. Quietly good, I reckon.