Come on out, check out the new jewelry, shoot the smith with Jason and if you ask him nicely for the secret handshake he will be sure to give you 15% off any purchase made

Get out there early and you may even snag a black and white print of this awesome poster, straight out of Memphis, Tennessee done just for PepperBox by none other than Warble Design. Be sure to also check out the latest stuff on Warble’s Posterous site. See ya soon!

Photographer: Melisa Aquino
Model: Hannah Elder
Jewelry: PepperBox Jewelry Co.

diethyl ether

The recipient of this gift loves science, this is a picture of a pair of earring she owns that are modeled after the dopamine molecule.

Different design ideas were discussed.

Finally this design was chosen as it is simple and really showcases the image.

A print is made with multiples of the design.

The piece is composed of multiple components, so several designs are cut out.

The drawings are trimmed down and attached to sterling silver sheets.

A sharp exacto knife is used to cut the design into the silver

Now there are clean inscribed lines to follow.

The first of the components to be cut out are the arms of the molecule.

Tiny little pieces of silver.

Each piece has to be cleaned up and straightened out to create the clean lines needed for the design. A very small steel file and abrasive wheel is used for the job.

A tube is used to create the small circle in the design.

Each of the small pieces are soldered onto a base plate using a torch. That’s a good lookin solderer

Once the pieces are soldered on they need to clean in an acid bath jewelers call “pickle”.

Magnifying visors are used because the pieces are so small. In this picture, a small steel graver is used to texture the background of the piece.

A close up of the textured background.

Now that the molecule design is in place, it’s time to create the border.

A hole is drilled in order to allow a saw blade to cut out the interior.

The interior of the hexagon is cut out first.

Then the entire piece is cut out. In order to be safe the piece is cut a little outside the drawing. This ensures the piece won’t be too small.

Files are then used to cut the piece to more exact proportions.

The inside is filed as well.

With the border looking good, it’s time to solder the frame onto the main piece. This is what the piece looks like as it is being soldered.

Once the piece is cleaned up the excess silver is cut away using a jeweler’s saw.

Different abrasive wheels are used to clean up any excess material.

Bam!

A piece of silver wire is formed and cut, this piece will make up the bail of the piece.

Tweezer arrangement just so.

Solder it on down.

A sharp steel scribe is used to further texture the background.

The same scribe is used to cut in the PepperBox “PB” as well as .925 which indicated that the pieces is sterling silver.

The piece is then soaked in a darkening solution.

A steel wire brush is used to apply the final finish. This really brings up the highlight and burnished the silver.

This piece came out really great. A great gift for any science loving valentine. Happy Valentine’s Day guys!!

The bracelets start out as a plan. These pieces require a lot of steps and many parts, so a basic plan of how they will come together is a good thing.

The layout of the bracelet links is drawn in the computer first.

Transferring the drawings from the computer speeds up the process as multiples can be made more quickly.

Each link is roughly cut out with this table top shear.

The computer transfer also serves as the guide for the hand engraving. Each heart or flower is cut engraved in the sterling silver sheet with a small steel graver.

Wire will be used to make small frames for each link. Here the wire is being “drawn” down by pulling through a steel draw plate. The plate has holes drilled in it that step down in diameter, by pulling the wire through a series of these holes, it is squished down into thinner wire.

Steel pliers are used to form the silver wire into the frames for each link.

In order to speed things up, all the components are created at the same time. The bracelets are created through a series of steps. It’s a whole process.

Before the frames can be soldered onto each link they must be soldered closed. In this picture each of the frames must wait there turn as only one can be soldered at a time.

This is little insider trick. Before the frames are soldered onto the engraved pieces, a little bit of correction fluid (like whiteout) is painted on the engravings. This will keep the solder from flowing and filling in the engravings.

One by one the each of the frames is soldered onto the engraved components.

Any excess metal is removed using a jewelers saw.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

The bracelets will have a great deal of texture on them. Each one of the frames is lightly hammered in order to flatten the round frames ever so slightly as well as imprint added texture onto each piece.

The pieces are drilled where they will connect to the other bracelet components.

Cutting with a jewelers saw leaves a rough edge that need to be smoothed out. Each piece is clamped in a wooded ring clamp which firmly holds the piece in place so that it can be filled.

Here a steel file is used in order to knock off any rough edges.

Now that all of the engraved pieces are pretty much finished, it’s time to make the smaller links that will go in between those components. Here wire has been cut to equal lengths. This wire will be melted into small beads. Since each one of the wires is basically the same size, the beads they make will also be uniform in size.

Each wire length is heated until it melts and forms a small bead.

All of the beads are “squished with a large steel hammer.

Small grooves are then cut on both sides of all the beads. These grooves will help hold the soon to be attached jump rings in place.

Wire will be used to make jump ring to just the right shape and size.

Very fine steel rounding pliers are used to form coils. The coils are then cut down a seam creating a bunch of jump rings.

The components are mostly done and now it’s starting to look like a bracelet.

Pliers are used to connect all of the links.

One of the final components it the clasp that will hold the bracelets together. Here steel round nose pliers are used to bend a length of sterling silver wire into a shepherd’s hook clasp.

It’s now time to solder all the links closed. Many very small pieces of solder will be needed to do the job. This picture shows just how small they are.

Boric acid and flux coat the entire piece. The serve to protect the silver as well as allow the solder to flow once the piece has reached a high enough temperature.

One by one, all of the connections are soldered closed. Soldering all the links closed adds a lot of work to each piece, but it also adds a great deal of strength to the chain, ensuring that it will hold up better over time.

After the bracelets are assembled it’s time to create the final finish. A darkening solution is mixed up and the bracelets soak in this solution until the become completely darkened.

This is how the bracelets look once the darkening process has been completed.

The final finish is imparted using a small steel wire brush. This gives the silver a nice shine and really highlights all the beautiful texture that has been imprinted during the creation of these pieces.

Shazam!

Not the best wrist model but you get the picture.

This is a very original necklace that really shows off it’s hand made texture. Silver is such a great material for this. Merry Christmas guys.

These curves are formed using more specialized pliers that are better suited to bending curves. Here the first to the curves that will make up the filigree pattern are finished.

These steel forming pliers have a very fine tip that allow the creation of the very small curly cues.

Here these smaller curves are about to be soldered on.

Now the pattern is really starting to take shape.

After each soldering operation the pieces are soaked in an acid bath that jewelers call pickle. The pickle removes and flux and oxides that are left over from the soldering process.

Now that the interior wires are all attached, the final wires are form and prepared for soldering.

Here the wire are being soldering on using a fine torch. Heat control is crucial during these soldering processes, a mistake can melt previously attached wire and cause a massive set back to the job.

The wires are formed and soldered into place according to the drawing.

This earring design requires many small jump rings. Here the same pair of small forming pliers are used to curl sterling silver wire into a long coil.

Now secured in a wooden ring clamp, a jewelers saw is used to cut down the middle of the coil. This will create all the jump rings needed for the project.

Boom! Jump rings!

A ring is soldered to to each teardrop shape. Steal locking tweezers are used to hold the pieces in place for soldering.

Once rings have been soldered onto the main assemblies, the tear drops are attached using pliers.

To ensure safe connections all of the jump rings are soldered closed using a very fine torch and small pieces of solder.

Now that everything is attached, the earrings are cleaned up using abrasive wheels that remove any excess solder and create smooth surfaces for the final polish.

The fronts of the earrings are given a preliminary polish by using small brushed and polishing compound. The brushes are used to get into the intricate details with out removing or damaging the filigree work.

Before the final polish, the earring are soaked in a darkening solution until they turn black.

The darkening of the silver will highlight all the fine detail that is in the earrings.

A more aggressive polishing compound is used first to remove most of the dark finish on the silver.

The earring wires are then bent into shape.

Finally the earrings are given a high polish with a soft buff and fine polishing compound.

Shazam!! All the meticulous and patience pays off once the earrings are finished and ready to be delivered to the customer. Merry Christmas guys!