ZOOMSHOP – Sumerian Bead Earrings

March 19, 2015Uncategorizedearrings, ejgold, gorby, gorebagg, jewel, project, steatite, sumer, sumerian project, zoomshopgorebagg

Toni sells jewelry at the group’s Copper & Silver Boutique in West Hollywood.

This is your most basic STERLING SILVER earring kit, the Sumerian Steatite Earring Set. Here’s what you should have received in your kit, each packaged in its own zip-lock baggie, tagged for quick identification — check each item off this list to make sure you have everything you’re supposed to have in the kit:

Four Whitish Sumerian Steatite beads. These came originally from the Susa at Uruk, the main city of ancient Sumer, and were legally and openly brought into the United States prior to 1964, the year when I obtained them from Joe Rose at Superior Stamp & Coin in New York City. Joe was a longtime friend and a very responsible and honest antiquity dealer — that’s not at all rare in the profession — these are amazing and magical beads; almost all of them were intact, and among the steatite beads, I found Carnelian, Jasper, Hematite and Lodestone, among other variants. The white steatite stone-carved beads were made around 4500 B.C. out of flat-cut stone, hand-rubbed and rolled on flat rocks to burnish them down into flattish rounds after drilling the hole in the center with a bow-drill, which is still used in some parts of the world today. Absolutely Guaranteed Authentic 6,000 year-old ancient beads.
Four 3mm modern factory-made .925 sterling silver “spacer” beads.
Four 6mm handmade modern .999 fine silver Bali style fancy spacer beads.
One labeled package containing 12 modern .925 sterling silver wires, about 1″-1.5″ (30mm – 40mm) long, ready for clipping & bending.
One labeled package containing 2 modern .925 sterling silver .22 gauge wires, about 4″, or 100mm long, to form the Core Wires.
One labeled package containing 2 modern .925 sterling silver .20 gauge silver wires, about 4″, or 100 mm long, from which you’ll make the hand-made ear-wires, the crowning touch of a fine set of ancient style earrings.

Continue reading →

ZOOMSHOP – Egyptian Broadcollar

March 15, 2015Uncategorizedbroad, broadcollar, bronze, copper, design, drops, egyptian, ejgold, gem, gold, gorbagg, gorby, jewel, necklace, silver, tube beads, zoomshopgorebagg

Start with a 6″ length of .22 gauge wire and make a loop at the bottom.

Start with a straight 6″ length of .22 gauge wire, and make a loop at the bottom, as shown. Continue reading →

ZOOMSHOP – Byzantine Drop

March 15, 2015Uncategorizedbyzantine, cage bead, constantine, drop, ejgold, fancy bead, gem, gorby, gorebagg, jewelgorebagg

You’ll need to start with a good generous piece of straight .22 gauge wire, at least 4″ in length, until you get the “feel” of what length is good to work with. Don’t forget that almost all your scrap can be employed somewhere, somehow or another, mangled or not.

Ideal scrap length for .22 gauge is around 2″, or about 50mm, so as ye cut, so also shall ye reap. Continue reading →

ZOOMSHOP – Ashanti Hoop & Drop Earrings

March 15, 2015Uncategorizedbronze, circle, copper, earrings, ejgold, gold, gorby, gorebagg, hoops, jal, jewel, silver, zoomshopgorebagg

Start with a piece of straight .14 gauge silver or .16 gauge copper wire. With your fingers only, bend the wire into a circle with a small gap between the ends, about 6mm apart, roughly 1/4″ of space between the ends of the wire. Continue reading →

ZOOMSHOP – Royal Hellenistic Earrings

March 14, 2015Uncategorizedancient, bronze, ejgold, gem, gold, gorby, gorebagg, greek, hellenic, hellenistic, jal, jewel, silver, stone age, zoomshopgorebagg

Start out with a 6″ straight .22 or .24 gauge wire.

The first choice comes when you select two stones for your Hellenistic earrings. Try the .22 gauge wire first. Gently push the wire through the drill-hole in the bead to see if it will work. If EITHER bead is reluctant to accept the .22 gauge wire, switch to the much thinner .24 gauge wire.

The Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Sumerians and Babylonians were incredible builders and engineers. This earring depends upon a bridge-engineering discovery they made many tens of thousands of years ago, that translates into bead technology as: a vertical wire will support a bead better than a horizontal wire. Continue reading →

ZOOMSHOP – Celtic Bead Pendant

March 13, 2015Uncategorizedbead, celtic, ejgold, gorby, gorebagg, jal, jewel, pendant, silver, smithinggorebagg

A Celtic Bead Pendant is easy to make and fun to wear, and it will get compliments and lots of attention. Here’s the simple way to go about it:

Start with a 6 inch length of .14 gauge wire. Continue reading →

ZOOMSHOP – Iron-Age Pendant

March 13, 2015Uncategorizedejgold, gorby, gorebagg, iron age, jal, jewel, paleo, pendant, reincarnation, zoomshopgorebagg

Pendants are built from a single piece of wire.

It’s easy to make a pendant from a single piece of wire. Later, we’ll see how to use several pieces of differing dimensions to create a more complex form, but here’s the simple solution to a real Iron-Age Pendant.

Start with a 6 inch length of .12 gauge or .14 gauge wire.

With your needlenose pliers, gently COAX the wire into a nice, wide loop, big enough inside to accommodate not merely a chain, but the clasp of a chain as well. Like I said, big, roomy, lots of space in there. Continue reading →

ZOOMSHOP – How to Make an Ear Wire

March 13, 2015Uncategorizedear wire, earring, ejgold, gorby, gorebagg, jal, jewelry, zoomshopgorebagg

It’s so incredibly easy to make your own solid sterling silver or gold-filled earwires, so why not? And they make your earrings look great! There’s nothing like hand-crafted earwires to really make people sit up and take notice, and I’m NOT kidding! Continue reading →

ZOOMSHOP – Spoons & Paddles

March 13, 2015Uncategorizedearring, ejgold, gorby, gorebagg, hair, jewel, necklace, paddle, spoongorebagg

This is the basic idea — several independent elements hanging on a main frame.

You can leave a large loop at the bottom of your earring element, so you can hang some dangling bits, called “spoons” and “paddles”, depending upon whether they are beaten or hammered with the ball part of your ballpein hammer, or the pein — flat — part.

A flat dangly bit is a paddle. A curved dangly bit is a spoon. I prefer paddles, because they’re easier and quicker to make and they run little risk of ending up sharp. Spoons must be hand-polished, paddles need no polish if made correctly.

I will run you through the drill for making paddles. Don’t forget that the only different between paddles and spoons is which end of the hammer-head you employ for the hammering.

Here’s what you do: Continue reading →

ZOOMSHOP – Paleo Neolithic Ring

March 13, 2015Uncategorizedejgold, gorby, gorebagg, jal, jewelry, paleo, ring, stone age, zoomshopgorebagg

Studying actual ancient gold jewelry to understand how simple techniques can achieve powerful results.

Jewelers in ancient times had various tools available to them, depending upon the culture, the level of culture, the opportunities available to them or to their friends and families, but mostly it rested upon the traditions passed on through the generations.

Jewelers today have the same practices — many secrets are guarded and passed on only from father to son, mother to daughter, aunt or uncle to nieces & nephews. In short, they trust only family with these secrets.

I’ve never subscribed to that tradition. Continue reading →