Recycled: Mr and Mrs Smith

If memory serves me correctly, I made the original Mr and Mrs Smith twelve years ago. The original configuration for the necklace is pictured below.

I called the necklace Mr and Mrs Smith because the process for fabricating the central pendant is called marriage of metals. It is a very labor-intensive process and one that I do rarely for that reason. But this necklace languished for another reason: it is not a successful piece of jewelry. The beads, while lovely, do not contribute to the piece and make it longer than necessary. The hand-made beads (unfortunately, blurred out in the photo) are wonderful but they get lost. So I took apart this necklace for recycling.

Let me digress. I consider myself a fine silver jeweler. What makes fine jewelry? In my blogs, I will answer that question, however, my answers are my opinion and may not reflect the opinions of others in the jewelry universe. Fine jewelry, in my opinion, is defined by the materials used, the processes to create the piece, and the recyclability of the materials when a piece is scrapped.

Perhaps you are surprised about that element, recyclability. But I would bet that a lot of people are familiar with jewelry recycling. This generally occurs when a piece of jewelry, an engagement ring for example, is handed down from mother to son or daughter. Or an engagement ring of a woman who gets divorced is turned into a pendant. Precious metals are sold back to refiners, beads are restrung, stones get new settings in new jewelry — all these are examples of recycling.

In the original Mr and Mrs Smith, I “liberated” the pendant from the beads. I love the beads — the green ones are grossular green garnet (yes, that’s really the name); the purple ones are sugilite, the same stone as the one in the center of the pendant. And the metal beads are married metal hollow forms that I made to go with the pendant. The metals in the pendant and the beads are sterling silver, brass, and copper.

In my stash of materials, I found some snake chain. I really like snake chain; it feels very silky and has great drape. So I decided to use that, fabricating ends for the chain that would join the pendant to the chain. Below is a photo of the new Mr and Mrs Smith.

I decided to set aside the garnet beads for another day. But the metal beads were just ripe for earrings. I purchased a pair of sugilite cabochons and set about designing earrings. First, though, I made the bezels (settings) for the sugilite cabs. Then I took my sketch book and drew. Below is a picture of the concept that I went with.

The idea for the earrings was now fixed in my head, and to proceed, I needed patterns for the different elements in the design. I am a mechanical engineer, and that training informs my practice. I work with a slant board, a smaller version of the drafting boards used in engineering and architecture firms. Using that board and drafting instruments, I create the two patterns I need for the top of the earrings. The picture below shows the two patterns, my notes, and the pieces I’ll use for the earrings. Mr and Mrs Smith is in the picture, too.

I did not photograph the work-in-progress as I have with other pieces as these earrings were fairly straight-forward. I created the top of the earrings and finished them through final polish — the longest step was the elimination of fire scale which took two hours. Once the tops were finished, I could then make the bottoms. I used sterling silver tubing, crevice beads (purchased), and round sterling silver wire for the threading, so to speak, of all these components. The result is pictured below.

The earrings are about 3 1/4” long and are heavier than most earrings (although not as heavy as some others). They are part of my private collection.