AffinitySilverworks

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You’ll see me working with wax a lot in my videos, and I’ve gotten comments like “who would want to wear jewelry made out of wax.” So here is how the wax becomes metal! 🌸 This process is called investment casting, or “lost wax casting,” and you probably own some jewelry that was once carved or molded out of wax. This is also how bronze statues are made. 🌸 Botanical materials work the same as wax, although they take longer to incinerate and I typically have to blow some ash out of the mold before pouring the metal. You can even do this with bone if you cook it long enough. 🌸 This may make it look fast, but it’s typically a 2-day process and I sometimes need to have the kiln running for up to 10 hours depending on what’s inside. 🌸 I’ve only given an overview here, but I’m always happy to answer questions on the details! There are some fine-tuning steps that I didn’t show, like vacuuming the liquid plaster to get any bubbles out.

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Is it possible to look at historical jewelry or clothing and not wonder about who fit into it? I made my version in 14k gold (although the original was likely made with near-pure gold)

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She was only 19 when she died. “Asked why she gladly looked at this ring when she was going to battle, she answered that it was out of pleasure, and in honor of her father and mother; and having her ring in her hand and on her finger she touched St. Catherine who appeared before her.” (From a written account of her trial) Joan of Arc, the teenaged peasant who led the French army to a series of major victories in the Hundred Years’ War. She was captured by enemy soldiers after being thrown from her horse in battle. They sold her to the English, who tried her for heresy: listening to demonic voices, wearing men’s clothing, and more. She was executed in 1431. The original ownership of the pictured ring is a little controversial, although metal analysis has dated its creation to around Joan’s lifetime. In her trial she said her ring had the names of Jesus and Maria inscribed on it. You can see on this ring, in the gothic lettering of the time, the abbreviations “IHS” and “MAR” (IHS is a contraction derived from the Greek word for Jesus, so that part checks out too). Skeptics question why it would be preserved by an English (enemy) family when Joan had been convicted of heresy and suspected of bewitching people with her rings. Her possessions were meant to be destroyed so they would not be venerated as relics. IDK 🤷‍♀️ Anyway, I recently finished a biography of her and it’s one of the most fascinating and dramatic stories I’ve ever read. I wanted this token for myself, so I made one in wax and then cast it in silver (The original is bronze)