metalsmithing by W.Schweizer

2011-11-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

brooch Ebony Madagasccar, Bocote, Brass, Pyrite splinters, Shellac, Green Fluorite handmade, Copper, nickelsilver, epoxy, Size4in

Klunker

2011-10-27T17:31:00.001-07:00

custom made pendant
Nugold, hand made Afghanistan Lapis lazuli, Garnet 10mm, Amber 4mm, Onyx 18mm, Rosewood, Copper

Rosewood and metal brooch with Shellac flakes

2011-09-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

brooch brass, Rosewood, Nickelsilver, aluminum,epoxy, enamel powder, garnet10mm,

amber4mm,onyx3mm, Mother of Pearl 3mm, Shellac flakes

Rosewood is hard and dense, but not as hard, dense and oily as other woods like Ebony and Cocobolo. It is relatively easy to carve with a thin cutting disc for metals and with steel burrs.

meteorite ring campo del cielo with Lapis lazuli and Amber

2011-09-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

custom ring stainless steel, welding steel, brazed brass inlay, lapis lazuli 3mm, amber 4mm, Shellac flakes, epoxy,enamel powder, meteorite Campo del Cielo

"The Campo del Cielo refers to a group of iron meteorites or to the area where they were found situated on the border between the provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero, 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) northwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The crater field covers an area of 3×20 kilometers and contains at least 26 craters, the largest being 115×91 meters. The craters' age is estimated as 4,000–5,000 years. The craters, containing iron masses, were reported in 1576, but were already well known to the aboriginal inhabitants of the area. The craters and the area around contain numerous fragments of an iron meteorite. The total weight of the pieces so far recovered exceeds 100 tonnes, making the meteorite the heaviest one ever recovered on Earth. The largest fragment, consisting of 37 tonnes, is the second heaviest single-piece meteorite recovered on Earth, after the Hoba meteorite.^[1]"

^(wikipedia)

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campo_del_Cielo}

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes, which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish. Shellac functions as a tough all-natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odour-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. Shellac was once used in electrical applications as it possesses good insulation qualities and it seals out moisture. Phonograph (gramophone) records were also made of it during the pre-1950s, 78-rpm recording era.
Shellac is one of the few historically appropriate finishes (including casein paint, spar varnishes, boiled linseed oil and lacquer) for early 20th-century hardwood floors, and wooden wall and ceiling paneling.
From the time it replaced oil and wax finishes in the 19th century, shellac was one of the dominant wood finishes in the western world until it was replaced by nitrocellulose lacquer in the 1920s and 1930s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac

Cocobolo wood brooch

2011-09-02T00:56:00.000-07:00

brooch Cocobolo wood,nugold,nickelsilver, brass,copper,aluminum,glas

s gem,Carnelian7mm,epoxy,petrified wood,enamel powder

this wood is very dense and hard and oily, even more than ebony. Dust should not be inhaled when working on it.
It is wood, but it behaves almost like a metal in some ways. Hard steel burrs, grinding stones, fiberglass enforced wheels and diamond discs are necessary to carve it. Cutting big pieces works best with a big metal saw. Files get clogged easily because it is so oily. Large amounts can be removed with a very coarse file.
It can be polished like a metal with polishing compounds and takes a very high shine.

cold enamel inlay steel ring

2011-08-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

stainless steel, nugold, brass, epoxy, enamel powder,crushed black jasper, ring size 10

wood and metal brooch

2011-08-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

brooch Rose Wood, Nickelsilver, petrified wood crushed,lapis lazuli crushed,Shellac pieces,epoxy,pens, acrylic, brass,Heatite crushed and hand cut stone

I tried some things on this one. New for me is the use of wood combined with metal in a sort of a big bezel. I also did some carving on the wood.

Nanntan meteorite steel ring

2011-08-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

stainless steel, welding steel, meteorite pieces Nantan, epoxy, lapis lazuli 4mm, red shellac, ring size 9.5

Iron from the earth and from behind Mars together in a ring.

the Shellac is under the epoxy in the inlay and gives it a slightly dark red shimmer. It has a color similar to garnet.

This ring belongs to the "Cozmic Blues Collection"

https://sites.google.com/site/thecozmicbluescollection/

custom made copper ring

2011-08-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

copper 16 ga, ring size 8, Lapis lazuli 10mm

see options for custom made rings at

http://www.wolfgangschweizer.com/artforsale.php

(scroll down on destination page)

copper and brass ring with inlay

2011-08-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

ring copper,brass,silver,epoxy,enamel, spinel3mm ring size 8

ring Laucherthal

2011-08-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

welding steel hammered, stainless steel inside ring, eopxy, Bean ore from my hometown Laucherthal in Germany (thanks to my parents for sending it!), crushed hematite iron ore
ring size 10

I will offer a new kind of custom rings on my webpage soon.
People can send me personal stuff to embed in their new ring.

Bohnerz, Bean Ore (limonite) from Germany
Around the town where I grew up you can find limonite (Ochre) in form of small balls everywhere on the fields. You just need to bow down and collect it fro the surface of the earth. The Celtic people living in the area fro around 800 BC on already used this iron ore, and they exported the iron they made from it to Rome and Greece. Greek pottery was found on the fields around a big old Celtic city. The Romans later used the ore also, and when they were gone, the Germanic Alemans did the same. Later the prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen founded one of the first steel mills with a furnace there, and the town growing around it was called Laucherthal after the river Lauchert (1708 AC). The former steel mill still exists. It produces high tech metal casting and other stuff now.

rich low brass and stainless steel ring with azurite inlay

2011-08-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

rich low brass, stainless steel, epoxy, enamel powder, yellow brass, crushed azurite
size 8

I choose stainless steel for the inside ring for stability reasons

stainless steel and copper ring with epoxy cold enamel and stone inlay

2011-08-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

stainless steel, copper, silver wire, epoxy, enamel, Swarovski crystals, crushed lapis lazuli,garnet and black jasper
ring size 6.75

brooch in style of epoxy painting and ring with epoxy and stone inlay

2011-08-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

41-brooch nickelsilver, red brass, copper and aluminum embossed, epoxy, enamel, Swarovski crystals, green marble hand cut and painted
pin on back

I used the same techniques as I use for my epoxy paintings
https://sites.google.com/site/resinpaintings/

I made a test ring to check if the epoxy inlay technique can be used in future for making more rings or if it is only good for brooches and necklaces. If the ring doesn`t get wrecked at work for a few days, I suppose it is stable enough.

copper, rich low brass, epoxy, black enamel powder, crushed marble and gold calcite
ring size 10

brazed ring with epoxy inlay

2011-08-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

welding steel-brazed brass, cooper, steel parts-Amber4mm, crushed lapis lazuli epoxy inlay, ring size 7.25

I used steel as bottom plate for brazing the other metals on, because the ring has to be sturdy. The epoxy inlay with the crushed lapis lazuli would crack if the ring gets deformed.

I don`t know up to now how durable such epoxy inlays are. I might make another ring and carry it around myself at work for a while.
If the ring is only used for non work activities I guess there will be no problem, as epoxy is used in jewelry making as one of the strongest adhesives.

in this picture the "marbling" of the composite metal shows. I put copper parts, brass parts and steel parts on a steel plate. Then I brazed everything together (I heated up everything very high with a MAP gas torch, put a salt as flux on it and melted a part of a brass rod onto the whole thing, until everything was covered). Later I had to file it down to make it even.
Problem is, that it is not completely possible to avoid small holes between the metals. These come from the vaporizing flux, which produces gas, that can get captured in the melted metal. Later you have small holes in the piece of jewelry. These have to be grinded out.
Maybe heating it up higher and longer will help avoiding the holes.

mixed metals brazed ring

2011-08-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

I tried something new with this one. I cut pieces of copper, brass and steel onto a steel sheet. Then I brazed everything together with brass. After that I filed and grinded the surface flat. Then I made a ring of this metal combination. It is the outside ring. The inside ring was soldered on. It is brass to avoid rusting of the steel (which is the bottom layer of the outside ring) on the finger.
The outside ring shows a shimmering of all the colors of the metals that were used.
I also tried to do a rudimentary form of Damascene inlay. The two copper bars left side from the Spinel were set into undercut space on the outside ring. Then the copper wire was hammered into the undercut space. No solder holds the copper in the space.

Damascene inlay:
http://www.philamuseum.org/booklets/7_43_80_1.html

Ring redone:
I removed the epoxy with the red enamel in it:

custom made Bronze ring

2011-08-15T00:22:00.000-07:00

custom ring Bronze, lapis lazuli 10mm

ring size 10
the Bronze is 16 gauge thick

these custom made rings are sturdy and for every day wear.
available in various metals and sizes and with various stones
$20+$5 shipping
http://schweizerarts.blogspot.com/

these rings made of copper and its alloys have s special property:
they tarnish in contact with skin. This happens mostly in the beginning when you wear them. Later the effect disappears. This is the first strange phenomenon that I and other people notice usually.

Another phenomenon is that the rings tarnish very much if you are about to get a cold. The tarnishing starts already when you don`t even realize the first symptoms of getting sick. The tarnishing appears then even on areas that are not so much in contact with skin. I couldn`t find a good explanation for this effect up to now, but other people tell about the same observance.
I use this effect meanwhile to take homeopathic pills made from elderberries as soon as I notice an unusual tarnishing of the my rings. I could push back already almost completely a few colds by doing this.
The colds didn`t really break out, or they were less bad than usually.

When I was a child my grandmother had self made elderberry juice in the basement. It is known for a long time as a medicine against flu. Studies proof that it has an effect. The natural juice additionally has much vitamin C.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11399518

You can get the pills at wal mart meanwhile.

steel and brass ring

2011-08-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

welding steel hammered, brazed brass, enamel, epoxy, spinel synth3mm, brass inside ring, size 7

silver and brass ring

2011-08-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Sterling silver, brass, garnet 4mm, Spinel synth.3mm
ring size 7

2011-07-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

brooch the hawk2
welding steel embossed-heat oxidized-copper plated, brazed brass, silver, silver solder, brass, copper, lapis lazuli crushed, gold flakes, iridescent glitter, epoxy

brooch "the hawk"

2011-07-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

brooch "the Hawk"
welding steel, brazed brass, silver, silver solder, brass, copper, garnet, carnelian, lapis lazuli crushed, epoxy

"...There’s a hawk high in the heavens
A truly magnificent bird
He waits on wings of silver
To bring the glorious word
And he flies, he flies alone
Yes he flies, he flies alone"

brazed brass inlay brooch, copper plated

2011-07-20T22:14:00.000-07:00

2011-07-19T23:08:00.000-07:00

I tried new things on this brooch. The brass stripes on the right side are brazed inlays. I carved out the oxidized steel , fluxed it and brazed brass onto it. The oxide layer prevents to a certain grade that everything around the hollow space is brazed also.
But anyway the piece has to be grinded and sanded down after brazing, until everything is even. Then it has to be oxidized again.
On the left side I plated the sanded steel with copper plating solution. Works very good on steel.

This brooch has to be changed a little bit tomorrow. Some things I realized only when I looked close at the photo.

New version:

brazed steel ring with Spinel

2011-07-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

steel and brass brazed and soldered, spinel synth. 3mm

To avoid rusting of the steel on the skin I had to think about a method. I choose brass as an inside ring for the steel outside. Brass tarnishes the skin only a little bit, and after a while it doesn`t do it almost no more at all (strange phenomenon, which is not only observed by myself. Other people describe it too.
I couldn`t find a good explanation for this up to now. It is about the same with copper. When you are sick it starts tarnishing again. This might come from sweating and higher body temperature.)

It would be too expensive in the long run to use medium or hard silver solder for joining such relatively large pieces. But the cheaper soft silver bearing solder would flow away when you try to heat-oxidize the steel later. So I came to the idea to use brass (brazing). This has the additional advantage of having the same color as the brass inside ring. It works with common brass wire and soldering flux, but a high temperature is necessary. I can reach it with a MAP gas hand torch. [combustion temperature of MAP gas 2,020 °C (3,670 °F). The surface of the sun is 5505 °C (9932° F).]

rectangular pieces of welding steel and brass were brazed together with brass wire. The resulting piece was cut in the middle, and the 2 pieces were soldered together again at one point with medium silver solder. The steel and brass were grinded and shaped with various cutting discs and grinding stones, a silver bezel was set into a drilled hole in the steel and soldered on. the steel was blackened and polished repeatedly. Then it was hammered with two different sized hammers. The brass was treated with diamond discs (ripping up the surface, producing a sparkling surface) and polished to different grades at different places. A part of the reddish oxidized brass (copper oxide) was not removed completely. The stone was set with an agate burnisher and polishing wheels. The whole ring was polished repeatedly at different times with polishing wheels, Tripoli, Red Rouge and Fabulustre.

2011-07-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

brooch nickelsilver, nickedlsilver and steel darkened, copper plated nickelsilver, brass bezel, Sterling and fine silver silver parts, nugold, epoxy, enamel powder, Swarovski crystals,wax and varnish coated

brooch with ebony

2011-07-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

pendant with blackened welding steel

2011-07-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

necklace silver embossed, steel oxidized and pen painted, Swarovski, nugold, amber10mm, silver solder, brass, enamel, epoxy, silver plated chain18in

brooch and pendant "New York"

2011-07-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

brooch and pendant "New York"
nickelsilver, brass, acrylic, oxidized steel, fine silver, Swarovski, emerald synth5mm, onyx10mm, gold flakes, epoxy, pen, acrylic paint, Sterling silver chain, pin on back

heat colored steel bracelet

2011-07-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

welding steel, copper, brass, silver solder

inside oxidized, surface additionally sealed with renaissance wax to prevent rusting
the copper parts are embossed, heat colored and riveted to the steel body

steel, acrylic and ebony

2011-07-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

ring "summertime"

hand cut and polished acrylic, stainless steel, nickelsilver, Swarovski crystals, gold flakes, glitter, holographic foil, epoxy, copper

ring size 7.5 approx.

brooch "ancient mirror"

steel, brass, ebony, Sardonyx 6mm, Swarovski crystals

oxidized steel, brass, silver solder, Swarovski crystals 3mm

ring size 11.5

steel jewelry

2011-07-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

my first steel ring. The inside was oxidized to avoid rust.

welding steel, Onyx 3mm

bracelet welding steel, nugold, lapis lazuli10mm, Onyx7mm,Jade4mm,Garnet4mm

the steel was heat colored
the inside is blackened (oxidized by heat) to avoid the red rust
the black oxide is hematite, a form of Iron Oxide (rust)

cuff bracelet copper and nugold

2011-07-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

bracelet copper nugold silver solder brass amber10mm Swarovski epoxy glitter transparency film enamel

iridescent fish brooch

2011-06-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

gilding metal, silver solder, nickelsilver, brass, blue enamel, b lack cold enamel, garnet10mm, Swarovski crystals 3mm, epoxy resin, gold flakes, iridescent glitter, Peridot pieces, Rose Quartz pieces

fine silver ring, Serpent and Dragon necklace

2011-06-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

fine silver, enamel, brass, iridescent glitter, epoxy

ring size 7.5

necklace fine silver, nugold, copper, iridescent glitter, crushed garnet, glass pearls, epoxy, garnet10mm, Swarovski3mm, Peridot piece, silver plated chain 18in

2011-06-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

Fine Silver, brass, Garnet 7mm

Bronze, fine silver, Peridot 4mm

fine silver, enamel, spinel synth. 3mm

cuff bracelet with colored Titanium

2011-05-20T10:47:00.001-07:00

Titanium, aluminum, brass, copper 8in

new brooch with tin/silver alloy and amber

2011-05-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

brooch nickelsilver silver-tin alloy copper brass Swarovski 3mm garnet 10mm amber handmade in epoxy

new ring and brooch

2011-05-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

ring silver,copper,brass,steel,aquamarine 3mm synth., onyx 3mm

the Cozmic Blues Collection - brooch nickelsilver brass copoper silver mirror meteorite Nantan campo del cielo crushed lapis epoxy gold flakes amber handmade Swarovski-3.5in

2011-05-04T10:50:00.000-07:00

ring nugold, silver, copper, spinel synth.3mm

ring size 6.5-7

ring silver, nugold, amethyst 4mm

ring size7.5

new Titanium bracelet

2011-05-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

bracelet Titanium Iron Copper Brass Nickelsilver Carnelians 10mm

Titanium bracelet-painting with fire and light on metal

2011-04-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

cuff bracelet, Aluminum, Titanium colored by heat, copper, brass

Painting with fire and light on metal
Jeweler Brian Nilson
http://www.tiptopwebsite.com/websites/index2.php?username=nordic&page=1
gave me a piece of Titanium and showed me how to use it.
If you heat up Titanium, it changes colors from brownish to purple and blue. The color is made by interference of light. The light rays are refracted and diffracted by the different layers of the pure metal and the layers of the heat-generated oxides. These layers work similar to a grid that diffracts light. The interference deletes some wave lengths (colors), while others get amplified.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refraction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction

It is the same principle you see when you throw two stones into a water.

I also made a new brooch today:

copper, silver, brass, Swarovski crystals 4mm, lapis lazuli 3mm

new ring and brooch

2011-04-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

copper, silver, Spinel 5mm,Ruby 3mm, Reridot 4mm

ring size9

brooch bronze, brass, silver, nickelsilver, Swarovski crystals 3mm and 4mm, amethyst 7mm, lapis lazuli splinters, epoxy resin

size 2.5 in
pin on back

new campo del cielo meteorite brooch

2011-02-08T07:32:00.000-08:00

brooch aluinum copper brass steel nickel silver pin silver bezels amber 4mm lapis lazuli 7mm gaqrnet 4mm lapis 3mm meteorite campo del cielo

the Cozmic Blues Collection-new meteorite ring Campo Del Cielo

2011-01-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

Into a carved copper outside ring are 3 silver bezels with 3mm lapis lazuli stones embedded. A campo del cielo meteorite is soldered onto the inside Sterling silver ring

Campo del cielo meteorite (wikipedia):
In 1576, the governor of a province in Northern Argentina commissioned the military to search for a huge mass of iron, which he had heard that Indians used for their weapons. The Indians claimed that the mass had fallen from the sky in a place they called Piguem Nonralta which the Spanish translated as Campo del Cielo ("Field of the Sky"). The expedition found a large mass of metal protruding out of the soil. They assumed it was an iron mine and brought back a few samples, which were described as being of unusual purity. The governor documented the expedition and deposited the report in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, but it was quickly forgotten and later reports on that area merely repeated the Indian legends. Following the legends, in 1774 don Bartolome Francisco de Maguna rediscovered the iron mass which he called el Meson de Fierro ("the Table of Iron"). Maguna thought the mass was the tip of an iron vein. The next expedition, led by Rubin de Celis in 1783, used explosives to clear the ground around the mass and found that it was probably a single stone. Celis estimated its mass as 15 tonnes and abandoned it as worthless. He himself did not believe that the stone had fallen from the sky and assumed that it had formed by a volcanic eruption. However, he sent the samples to the Royal Society of London and published his report in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.[2] Those samples were later analyzed and found to contain 90% iron and 10% nickel and assigned to a meteoritic origin.[3]
Campo del Cielo is located in Argentina
Later, many iron pieces were found in the area weighing from a few milligrams to 34 tonnes. A mass of about 1 tonne known as Otumpa was located in 1803. Its 634 kg part was brought in 1813 to Buenos Aires and later donated to the British Museum. Other large fragments are summarized in the table below. The mass called el Taco was originally 3070 kg, but the largest remaining fragment weighs 1998 kg.[4]

The largest mass of 37 tonnes was located in 1969 at a depth of 5 m using a metal detector.[3] This stone, named El Chaco, is the second heaviest single-piece meteorite after the Hoba meteorite (Namibia) which weighs 60 tonnes. However, the total mass of the Campo del Cielo fragments found so far exceeds 60 tonnes, making it the heaviest meteorite ever recovered on Earth.

The Cozmic Blues Collection - New Meteorite Brooch

2011-01-06T15:30:00.000-08:00

brooch coppersilver bimetall garnet splinter lapis splinters 24K gold flakes brass epoxy acrylic amber Nantan meteorite red brass bezel

I added garnet to the materials. It symbolizes "metamorphoses" in a special way. Formed millions of years ago in volcanic surroundings, it appears in many different varieties with variopus colors. In historic times it was already used in th...e early middle ages by humans.

wikipedia:
Red garnets were the most commonly used gemstones in the Late Antique Roman world, and the Migration Period art of the "barbarian" peoples who took over the territory of the Western Empire. They were especially used inlaid in gold cells in the cloisonné technique, a style often just called garnet cloisonné, found from Anglo-Saxon England, as at Sutton Hoo, to the Black Sea.

Pure crystals of garnet are still used as gemstones. The gemstone varieties occur in shades of green, red, yellow and orange. In the USA it is known as the birthstone for January. It is the state mineral of Connecticut, New York's gemstone, and star garnet (garnet with rutile asterisms) is the state gemstone of Idaho.

the Cozmic Blues Collection - new meteorite necklace

2011-01-01T22:36:00.001-08:00

necklace copper, nickel silver, silver, 24K gold flakes, lapis lazuli splinters, lapis lazuli 10-7-4mm, amber 6mm, meteorite Campo del Cielo, Nantan meteorite splinters, epoxy

the Cozmic Blues Collection - new meteorite ring campo del cielo

2010-12-30T16:31:00.000-08:00

copper brass silver bezels lapis lazuli 7 mm 3mm meteorite campo del cielo size 6.5

wikipedia:
In 1576, the governor of a province in Northern Argentina commissioned the military to search for a huge mass of iron, which he had heard that Indians used for their weapons. The Indians claimed that the mass had fallen from the sky in a place they called Piguem Nonralta which the Spanish translated as Campo del Cielo ("Field of the Sky"). The expedition found a large mass of metal protruding out of the soil. They assumed it was an iron mine and brought back a few samples, which were described as being of unusual purity. The governor documented the expedition and deposited the report in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, but it was quickly forgotten and later reports on that area merely repeated the Indian legends. Following the legends, in 1774 don Bartolome Francisco de Maguna rediscovered the iron mass which he called el Meson de Fierro ("the Table of Iron"). Maguna thought the mass was the tip of an iron vein. The next expedition, led by Rubin de Celis in 1783, used explosives to clear the ground around the mass and found that it was probably a single stone. Celis estimated its mass as 15 tonnes and abandoned it as worthless. He himself did not believe that the stone had fallen from the sky and assumed that it had formed by a volcanic eruption. However, he sent the samples to the Royal Society of London and published his report in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.[2] Those samples were later analyzed and found to contain 90% iron and 10% nickel and assigned to a meteoritic origin.[3]
Campo del Cielo is located in Argentina
Campo del Cielo
Location of Campo del Cielo craters

Later, many iron pieces were found in the area weighing from a few milligrams to 34 tonnes. A mass of about 1 tonne known as Otumpa was located in 1803. Its 634 kg part was brought in 1813 to Buenos Aires and later donated to the British Museum. Other large fragments are summarized in the table below. The mass called el Taco was originally 3070 kg, but the largest remaining fragment weighs 1998 kg.[4]

The largest mass of 37 tonnes was located in 1969 at a depth of 5 m using a metal detector.[3] This stone, named El Chaco, is the second heaviest single-piece meteorite after the Hoba meteorite (Namibia) which weighs 60 tonnes. However, the total mass of the Campo del Cielo fragments found so far exceeds 60 tonnes, making it the heaviest meteorite ever recovered on Earth.[5]

the Cozmic Blues Collection - new meteorite necklace

2010-12-22T01:03:00.000-08:00

A Sikhote Alin meteorite sits on a fine silver bezel wire soldered onto a fine silver bezel. This is filled with lapis lazuli splinters (Afghanistan) and epoxy. 24 K gold flakes were added.

The triangle base metal is a bimetall of copper and Sterling silver. It was partly embossed.
3 amber stones 4mm and 3 lapis lazuli 4mm sit in serrated Sterling silver bezels on the bimnetal.
A nickel silver needle pin is soldered onto the back.

size of the brooch:
3.25 in long, 2 in high

the Cosmic Blues Collection-new meteorite necklace

2010-12-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

necklace embossed copper, silvered copper, meteorite Nantan, lapis lazuli Afghanistan handmade,lapis lazuli 3mm, Amber handmade, fine silver bezel, brass, gold flakes, epoxy, silver plated chain

the embossed copper is on a higher level than the silvered copper below. The meteorite sits in a hole, held by epoxy and half surrounded by gold flakes.

the Cozmic Blues Collection-new necklace

2010-12-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

the meteorite pieces sit in 3 brass bezels in the middle

the handmade lapis lazuli is from Chile, the splinters are from Afghanistan

Pyrite splinters were added and fixed with epoxy resin

the Cosmic Blues Collection - new meteorite rings

2010-12-07T20:58:00.000-08:00

The Cozmic Blues Collection - meteorite rings with lapis lazuli

2010-12-03T08:15:00.000-08:00

jewelry made of lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, which was mined already 6000 years ago, meteorite pieces from outside the earth, and metals, that will corrode to dust in the earth again, from which they were once gained by human invention and work.
Metamorphoses. That`s the Cosmic Blues!

Electronic composition "metamorphoses" (in progress)
www.hypedsound.com/music/songs.php?actio n=listen&id=6469

copper, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, meteorite from Nantan, China (fallen in the 16th century)

silver meteorite gold flakes lapis lazuli epoxy

2010-11-05T06:36:00.000-07:00

necklace embossed copper brass epoxy hematite Swarovski acrylic pens nugold

2010-10-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

embossed brass denim lapis 4mm lapis lazuli self cut Swarovski aluminum epoxy acrylic silver chain

the space between the red Swarovski crystals, the blue-white lapis lazuli triangle and the surrounding brass is filled with epoxy resin. The color of the background is shining through. So if you wear something black , the necklace will look different than if you wear something white.

2010-10-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

fine silver, copper, brass, synth. spinel 5mm, amber 10mm

bronze ring with jade redone

2010-10-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

Add caption

additional 3mm onyx

2010-10-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

embossed bronze fine silver jade cut by myself

nugold. fine silver, Sterling silver, lapis lazuli cut by myself

2010-10-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

ring with a stone cut and polished by myself. The stone is a lapis lazuli. The ring is made of Sterling and fine silver

2010-10-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

necklace n ickelsilver brass fine silver obsidian turquiose 7mm amethyst 7mm copper chain-2

2010-10-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

bracelet brass copper solder finesilver spinel 3mm

2010-10-12T23:35:00.000-07:00

collard necklace nickel silver copper nugold turquoise 18mm garnet 10mm lapis10mm amber 6mm peridot6mm silver chain

silver fused with brass, spinel 3mm

2010-10-11T10:14:00.001-07:00

nickel silver copper brass epoxy enamel powder glass gem triangle onyx garnet10 amber 6mm lapis lazuli4mm silver bezel and chain embossed brass

2010-10-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

two-sided ring, silver and brass fused, synth. ruby 3mm, garnet 7mm

2010-10-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

fused ring. embossed copper fused onto Sterling silver.

size 6.5 - 6.75

2010-09-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

brass, silver (fused), Swarovski cystals 3mm

size 7 1/4

2010-09-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

silver brass fused, sardonyx 6mm

2010-09-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

bracelet copper silver coated copper nickelsilver brass embossed lapis lazuli 7mm glass gems epoxy enamel powder

2010-09-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

necklace nickelsilver copper silver brass Swarovski 4mm amber 10mm denim lapis 10mm onyx 10mm 7mm ruby 3mm spinel 6mm amethyst 6mm mop 3mm sodalite carved stone epoxy black enamel powder embossed colored aluminum acrylic paint

fibula redone

bracelet

2010-09-03T22:44:00.000-07:00

bracelet copper embossed brass garnet jade onyx lapis lazuli 4mm sardonyx 6mm garnet onyx 7mm amber lapis lazuli onyx 10mm epoxy black enamel powder

2010-09-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

silver embossed, aventurine 7mm

fibula

2010-09-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

nugold, copper, nickel silver, lapis lazuli, amber, Swarovski crystals

new rings

2010-09-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

silver, brass, garnet 10 mm

silver, copper, amethyst 7 mm

2010-06-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

copper silver nugold brass amber 10mm amethyst 7mm lapislazuli 4mm turquoise10mmObsidian epoxy ruby 3mm

2010-06-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

copper, silver, brass, nickelsilver, embossed aluminum, 24 K gold flakes, enamel powder, glass splinters, glitter, carnelian7mm, lapislazuli 10mm, amethyst 7mm, epoxy

2010-06-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

necklace silver, brass, rubber, epoxy, Pyrite splinters, glass splinters, garnet splinters, garnets 7mm, onyx 7mm, glass beads, Swarovski crystals, aluminum, 24 K gold flakes

copper fibula

2010-06-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

copper nickel silver brass gold flakes 24K epoxy enamel lapis lazuli Swarovski crystals pens

necklace

2010-05-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

nickel silver, Sterling silver, brass, epoxy, glass splinters, enamel powder, onyx 10mm

fused silver rings and bling cross with real gold

2010-05-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

new cross, jewelry on demand

2010-05-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

nickel silver, embossed aluminum, embossed colored aluminum, epoxy resin, Swarovski crystals

new fused rings

2010-05-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

As I have a new MAP gas torch now, I am able to do fusing easier. I only had a small hand torch up to now. With the MAP gas fusing only takes a few seconds, while it took several minutes with the small torch, if it worked at all. But if you heat a little bit too long, the silver flows away and covers the whole piece of jewelry, which didn`t happen with the hand torch.
But this effect I want to use in future to create surfaces that are plated with a thin layer of silver. For this you can use silver scrap, that accumulates by the time. Maybe I will do this with the inside of copper rings, so they won`t tarnish the skin anymore. On the other hand some people want the tarnishing effect of copper for health reasons (relief of arthritic pain).

silver, brass (fused), Swarovski crystals 3mm, lapislzuli 7mm, amber 4mm, synth. ruby 3mm

brass, copper, silver (fused), onyx

gilding metal, silver (fused), brass, amber, "cold enamel"-black enamel powder in epoxy resin

jewelry on demand - cross

2010-05-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

nicel silver, Sterling silver, leaf gold, epoxy, Swarovsky crystals

brooch with cold enamel

2010-02-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

I tried the so called cold enameling. Epoxy was mixed with enamel powder. Additionally I used acrylic paint to deepen the colors and set accents.

The stones are: 2 amethysts, 7mm

garnet splinters

black jasper splinters

metals: nickel silver, nugold, brass, copper

brooch with epoxy and acrylic

2010-02-24T19:20:00.000-08:00

I tried a new technique. Cut off brass tubes were filled with epoxy resin, which was mixed with acrylic paint before. The brass bezel on the right side was filled with garnet and peridot splinters, then epoxy was put over it. The copper disk is on the same level as the surface of the epoxy resin.

brooch redone, ring

2010-02-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

ring

2010-02-18T19:40:00.000-08:00

brooch

2010-02-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

bronze ring

2010-02-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

The ring is made of bronze (copper/tin-alloy), 16 ga. two pieces of Sterling silver are soldered on. I set a 6mm Peridot (Olivin) onto one of them. A 10mm Garnet is placed in the brass bezel.

rings

2010-02-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

necklace

2010-02-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

ring and brooches

2010-02-12T06:08:00.000-08:00

new rings and bracelet

2010-02-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

silver ring with big onyx

2010-02-08T19:42:00.000-08:00

Sterling silver with copper and red brass, onyx (18 mm), lapis lazuli (7 mm) and amber (4 mm)

painting in progress

2010-01-25T23:51:00.000-08:00

More painting was done. Metal was removed, added and embossed.

"metal painting"

2009-11-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

I am on a new painting at the moment, where I try to combine metalwork with painting. You can see the progress of it at my painting blog
http://wolfgang-schweizer.blogspot.com/

Here is the video with the music that inspired me to the painting, and the picture of the state of work at the moment:

"Ancient Echoes" - Sitar, Lyre, Tabla & Fiddle...

ANCIENT ECHOES | MySpace Video

2009-11-02T19:53:00.000-08:00

2009-10-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

2009-10-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

2009-10-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

2009-10-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

2009-10-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

metalsmithing by W.Schweizer

brooch Ebony Madagasccar, Bocote, Brass, Pyrite splinters, Shellac, Green Fluorite handmade, Copper, nickelsilver, epoxy, Size4in

Klunker

custom made pendant Nugold, hand made Afghanistan Lapis lazuli, Garnet 10mm, Amber 4mm, Onyx 18mm, Rosewood, Copper

Rosewood and metal brooch with Shellac flakes

meteorite ring campo del cielo with Lapis lazuli and Amber

Cocobolo wood brooch

cold enamel inlay steel ring

wood and metal brooch

I tried some things on this one. New for me is the use of wood combined with metal in a sort of a big bezel. I also did some carving on the wood.

Nanntan meteorite steel ring

custom made copper ring

copper and brass ring with inlay

ring Laucherthal

I will offer a new kind of custom rings on my webpage soon. People can send me personal stuff to embed in their new ring.

rich low brass and stainless steel ring with azurite inlay

stainless steel and copper ring with epoxy cold enamel and stone inlay

brooch in style of epoxy painting and ring with epoxy and stone inlay

brazed ring with epoxy inlay

mixed metals brazed ring

custom made Bronze ring

steel and brass ring

silver and brass ring

brooch "the hawk"

brazed brass inlay brooch, copper plated

brazed steel ring with Spinel

brooch with ebony

pendant with blackened welding steel

brooch and pendant "New York"

heat colored steel bracelet

steel, acrylic and ebony

steel jewelry

cuff bracelet copper and nugold

iridescent fish brooch

fine silver ring, Serpent and Dragon necklace

cuff bracelet with colored Titanium

new brooch with tin/silver alloy and amber

new ring and brooch

new Titanium bracelet

Titanium bracelet-painting with fire and light on metal

new ring and brooch

new campo del cielo meteorite brooch

the Cozmic Blues Collection-new meteorite ring Campo Del Cielo

The Cozmic Blues Collection - New Meteorite Brooch

the Cozmic Blues Collection - new meteorite necklace

the Cozmic Blues Collection - new meteorite ring campo del cielo

the Cozmic Blues Collection - new meteorite necklace

the Cosmic Blues Collection-new meteorite necklace

the Cozmic Blues Collection-new necklace

the Cosmic Blues Collection - new meteorite rings

The Cozmic Blues Collection - meteorite rings with lapis lazuli

bronze ring with jade redone

bracelet

fibula

new rings

copper, silver, brass, nickelsilver, embossed aluminum, 24 K gold flakes, enamel powder, glass splinters, glitter, carnelian7mm, lapislazuli 10mm, amethyst 7mm, epoxy

copper fibula

necklace

fused silver rings and bling cross with real gold

new cross, jewelry on demand

new fused rings

jewelry on demand - cross

brooch with cold enamel

brooch with epoxy and acrylic

brooch redone, ring

ring

brooch

bronze ring

rings

necklace

ring and brooches

new rings and bracelet

silver ring with big onyx

painting in progress

"metal painting"

custom made pendant
Nugold, hand made Afghanistan Lapis lazuli, Garnet 10mm, Amber 4mm, Onyx 18mm, Rosewood, Copper

I will offer a new kind of custom rings on my webpage soon.
People can send me personal stuff to embed in their new ring.