Metals at Home
Making a Dichroic Glass Bezel-Set Necklace
I hope everyone is still pursuing creative projects at home! This is my latest distraction, or should I say attraction?! Handmade dichroic glass cabs will be bezel-set in sterling silver to create pendants. I like creating a simple drawing of the pendant then placing different cabs on the drawing to see which one(s) I like most! I think I’ve got two in place that I’ll use next… do you agree with my choices?!
To make a pendant like this I will start with solid sterling wire and create a ring about 1 inch in diameter. The bezel is then created from a quarter-inch wide strip of thin silver made to fit exactly the diameter of the small glass cabochon. That small bezel is soldered to a back plate, the back plate is trimmed and soldered to the 1-inch ring. A bail is added and the piece is polished before the glass cab is set. Dichroic glass cabs have small flecks of metal in them and I think they are perfectly complemented by setting in a piece made with sterling silver. The glass cab is placed in the setting and a burnisher is used to rub over the bezel and hold the cab in place.
I love the way the circular pendant swings. It looks like the glass cab is rolling along the sterling circle.
I’ll post another image of the new finished pieces!
Sara Sloan Stine
Sawtooth Director of Metals + Glass
