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How to Spot
Fake Jewelry
Author: SusanaGormen
If you are
tossing around the idea of having a piece of custom jewelry created,
there are a few things that you need to know first. One thing that
you will want to know is that there are jewelers out there that will
work with you but it will cost you if they have to do all of the
design work.
The design
work is first done in wax, because jewelry is cast using the
“lost wax” casting method. This means that you will want to
present your wax sculpture to the jeweler “ready to go”
that is that all that has to be done is to encase it in plaster, set
it up for a pour and then pour it.
A jeweler
that is going to do the casting for you will gladly give you some
sculpting wax to work with. You can't use bees wax, because it is too
soft and paraffin wax is too hard and brittle. Sculpting wax is the
same wax that dentists also use and it comes in solid chunks and in sheets.
Working with
wax takes time and practice and you will find it rather hard to work
with. Pieces don't stick together easily like clay, so you have to
“work” two pieces of wax together carefully. Use fine
dental type sculpting tools to work on your wax piece and handle it
very carefully.
One thing that
you will find is that the warmth of your fingers will cause your wax
piece to bend out of shape when you handle it. The solution to this
is to keep your piece in the refrigerator and periodically dip your
hands in ice cold water when you are working on it. Make sure that
nothing gets into the wax when you are working on it, because dirt
won't melt out and will end up being stuck in your piece of jewelry.
The design
work is first done in wax, because jewelry is cast using the
“lost wax” casting method. This means that you will want to
present your wax sculpture to the jeweler “ready to go”
that is that all that has to be done is to encase it in plaster, set
it up for a pour and then pour it.
A jeweler that
is going to do the casting for you will gladly give you some
sculpting wax to work with. You can't use bees wax, because it is too
soft and paraffin wax is too hard and brittle. Sculpting wax is the
same wax that dentists also use and it comes in solid chunks and in sheets.
Working with
wax takes time and practice and you will find it rather hard to work
with. Pieces don't stick together easily like clay, so you have to
“work” two pieces of wax together carefully. Use fine
dental type sculpting tools to work on your wax piece and handle it
very carefully.
One thing that
you will find is that the warmth of your fingers will cause your wax
piece to bend out of shape when you handle it. The solution to this
is to keep your piece in the refrigerator and periodically dip your
hands in ice cold water when you are working on it. Make sure that
nothing gets into the wax when you are working on it, because dirt
won't melt out and will end up being stuck in your piece of jewelry. |
