24 December 2009

Lion's Teeth







Dent de Lion...or Dandelion means 'Lion's Teeth'. This name refers to the leaves.
I made a wedding ring for Kirk, who wanted a weed of some sort engraved on a hefty 22k yellow gold band, with a slight texture. Its very heavy- much oomph!
We agreed that the dandelion was a good motif- a spectacular flower. I like that it has a kind of trick fragility- if you kick a dandelion- it just grows everywhere. A kind of tenacity that laughs at everything.
This material choice is relatively soft- it will bear the marks of time- but being so rich it will always look amazing.
I'd never give up my ol' Blacky- but I want one of these!
I engraved it on the flat- (pic actual size)
and bent it round
and soldered it.
( I made my own solder - a 20ish k alloy- an excellent colour match- but a nail-biting operation- the temp. required to melt the solder was so close to melting
the whole lot!! )