Have you just started learning about jewelry, or are you ready to dive deeper? If you’re curious about jewelry design and jewelry making but don’t know where to begin, you’re in the right place.
Today, I’m going to show you exactly how a piece of jewelry is made, step by step, from design all the way to polishing. And by the end, I think you’ll feel confident enough to make your own piece of jewelry right at home.
We’re going to make this pendant together. To keep the process simple and easy to follow, I’ve broken it down into the most essential steps.
Design
The first thing is Design. I know you don’t want just random shapes — you want something meaningful, something that truly represents you, right? Trust me, it’s not as complicated as it might seem. As a jewelry designer, let me show you a simple, step-by-step way to design a pendant. I’ll break it down into four steps.
Step 1: Category:
First, decide what you want to make! Pendant, ring, earrings — just pick one you love to start with. For today, I’m making a pendant. Easy peasy, step one is done.
Step 2: Keywords
This step is all about finding a few key words that will guide our design. Think of words that capture what you want to express. For example, I want this pendant to represent courage and perseverance. But that sounds abstract, right? Hard to draw.
So let’s dig deeper: why do I want to express this? Because I want to capture my feelings and wishes. Since quitting my stable job to become a freelancer, I’ve sometimes felt isolated — like a small boat drifting on an open ocean. What I need is courage, and the determination to keep doing what I love and believe in, so I can reach my destination. From that, my keywords are: boat, ocean, drifting, and waves.
Step 3: Elements
Now we need some actual design elements for our pendant. This is where we use our keywords to look for pictures and images, then extract design elements from them.
But what kind of pictures work best? Let me show you.
Look at these two: which one is easier to get elements from? Right one, right? You can directly use the lines and shapes. Left one is more realistic — to use it, we’d have to abstract it, which is harder. So, especially if you’re a beginner, I recommend choosing images where the lines and shapes are clear and easy to work with.
Step 4: Combination
Now it’s time to combine the elements in different ways. Try as many variations as you can until you find a design that feels right.
And that’s it — we’ve finished the first big part: Design! I think this is the soul of jewelry, because now your piece is telling a story. It’s not just cold metal anymore.
Making
Now let’s move on to the making part. The method I’m using for this pendant is called Lost Wax Casting. But don’t worry — at the beginning, you don’t need fancy machines or big equipment. I’ll show you how to do it with the most basic tools, the kind you can buy cheaply or maybe even already have at home.
Wax carving:
This is where the design finally comes to life in 3D.
Here are the tools and materials you’ll need for this step.
The most important tip: make your wax model as smooth as possible. Any bumps or scratches here will show up later in the silver.
Once the carving is done, we weigh the wax model. This tells us exactly how much silver we’ll need for casting.
Making a Wax Tree
Next, we create what’s called a wax tree.
We attach the wax model to a base — this forms a small “tree” structure.
Creating the Plaster Mold
Now it’s time to make the plaster mold.
The mixing ratio of plaster powder to water is usually 1:0.38.
After pouring the plaster, you’ll notice air bubbles inside. Just tap the board gently to release them. Then place it aside and wait for the plaster to fully harden.
Once it’s set, remove the base and heat the mold in an oven (yes, a regular home oven works). This step dries the plaster and melts out the wax, leaving us with a hollow mold.
Casting the Silver
Before we cast, let’s prepare everything.
First, calculate the silver you’ll need. If the wax is 1 gram, multiply by 10. That means you’ll need about 10 grams of silver. Always prepare a little extra, just in case.
Next, open the oil clay and have it ready for use.
Reheat the plaster mold once more to make sure it’s completely dry — this step is crucial, otherwise the casting won’t work.
Now, melt the silver together with a little borax, which helps the metal flow more smoothly. Once it’s fully liquid, quickly press it into the mold using the oil clay to create pressure. Hold it steady for about 10 seconds. This step needs to be done fast!
And that’s it — now we have silver in the exact shape of our pendant.Polishing
The very last step is polishing.
And here it is — the finished pendant. From design, to wax, to silver — this is the complete process of making a piece of jewelry.
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