Diamond Earrings: Blue & Grey Diamonds on 24k Gold - A Custom Set for Janesko

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. It's amazing how time flies. I'm sorry and I promise to do better!

Although I haven't posted, I have been busy this year. Carrie, Michelle, and I have done a few shows and working on expanding the Brie'Denee Etsy shop. One of my biggest accomplishments this year was the set of earrings I made for a local designer, Janesko.

These beauties took about 8 hours total to make. Here are a few photos of the process.

First, I had to test how many times my tiny 30 gauge wire would go through the stones. When I tested it, I found that these stones and the holes were so tiny, I could only make 1 pass with the wire. That really reduces the types of techniques that can be done to lay these out how my client wanted. It took a bit to figure out how to do. I decided using a weaving technique would be the best option.  

Next, I had to layout the order for the stones. Janesko wanted the stones to look like they were floating with the blue and grey mixed together. I laid them out so they look random, but they're really not. I put a pattern in since I had to duplicate each side of the "V" as well as make the mate to the earring pair.

And the work begins! The beads are strung on 1 long wire, about 8 inches or so. Then I folded 4 more 8 inch lengths of wire. To make sure the earrings were sturdy enough, I had to make a boarder so each set of end wires were twisted together. Then it was a matter of running 3 diamonds at a time on the main strand and weaving the other 4 wires around it to keep the stones in place. Whew! Lots to do still!

To make sure I kept the order and was able to finish with the point, I had to do both sides at once. I just love how these turned out and so did Janesko!