Ruby Tag Pendant
Kate Richbourg

Tools

• Permanent marker
• Ruler
• Jeweler’s saw and cut lubricant
• Bench pin
• Divider
• French shears
• Bench block
• Chasing hammer
• Chain nose pliers
• Round nose pliers
• Millimeter gauge
• Flush cutters
• Liver of sulpher
• Pro polish pad

Materials

• 20 gauge sheet at least ¼” by 1”
• Rubber cement and paper (if sawing your own blank)
• 4.5mm round stone
• Plain bezel wire
• Painter’s tape
• Hard, and medium wire solder and flux
• Easy paste solder
• Dental floss
• 2” of 18 gauge sterling silver bead wire with 1mm beads

Steps

• Use a premade blank or cut the tag out of 20 gauge sheet with your jeweler’s saw.
• Use the painter’s tape to measure around your stone and transfer the measurement to the bezel wire. Use your divider and French shears to trim the width of the wire if necessary. Form the bezel and file the ends flush if necessary.
• Place the bezel on your kiln brick. Paint the inside with flux and place a tiny piece of wire solder inside the join with your tweezers. Turn on your torch and begin heating. The solder should melt and flow into the join.  Move your torch to the outside of the bezel to draw the solder through quickly, then remove the flame. Quench and pickle.
• Fit the bezel around the stone for size and to give the bezel its final shape. Remove the stone after sizing.
• Place the ¼” by 1” blank on your kiln brick and paint with flux. Place the bezel about 1/8” from one end and apply small grains of medium wire solder around the inside of the join. Solder as above, quench, and pickle.
• Use your millimeter gauge and permanent marker to make a mark on the jaw of your round nose pliers where they are 3/16” thick. Make a loop with your bead wire around this point and cut half a ring.
• Lay the pendant flat on your kiln brick. Apply a tiny amount of easy paste solder to both ends of the half ring of beaded wire and lay it against the pendant to create a bail on the end opposite the bezel. Solder as above, quench, and pickle.
• Use the same mark on your round nose pliers to make a full jump ring out of the bead wire. Cut the ends flush and put it through the bail you just created. Set the pendant on its side in a slot in your kiln brick and make sure the join in the jump ring is as far from the bail as possible.  Apply a small amount of easy paste solder to the join in the ring and heat, being careful not to melt the solder that holds on the bail. Quench and pickle as always.
• Place your pendant on your work surface and fix the stone in place by burnishing.
• Oxidize using liver of sulphur if desired, and polish with a pro polish pad.