Recreating a Byzantine Necklace - Part 3

The original necklace I started out with had a filigree hook and eye closure. I had never tried filigree before, but I definitely wanted to! So here's my adventure with that, keep in mind that this was my first real attempt at it (so there may be a better way out there of doing things). 

I liked the original necklace, but it's on display with a second, very similar one, that I liked a bit better. So I decided to base my closure on that one. The original is gold, as are most extant Byzantine jewelry pieces that have this degree of delicacy. However, two things, really: 1, gold is expensive. 2, more important to me, even, I'm horribly allergic to gold. Ergo, I used silver. Silver has similar, though not identical, working properties to gold, and there are examples of delicate silver jewelry and silver filigree in other cultures in the 7th and 8th centuries. It's not too much of a stretch. 

I started out by tracing a nickel, and sketching out the design. 

I used sterling silver beaded wire for the outer edge, and 20 gauge fine silver for the inner parts. I used the sketch as a guide for forming the pieces. 

I tried a few different methods for the inner parts, but this is what worked the best. 

It helps to finish the cut ends at this point.

And there's my first attempt. I learned, through some trial and error, that it's easiest to attach the inner pieces to each other first, and then attach the outer ring.

I got this little guy all the way to this point. I was able to get everything attached, in three stages, except one of the little granules. The center piece was a little wonky, but it was together. As I was attaching the last granule, I decided to see if I could gently melt and reposition the center. This happened. 

So I had to try again. This time, I made the entire motif a little smaller (because I had a scrap of beaded wire that was *almost* the right length, honestly, and wanted to use it). And I need two of these, right? So when I tried again, I went ahead and made two. I used basically the same process as above, so this is mostly going to be a bunch of photos. 

Formed and ready to go out to the soldering station! 

Soldered center, not attached to the ring. 

Soldered to the ring! Also, I'm going to fix that gap, but not until the very end. For no real good reason. 

This bail is much more accurate to the original! It's 1x2mm half round sterling wire, but it took FOUR tries to get the pieces attached. The closer the pieces you're attaching are in relative size and density, the easier it is to do, because they heat up at the same rate. So this took some more concentrated effort. And sheer luck. But I'm really happy with it.

The little granules are so fun to make. You start with scraps like this, right? Each one is maybe 3mm or so of my 20 gauge fine silver wire. Melt each one individually, and they ball up!

It's honestly fun.

So the one with the bail got two granules and an eye, and the other one got two granules and an eye on one side, and two granules and a hook on the other side. And they're done! I need to finesse the hook a bit more, and then these guys will get incorporated into a second (silver) necklace. Just for reference, I used medium solder for everything except the granules and eyes/hook. I used easy solder for that stage. They're not perfect, but I'm supremely happy with them as a first successful attempt. 

And if anyone is curious what my soldering station looks like...

It's kind of a mess.