My wonderful husband turned 41 yesterday. In the SCA, his persona is 10th century Irish. I've spent a LOT of time looking at jewelry and metalwork from Ireland and England, and this piece is definitely not a recreation. It should honestly feature enamel in those three small circles, but I'm not set up to do enamel. And the stamping is largely a nod to my love's own metalwork. I didn't take a ton of process photos, and in all honesty, I made up the design on the fly. The only thing I had set in my mind was the central 10mm stone.
The outer border is 2x1 half round fine silver and .5mm beaded sterling silver. The filigree is 20 gauge fine silver, and the back plate is 24 gauge fine silver. The stamping was accomplished with a spring punch, and in hindsight, I wish that I'd used a hammer and a steel punch instead. The spring action was very heavy, and it translated through to the back. It also slightly contorted the shape of the entire pendant, so that it is slightly dished in the center. Overall, though, none of this negatively affects the aesthetics. One final note: I used silver solder for the filigree, because it's what I'm familiar with. However, I ended up with some marks that I couldn't easily sand down. So I ended up texturing the entire back plate with a small ball burr in a flex shaft tool. Absolutely, thoroughly modern, but I think it was a happy accident, as it makes the filigree stand out nicely.
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