Sea glass cabochon

I originally thought this piece of sea glass was white, but against a white background it appears slightly grey or grey/violet.  Anyway, it was such a nice, rounded shape I decided to mount it in a bezel.  My usual bezel strip wasn't deep enough so I cut a wide strip of 0.5mm sterling silver, sawed into one long edge to give it a decorative "toothy" finish, and soldered it to sterling sheet.  A silver squiggle, small silver balls and "fidget rings" finished off the pendant. 

My soldering ability was really tested on this pendant.  I started with hard, medium and easy solders in that order, but still found that seams popped open due to heat conduction.  I've read that using a rouge/methylated spirit solution painted onto previous seams will protect them... that's for next time.

I originally gave this pendant a satin finish but later polished it up to a high shine.  I think the satin gives a more lustrous feel, so after hallmarking it will probably revert.

Silver swirl and seaglass drops

Have taken a break recently due to other commitments.  This hammered swirl was lying around for some time waiting to be finished, but I wasn't quite sure what it needed.  Sometimes you just have to walk away or doodle a bit to find inspiration.  In the end I chose 3 small seaglass pebbles, and drilled and threaded them onto 1mm diam silver wires.

I've finally sourced some relatively cheap diamond-coated hand files, plus riffler files and drill bits.  I've resolved never to buy through specialist suppliers again for tools as it's almost always possible to find cheaper alternatives.  One thing I won't compromise on though, is saw blades; the cheap ones just snag and/or snap constantly.

Had an idea for a seaglass "cabochon" with fidget rings - not sure where I saw it originally, possibly on Etsy.  Thank you to whoever had the idea.  See next post...