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Chapter 21

How to Make Roman-Style Garnet Earrings in Copper For Only $9.99 a Pair!!!

Your Roman-Style Garnet & Copper Earrings could easily have been worn by a Roman woman of the first century. This style was very popular, and much of the Greek artistic tradition was absorbed into the Roman economy and art tastes and values. Ancient Romans were avid collectors of ancient artifacts.

Here's what you should have received in your kit -- check each item off this list to make sure you have everything you're supposed to have in the kit:

  • Four Garnet Rondel Beads, packaged in a separate ziplock bag.
  • Four copper "donut" beads.
  • Four fancy copper faceted beads.
  • One ziplock bag with FOUR 6" long .20 gauge copper wires from which you'll make the hand-made ear-wires, the crowning touch of a fine set of ancient style earrings.
  • One ziplock bag with TEN 1 1/2"-2" .20 gauge copper wires to be made into paddles.
  • One ziplock bag with TWO French-Style gold-color SURGICAL STEEL earwires.

ALL THE WIRES IN THE COPPER KITS ARE .20 GAUGE COPPER WIRE. No other gauge is used in this copper earring kit. Some people report sensitivity to copper ear-wires, thus a set of surgical steel earwires is included. Do NOT use copper to make earwires unless you are sure that you are copper-tolerant. The OPTIONAL copper earwires are intended as an exercise in wire-crafting and are thus included in the kit.

The wires were ALL cut with one end flush. Bend the loop at the flush-cut end. The other end will be hammered to take the sharpness off the dangly tip.

Always save your copper clippings -- they are worth a little money, but you will be amazed at how fast the scrap adds up, even when your wires are pre-sized to fit the project requirements, and you need the practice so you can learn how to save your silver and gold scraps when you get to doing silver projects.

The tools required for this project are:

  • Round needlenose pliers.
  • Flush-cutter, medium small.
  • 2-ounce ball-pein hammer.
  • small desk type anvil, vise or steel hammering block.
  • rat-tail file or ring file, very fine.
  • Opti-Visor goggles if additional visual help is needed. Choose your lens correction carefully; don't get more magnification than you actually need. These lenses can be changed as your vision gets progressively worse from age.
  • Jeweler's polishing cloth. Make sure it does NOT contain red polishing rouge.

First we start with the Core Element. Make your Core with TWO of the .20 gauge copper wires provided in the kit. Take your time and make them right. Using your needlenose pliers, gently COAX the wire into the shapes you want them to be, and using your flush-cutters, trim the wire after making the loop and winding the wire back on itself, as shown above.

Make certain that there are no sharp points where you cut and trimmed the wire. Be sure to trim the wire so that the FLUSH side remains and the SHARP side is removed; keep the FLAT side of your flush-cutters to the FINISH or client-side of the wire. Feel the end to determine if you've done it right. If not, you'll have to trim it slightly once again, leaving less silver wire to work with, so be careful the first time.

Don't RUSH through the project; that's a sure way to louse it up. A few seconds won't make any dent in any endeavor.

First load on one fancy faceted copper bead, then one of the roundish donut-shaped copper beads, then TWO GARNETS, then another donut-shaped copper bead, one fancy faceted copper bead, then make a closing loop at the bottom of the Core element. Make BOTH Core Elements at this time, then proceed to the next stage.

You are going to form the ear-wires directly onto the Core Element. Thread the .20 gauge wire through the top loop of the Core Element, so that about 40mm, or 1 1/2", sticks out the other end. Make a nice large loop, enough to allow good swing and tilt, and finish the loop by winding the wire back onto itself, as shown below:

You should now have the ear-wires attached to the tops of the Core Elements on both earrings, and you're ready to to go the next step, where you'll make and attach your paddles, articulated bangle drops on the bottom of your earring elements, as follows:

Make your paddle bangles as indicated.

Open your packet of .20 gauge short copper wires. You only need 10, five for each earring. If you mess one up, you can use the scrap from the longer wires once they've been cut & trimmed properly, so don't worry -- you'll have enough wire. ALL scraps should be saved, and many of them will be long enough to make something out of it, once you know how.

Hold the paddle wire this way when you hammer the tip.

Working your way from the sharp tip toward the loop, hammer gently and let the weight of the 2 oz. hammer do all the work for you. Keep the flat of the hammer exactly even with the vise, anvil or steel strike-plate, so the silver doesn't get dinged from the edge of the hammer-head.

As you hammer the very end, you'll note that if you did it right, the sharpness will vanish, and the end will form a perfect tear-drop shape. Following the wire up toward the loop, GENTLY tap it to help it keep its shape. Do NOT flatten the wire except at the bottom, the formerly sharp end, which presumably now has a nice rounded tip with no sharp edges.

attach the paddles by opening and closing the top loop of the paddle.

Open the loop of the paddle to the SIDE, not outward. Do not make the loop larger by doing this operation. The loop stays the same size, and the end moves a bit to the left as you attach it to the bottom loop of the Core Element.

This is what it looks like when the paddles are attached correctly.

Try to get all the paddles facing the same way, if you can figure out how to do that, but don't worry over it, unless you're a fanatic for neatness. The paddles work either way they're put on, frontward or backward.

You'll put FIVE paddles on each earring, keeping back two for future use. Do not attempt to put six paddles on the bottom loop. It will look overcrowded, and three aren't enough to make a good flashpoint on the earring. Now check all the places on both earrings where sharp points might still be lurking, and polish them with a Dremel and some Green Jeweler's rouge, or GENTLY and SLOWLY file them down with your EXTRA-FINE or FINE rat-tail or ring file, taking care not to score the metal as you do this cleanup operation.

Congratulations! You have just made a DIRECT contact with your Parallel World Selves! Whether you wear your Ancient Roman Style Garnet Earrings or sell them as a kit, you will never forget this life-changing event in your present life.

ANCIENT ROMAN STYLE GARNET & COPPER EARRINGS KIT:

The complete kit with ALL the parts you need to make one pair of Ancient Roman Style Garnet Earrings in copper.

RETAIL ... $19.95/pair

WHOLESALE ... $9.99/pair

SOLD AS A KIT ONLY. Completed earrings are not included in this deal. If you are unable to make the completed piece, you can purchase one for display purposes but not for sale.