recycle

did you know that some jewelers (like me) use 100% recycled metals? i work with a company that buys back old unwanted jewelry and refines it to make new gold, silver, and platinum.

even this bridal crown of sterling and 18 k is 100% recycled metal. you can recycle too!
all designs© Alexandra Hart

bracelet frenzie

i am on a cuff bracelet jag- bold, fun, stylish and powerful cuff bracelets are IN!
these are sterling silver

all designs copyright Alexandra Hart

Rainbow engagement 2

so, this is the second rainbow engagement ring- sprinkled with fancy sapphires of all colors!
all designs copyright Alexandra Hart

cocktail ring AND pendant

this beauty is made with a 14ct rutilated quartz set in 18k gold with diamonds on the side- and the best part is that it converts into a pendant! wow- 2 in 1!

amethyst glam

this was fun to make: a large amethyst centered by cabochon peridot and garnets which show from the side- and can be worn as a ring also!

all designs copyright Alexandra Hart

you can recycle too!

do you have some old gold jewelry lying around that you'll never wear? just like your bottles and cans, the materials in your jewlery can be recycled for cash or credit. bring the stuff you never wanna see again to your local jeweler (or contact me) and ask them what they would pay you for it. they will in turn send it in to a precious metal refining company which will reclaim the materials and prepare it for new jewelry.

how much have you got? do the math: 18k is 75% pure gold, 14k is about 58% pure gold, 10k is about 37% pure gold, dental gold is 12k which is 45% pure gold, but the refining process itself is costly so subtract another 10% from your karat and this is a rough estimate of your return.

wow earrings

look what i just finished for a friend!!

all designs copyright Alexandra Hart

orbiting earrings

check out these fun, new 18k earrings where the blue sapphire "earth" orbits around the yellow sapphire "sun". these are a custom order for a very lucky birthday girl!

all designs © Alexandra Hart

oceanography

have you ever heard of a nudibranch? nudibranch is a creature that swims gracefully around coral reefs and inspired this necklace. i hammered sterling and 22k gold to create the undulating curves in this piece.

photo by Robert Weldon
all designs © Alexandra Hart

jewelry fun with friends

just got back from a fun trip to arizona to visit friends and we spent 3 days making and playing with jewlery. look at how much fun they had!

what IS a bench?

a jewelers bench is a work bench designed specifically for a gold smith to use. this is a typical American style jewelers bench. see all the extra drawers and a tray to catch the filings.



this is my bench, messy when i'm busy. you can see i use a skirt to catch my filings.

radiant earrings

just finished these. 18k gold radiant errings with ideal cut (conflict free) diamonds for my friend

all designs © Alexandra Hart

reversable coin ring

here's a sterling and 22k gold ring holding an antique bronze Arabic coin. i made this so that you can flip the top of the ring to see the other side of the coin.



all designs © Alexandra Hart

what are conflict-free diamonds?

do you remember the movie "Blood Diamond?" for those of us who haven't seen the movie yet, a conflict diamond is mined and sold by rebels in order to fund armed conflict and civil wars. some of these wars are located in Angola, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. the Kimberley Process, started in 2003 by the jewelry industry, made it illegal to trade conflict diamonds and created a certification process. conflict- free diamonds are as beautiful and more valuable. you can be sure of buying clean diamonds by demanding from your jeweler a written guarantee on the invoice that his or her suppliers buy conflict-free diamonds. my guarantee (as recommended by Amnesty International) reads like this; "The diamonds herein invoiced have been purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict and in compliance with United Nations resolution. The seller hereby guarantees that these diamonds are from areas that are free of conflict, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by the supplier of these diamonds." for further information, go to www.amnestyusa.org
i wish i could guarantee your marriage as conflict-free as these diamonds;)

all designs © Alexandra Hart

rainbow engagement

California now welcomes all marriages. here's the first rainbow ring i've made since the law changed, for a ceremony in october. 18k gold and multi-colored sapphires make for both a beautiful and colorful ring. yay!

all designs copyright Alexandra Hart

mabé pearl

mabé pearls are also called blister pearls because they are formed on the inside of the shell of the oyster. they come in various colors and this one, though white, has flashes of green and red, so i set it with a ruby.

all designs copyright Alexandra Hart

internet radio interview

i was interviewed on Art Rocks! radio on June 25th, 2008. it was really fun to share with 2 million internet listeners how i feel about metal smithing.

click on this blog title above, then to the right you will see the link labeled Alexandra Hart "listens" to the metal. click on this link to hear the radio interview and please be patient through the ads.

bling ring

i'm really excited about this amazing 4.5 ct natural Sri Lankan zircon. look into the stone: you can even see the double refraction-zircons are highly refractive, which means they twinkle a lot like diamonds. this one reminds me of a champagne diamond, set in an 18 kt hand made ring. available now for $1,920.00

all designs © Alexandra Hart

behind the scenes

ever wonder how a cast ruby ring was made? first you have to carve the wax...




here's the wax in process...




a mold is then made with the wax, the wax is then melted and burned out of the mold and molten gold is put in it's place at very high tempuratures. here's what it looks like fresh out of the flask.




now it's time to prepare for the stone setting... by burring out a "seat" for the stone.




stone is set by pressing metal against the stone...ta da!


all designs copyright Alexandra Hart

flower pendant

just finished this today. Hope she likes it.

all designs copyright Alexandra Hart