This brooch was made using depletion gilding and reticulation.
The base plate was created from silver left over from other projects. The scrap silver was melted down into balls and then repeatedly put through a rolling mill until the desired thickness was achieved.
Fine silver was brought to the surface using a process known as depletion gilding. This is done by repeatedly annealing, pickling and brushing down with a brass wire brush. This was done about five times.
To obtain the surface design various shapes in 0.8 mm fine silver wire were then laid out on the base plate and the surface was heated until it started to melt. The flame was then moved around to get the desired surface effect while also fusing the fine silver wire into the surface.
This photograph shows the fine silver wire shapes laid out on the base plate before reticulation.
The brooch pin was made using 1 mm diameter sterling silver wire.
Lavernock Glass and Jewellery 