Maybe I should back up just a second. What, exactly, is plating?
You probably already know that it’s gold over another material, but I’m willing to bet that most people who sell gold-plated jewelry couldn’t tell you much more than that. Why not? Probably because there’s so little gold on there that it’s not something they even want to talk about.
But I’m proud of how much gold-plating is on my jewelry, and I’m not afraid to talk about it!
Left: Molly and Andrew walking down the aisle, photo by Meghan Baskin; Right: Molly’s custom earrings
I’m always so honored when a bride asks me to make something special for her wedding day — I remember how important it was for me to get every detail from my own wedding right, so I know how special it is to pick the jewelry you’ll wear.
This spring Molly reached out to me about making earrings for her wedding, and I was thrilled! She wanted something with a pearl, and something bigger than the Baroque Pearl Drop earrings (little did she know my favorite thing to hear is, “Can we go bigger?”). I immediately got to sketching, she picked her favorite design, and we made a few final tweaks. Next we found the perfect pair of pearls, and I got busy on the rest.
Left: Carving the rough shapes out of wax; Right: The wax after lots of fine-tuning
Molly’s earrings started out as thick blocks of wax that I cut down into the rough shapes I wanted. I used small files to refine the shape more, including all the contours. I carved the top setting so a pearl could sit safely inside, made sure the bottom drops wouldn’t be too heavy, and cast them all in brass. Finally I plated them in 14k gold, which really made them sparkle.
Left: A close-up shot of Molly’s earrings; Right: Molly just before her wedding, photo by Meghan Baskin
I enjoyed the whole process of making these earrings, but loved seeing Molly wearing them even more. She looked stunning on her wedding day (those sleeves! that lip color!!), and the earrings complimented her look beautifully.
I hope she and Andrew husband spend many blissful years together, and that happy wedding day memories come flooding back every time she puts them on.