I’m thrilled to share my latest creation: a pendant mainly inspired by my professional life! I recently joined a biotechnology company and I love it so far. Although challenging, it brings me joy of being a part of something trully useful and it also boosts my creativity. Otherwise, I would be crafting some “normal” jewellery.
In the office at work there is a place where people drop stuff they don’t need no more, but it is still too good to throw out. One day there was a beatuful earring which supposedly lost its partner. I decided to give it a new life as a pendant instead.
This new pendant I crafted is directly inspired by one of the most iconic pieces of lab equipment: the Erlenmeyer flask. Its distinctive conical shape, designed for mixing and heating, has always struck me as elegant and functional. I wanted to capture that essence and transform it into a wearable piece of art.
For the centerpiece, I used that beautiful rose quartz teardrop cabochon. The soft, gentle pink of the rose quartz offers a wonderful contrast to the cool, precise lines of the flask, bringing a touch of warmth and organic beauty to the scientific form.
To add some sparks to the piece I employed the filigree technique to fill the space around the gemstone. Instead of a solid silver backplate, I took my time handcrafting the intricate silver filigree. This delicate, lacy wirework creates an ethereal, almost molecular structure within the flask’s outline, enhancing the light that plays around the rose quartz. It adds depth, texture, and a sense of delicate complexity that I feel perfectly echoes the microscopic wonders we explore in biotechnology.
This pendant is more than just jewelry: it’s a personal fusion of my professional journey and my love for handcrafted artistry. It’s a reminder that beauty can be found in the most unexpected places, even in the meticulously ordered medical lab world.
Peek at crafting process
First of all I remove the cabochon. Since the original lonely earring is not sterling silver I am not going to reuse its body. Luckily the cab was just holding by a drop of glue and poped right off with minimal force.
Next step is to create a new saddle for the salvaged cabochon. This time I used 0.4mm thick silver strip for a saddle frame. The very same strip made a great bottom to hold the stone. I could cut a teardrop shaped solid sheet but this would hide away the beautiful inclusions inside the rose quartz.
With the saddle soldered and roughly polished it is time for the main shape. I researched the Erlenmeyer flasks and sketched a pendant frame. Then I used a 1mm silver wire to shape it accordingly.
After some bending and cutting I placed the wires on my soldering block and got on with my blowtorch. At this stage it is particularly difficult becuase there is a fine line between melting the medium solder and screwing up the entire piece.
On top of the flask I added a jump ring for a future bail. Inside the flask I placed a first filigree wire around the inner circumference. Only then I soldered the stone saddle to the bottom of the flask. Once the structure was stabilized this way it was easier to add consequitive layers of filigree to fill up the openings.
When all filigree work is completed I added a tiny bail made out of a piece of spiral wire, which concluded the soldering phase. Now it is time for stone setting. I immobilized the pendant by driving a few nails into a wooden block around it. This set up enabled me to operate my bezel pusher to bend the silver edges inside to tightly hold the cabochon.
Once the stone is in its rightful place I take my time polishing the small details with silicone polishing wheels and high grit sand paper. Then clean up all the polishing compound residue and voila – the Erlenmeyer Flask Pendant is ready to be put on and draw some astonished looks.