Yet more brooches

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A few more brooches . . . . my favourite art form.

This Sterling silver and 18K yellow gold brooch incorporates a thick section of laminated niobium and aluminium, hot rolled, etched and anodized by my Kingston associate/student, scientist Paul Smits.

This brooch was constructed using sterling silver and carved

18K yellow gold set with Owyhee Jasper.

Inspired by the dramatic landscape of the Guilin area of China.

70 mm x 50 mm x 12mm

From an original design done on 14/10/1986,

some ideas take time to come to fruition!

The above brooch is cast and fabricated in

925/1000 sterling silver with 750/1000 yellow gold,

set with a cabochon zircon.

Part of a Christmas collection called "Brussels Sprouts"

(note: I visited Belgium that year!)

" Waveform " © Neil Aird

Above is a 7.87ct Crystal Opal from the Black Flag Fields, Coober Pedy.

I designed the brooch using 18K red,

yellow and green gold with palladium settings for the small Diamonds.

The Opal was spectacular, with a bright orange flash

when viewed at 90 degrees to this photograph.

The brooch had double pinstem to permit wearing in any orientation.

The fourth brooch, again incorporated a section of etched, anodised,

laminated niobium and aluminium by my colleague Paul Smits.

I set it with two long rectangular Brazilian Tourmaline gems.

18 karat yellow gold and sterling silver framed the laminated centre section.

"Tourmaline twist" NCA ©

This brooch is sterling silver and eighteen karat yellow gold,

with yet another sample of etched and anodised aluminium and niobium.

I used Amethyst and Fancy Spinel cabochons, combined with Niobium and oxidised Sterling Silver with 18 karat Green and Red golds. Cast and fabricated.

The small brooch shown below was fabricated in 18 karat red,

green, yellow and white golds.

One of a series of "Treeform" brooches I made.

"Four Seasons" © NCA

This brooch used several new techniques (to me) in the process of construction.

The first was the inlay of 24K (999/1000) gold into silver (925/1000)

without the use of solder.

(The small squares - one is on the trunk of the tree and

the four others integrated into the stylised apartment block).

To complete this task I had to make some special "Japanese" chasing/inlay tools.

NCA © early 1980's

Continuing on the Tree theme. Here is "Treescape" which uses chased and anodised tantalum in the background.

The back previously been a laminated niobium and aluminiun panel depicting ice-floes, with the title "Winterscape",

but since this brooch was heading to the west coast of Canada for an exhibition

"East meets West" I replaced the ice-floes with the shimmering tantalum Pacific Ocean instead.

The "book" shape was to symbolize the use of new trees for paper, instead of recycling old paper. My small protest.

with 24K (999/1000) gold and a stunning little black opal.

Above is a very simple brooch in oxidized sterling silver

Another simple broach, "Triform", inspired by studying the crystal growth structures,

Here is a small pendant in 925/1000 cast silver and 750/1000 cast yellow gold. A green gold bezel was used to set the small oval Lapis Lazuli from Afghanistan.

"Alec's Canoe"

Every once in a while a really interesting project comes up.

A number of years ago, Vicki Westgate commissioned me to do a buckle for her husband Alec Ross. He had canoed across Canada and has written a book on that voyage, "Coke Stop in Emo: Adventures of a Long Distance Paddler". Vicki is an accomplished artist and was once my jewellery student. She produced a rough sketch for me, we collaborated, and Alec got his memento to remind him of his epic travels. Vicki traded me one of her super paintings for this item. She now is manager of Metalworks - Contemporary Goldsmithng.

The buckle is of carved 925/1000 silver and anodized niobium.

The canoe represents the exact type Alec paddled across our great land.

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