Sculptural Seahorse Pearl Pendant/Broach

This is one of my newer hand-sculpted pieces. The Seahorse is very large with a creamy Pearl as its centerpiece. It has Emeralds and Rubies as accent stones. The Seahorse was hand carved by me and has rose gold accents. The piece measures 2 inches in width by 2.5 inches in length and is a broach as well as a pendant. The pendant is hand sculpted by me. I use a Precious Metal Clay blend that allows the pendant to have the strength of Sterling, but not the tarnishing. I then hand-carve the designs in the metal and when happy with the design, fire it at high temperatures in a kiln. This burns out the clay binders and leaves behind pure silver or gold. The 22K gold added into this design is created with Aura 22. It is a 22K gold slip I paint on the piece and when it is fired in the kiln the gold molecularly bonds with the Silver to create a 22K plating that will never be able to come off. I then add a patina to the piece that will darken it, turn it a copper color in places, or may even turn the silver rainbow-ish. I will then seal the silver to keep it from ever turning another color.