Palladium 500 is the new Black

Starting in January of this year, I started fusing my own precious metal mokume gane billets right here in the studio. This has given me the freedom to design new color combinations and layer stacks - the height of fun for any mokume artist. My newest color combination that I am loving is sterling silver with palladium 500. (Palladium 500 is 50/50 palladium and silver.)
Here in the image we see a head-to-head color comparison with 14k palladium white gold (composition = 56% gold, 44% palladium). Both have good contrast with the silver, but the palladium is even darker, and I love the coolness of the gray. It is a nice hard metal, comparable to white gold, but is about half the cost of gold per ounce. This means I can offer a beautiful, non-reactive, long-lasting and durable mokume gane ring for significantly less than a similar ring using 14k gold. First one is up on my etsy shop, and I've already done a few on commission too.
I am also working on some other new jewelry items in this material (including my first cufflinks), targeted towards men and women who like simple geometric forms and the subtle two-tone silver and gray. For sale on my etsy shop.

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