Buckle Alchemy

This project started when a collector called me to see if I could make a buckle for 1 1/2 belts from a spear head he found about 20 years ago. It all depended on how wide the spear point was of course so I had him send it to me. That size is pretty rare in a perfect condition spear point so I was pretty amazed when this beauty shower up.  

As luck would have it, this one was just barely wide enough for 1 1/2 belts.

I made an open face box mold with silicon and then made a wax impression from it

The wax is then changed into silver using the ancient process of lost wax casting. The wax model is surrounded with a special high temp plaster and the wax is burned out.  The hollow left in the plaster is then filled with the molten silver using centrifugal force or vacuum assist. Shown here is the rough casting after an acid bath to remove oxides from the surface leaving a layer of frosty white pure silver. 

Pictured here is the original stone point on the left and a bronze patinated casting. The bronze version looks a little smaller but that is mostly a camera thing. There is some shrinkage in the wax model as it cools and in the metal as it cools but it's not really noticeable  it still fit the 1 1/2 belts

This is a silver copy with the stone original. This project was for a custom limited edition buckle, It's not available on my site.

I have also made a buckle from a spear head found by my brother in New England. It fits 1 1/4 in belts.  You can see that here. I make it in silver and bronze.
If you have an object like a sharks tooth or arrow head or even a sea shell that you think would make a unique belt buckle, get in touch with me and we will see if I can perform some magic and turn it into silver.
 contact me at www.jewelryartstudio.com/studio

1800 Buckles

I started making buckles when I started making metal jewelry back in the late 70's.  I think the first one was made from scrape bronze banjo pieces from when I worked at Stewart MacDonald. I made several when I went to Penland in the 80's as "tech samples"  for the lamination techniques I learned with Chuck Evans  I didn't start keeping track of them until I started the series of Fish Face buckles in 1998. That's when I started numbering them. I passed #1800 right at the end of the year (2018) .  At the beginning of 2019 I started posting the buckles with the # of the number as of this writing I'm on #1868. This is the Farrier in sterling for 1 1/2 belts. I have been posting the sold buckles with their numbers  on www.Instagram.com/@jewelryartstudio I'm posting the front and back of each buckle as I finish them.  Most buckles don't get signed and numbered until they are sold.  They are all, so far, part of my inventory of designs so they can be ordered through my websites. If you follow # on instagram you can follow #petersenesacart and see paintings and jewelry in one place.

You can sign up for my occasional news letter (I'll let you ) at www.jewelryartstudio.com and click on the pop up

The Making of The Silver Farrier Quater Horse

This buckle was designed for 1.25 inch belts. It is now on my Etsy store.  Its based loosly on shape of a horse shoe and the Western style buckles. This is the process for making a Quarter Horse Farrier buckle in silver. I have done this one in bronze but this is the first time I've done it in silver. You can see more about this design here and see the finished bronze version here
After the casting process, which takes many steps, I start sanding down the silver to get all the surface imperfections and oxides off.

 Then I use various hammers to get the final size, shape, and texture. 

 The silver is then oxidized to create the dark areas and the highlights are polished.

Exploring the Explorer

I wanted an all around buckle that could be worn anytime, anywhere, from the exchange floor to your best friend's wedding, to exploring the south sea islands. I recently discovered Indiana Jones has a similar buckle holding his gun belt. Thus the name Explorer seemed fitting. I first came up with the idea of making conventional style buckles for my line about 3 years ago. I have made them in the past but have not added any to the line. I was caught up in making fish buckles and other non-fish themed buckles (e.g., the Arrowhead, the Spearhead) using prong stye attachments.

The original design was intended for 1.25 inch belts, however 1.5 inch belts have increased in popularity so I decided to scale up the buckle. If I just made it wider, the proportions would be off so I had to re-carve the design to accommodate 1.5 inch belts. Below are some pictures of the process and the final outcome.

This is the 2 wax originals ready to put in plaster for casting.

This shot shows the rough castings just out of the plaster.

 Here are the castings cleaned up a bit in the acid.

 The filing begins.
In order to do the hammered texture, the surface must first be smooth and polished.

 Ready for hammering.

 Top view of the finished piece.

View the final Explorer buckle in Sterling Silver on 1.5 inch brown cow-hide belt. 

Tarpon Bronze Buckles

This new buckle has what I call a flake patina. It essentially colors the bronze the way it will look after wearing so you don't have to go through the "finger print "stage.

New Gator Buckles

This series of 4 smooth textured gator buckles came out great! I'm really happy with the patinas on these. I especially like the green on # 518-50. All my buckle are signed and numbered. If you order one by number, that is the buckle you will recieve.

The color of 518-50 on my screen shows it pretty close to the actual colors, maybe a little more brown and less green in direct sunlight. It is really difficult to photograph these patinas. There is a certain depth to the color that is hard to capture. Even looking at them in different light gives them different color
.
This is # 520-52  I used a more basic brown coloring on this one but as it ages the darks and lights will become more pronounced and the color texturing,mottling will get more contrast. It will get a little darker over time

#517-49 has a light brown antiqued undertone with some light green on top. It looks a little greener than it is in this picture.  It's more subtle on the actual buckle

#519-51 has what I call the basic brown bronze finish.  This is a pre- aged look of dark and light brown
They are all still 75.00, even though the ones with the one of a kind patinas take alot longer to do.

Swamp

The biggest batch of gators so far. Textured and smooth. I couldn't resist so I put some patina on a couple just to see what they would look like. The one in the center is the only one that is finshed. The others are all rough castings ready for finishing. There a few red fish in there too.

New Grouper

This is a new grouper buckle with a very different patina. I did several layers of brown and green using heat to get a darker color in some places. I was going for a more patterned surface because the grouper has a very distinct random looking pattern of darks and lights. This one off is available for 65.00 on the one of a kind page of my website.

New Buckle and Bracelets

Here's a new lab buckle in sterling. this one is shown on an 1 1/8 in. belt but will fit on 1 1/4. I also have a bulldog and a corgi buckle that are profiles like this.

Two views of the first of a new series of bracelets I'm calling "Blue Ridge"

Three new bracelets made of bronze and silver. Wrapping the bronze in silver keeps the bronze off your wrist and wont give you a green mark. the bronze will ozidize to a nice dark brown and have a nice contrast with the silver vine.

Bronze Patina buckles

Salmon bronze Patina This is a salmon head that I did the same patina to. Again this is a one of kind finish. They always come out different and there is no predicting how they will look. This is the actual buckle you will get. 58.00 including free shipping. This patina is not shown in the collection for sale on my website www.jewelryartstudio.com but I have all the other designs shown there in polished bronze and siver and the patina can be applied to any of the other designs.

Here's another idea for dad's day. I'm offering a free belt with these bronze buckles. These are one-off buckles because of the patina I applied. They have an almost iridescent quality. The bronze takes on a crystalline surface when lightly etched with a certain mild acid. This effect is permanent but the color will darken. However it just increases the contrast and makes them look better with age. 58.00 including free shipping.

bronze

I am working with with bronze more lately, since gold is at almost $1000.00/oz. and silver is at $15.00/oz. That's about triple for both in about 3 years. We are in a squeeze between high material costs and low retail prices. Bronze is a great alternative. It has long-standing value as an art metal and it ages beautifully. It's great for buckles. I have been using it for my fish-face buckles and in other jewelry for many years.A free $30.00 belt is included with these buckles.


This is a cast bronze salmon or trout that fits on a 1 1/2 belt. It has a high polish finish but will patina to a golden brown with greenish highligts. Shown on a brown belt. This is one I can do over and I'm selling this first one on the blog and to my facebook fan club for 45.00 Free belt and shipping

The belts I use are snap on so they can be used with other buckles. The 1 1/2 inch belts are all dark chocolate brown. These pictures look a little blue greenish on my lap top but teh actual color is a very nice dark brown

This buckle is cast and then forged. It's a heavy duty buckle with a nice weight to it. One of the nice things about bronze is I can use more of it. This buckle in silver would have to be 170.00. (I'll be happy to done like it in silver for you ) It's about as heavy as one of my fish head buckles but actually has more hand work in it. This is a one off buckle. No mold was made. The wax for the casting was hand manipulated and formed into the basic shape. After casting the final shape and finish was done with a hammer. It has a bright, high polish finish but will patina to a beautiful brown.

If you want it before it goes on my website or to a gallery it's 55.00 That includes the 1 1/2 belt and shipping. If you want it without the belt it's 55.00 (that's what I mean by a free belt)