Silver Clay or Precious Metal Clay
All of the stunning silver paw print jewellery designs you see on our website are created from the same material – silver clay or precious metal clay (PMC) as it is otherwise known. There are a couple of different brands of silver clay, we have always used Art Clay Silver. When the business was first established we used a fine silver clay as that was all that was available. A few years later a slow drying variation of Art Clay Silver was released so we moved to this as it gave us extra working time and was a superior product to the original.
Sterling Silver Clay
Our jewellery designs were handcrafted from the fine silver clay and then once ready they were fired to produce fine silver jewellery (99% pure silver). A few years ago the company who manufacture Art Clay Silver in Japan released a brand new PMC called Art Clay Silver 950, which when fired is 95% silver and 5% copper, therefore, making it sterling silver. To be classified as sterling silver, the jewellery has to be a minimum of 92.5% pure silver. The other up to 7.5% is made up of other metals such as copper.
Packets of Art Clay Silver, silver clay used to create our silver paw print jewellery
What Is Silver Clay And What Can You Do With It?
Silver clay is comprised of recycled silver particles, a non-toxic organic binder and water all combined to make a clay. Silver clay contains silver that is 100% recycled so it’s an ecological product. Silver from old x-ray plates and film negatives are extracted and refined by various processes. Big silver bars are created from the recycled materials, which are then transformed into micron sized dust particles with a powerful laser. The ultra fine silver dust is then mixed with an organic binder and water to create silver clay.
Silver paw print heart charm created from silver clay being sanded
Upon firing, the organic binder and water burn away, leaving the silver and copper particles to melt and fuse together, giving the sterling silver. Art clay silver is a very versatile material to work with and it can be rolled out flat, cut into various shapes and moulded into what ever shape you would like. Each piece of silver jewellery we create goes through 14 different stages to get from art clay silver to your finished shiny sterling silver jewellery showcasing your pet’s unique paw print.
Heating The Silver Clay
All of our jewellery designs are hand crafted and each piece is personalised by hand using a special tool to inscribe each letter and number of your chosen personalisation. After many different processes including lots of sanding by hand with various grades of sanding pads and hand inscribing your pet’s name etc, all jewellery is fired in a special kiln at 870 degrees centigrade for the recommended time before being cooled and then undergoing several stages of finishing and polishing.
Silver clay jewellery pieces in the kiln ready to be fired
Hallmarking
All of the silver chains, cufflink backs, jump rings and findings we use are sterling silver and those over the legal weight limit are hallmarked. The silver charms/pieces we create are all under the legal hallmarking weight of 7.78g and are therefore not required to be hallmarked.
Small silver paw print charm created from silver clay
Be inspired by our stunning silver paw print jewellery as well as our silver paw pad print jewellery, all of which is hand crafted from silver clay.
Sterling silver paw pad print keyring created from silver clay
We are constantly updating and adding to our beautiful range of jewellery designs so be sure to keep checking back to see what is new. Have you seen our latest collection of jewellery encasing a little of your pet’s fur or cremation ashes in silver and resin? If not, do check it out, we have some truly beautiful designs that really help you keep your furbaby with you forever.
Sterling silver heart charm bead encasing pet cremation ashes in resin
