Watch Case Collage Pendant Mystery Metal and Collateral Damage

Yesterday I finished up a metal collage watch case pendant I’ve been working on.  I’m calling it Soar.  The center of the watch case is filled with the top of a recycled metal button that looks like fan blades creating uplift for the birds to soar through the air. 

I tried to make this piece interesting.  The fan, the birds flying and the little spring at the bottom of my wire-wrap add a lot of motion to my jewelry piece.The wire wrap at the top forms a triangle.  The button and watch case with the wire top  form a little birdhouse.

This week I decided that it was time to upcycle some of the broken watches I had in my collection.  The photo above is only part of my collection.  I’ve had them a while.  I wanted to upcycle them into wonderful jewelry pieces years ago.  I made one piece that I didn’t like and put them away until this week.

Working with new materials is often hard on my body.  Sometimes I can’t figure out the type of metal on recycled items. Usually I only get a small portion of an item, like just the watch case with no band or innards with no identifying stamps or labels.

This watch case was made of a mystery metal.  I knew I couldn’t solder it because I did a flame test and found that it melted at a pretty low temperature.  I had to do all cold connections.  As I was drilling holes in the case I was surprised at how fast the bit went through the metal.  I was so surprised, in fact, that I let the drill bit slip.  It drilled a hole right through my fingernail and into my finger. 

I think it’s about time for a new tetanus shot anyway.

Bandaids are to tools as erasers are to pencils.  If everyone was perfect they wouldn’t have made erasers and bandaids.  I’ve learned to accept the small injuries and move on. 

 I feel like I’m well on my way to using up my watch parts.  I have some new techniques I’d like to try out.  I think that little hole in my nail will be a good reminder for me to be a bit (no pun intended) more careful.