Materials and Finishes
Materials
Fine Pewter, unlike what you may be familiar with, is not the gray, lifeless metal that was commonly used as "poor man's silver" for so many years. That pewter was an alloy containing lead. Today's pewter, and the only pewter Arch would consider using, is completely lead-free and is an alloy of mostly tin. It takes a shiny, white polish, and is difficult to tell from sterling silver unless you really know your metals. It is much softer than sterling, and therefore is not a good material for some of the designs that have thin parts.
Sterling Silver, originally known as Easterling Silver, is an alloy containing 92.5% fine silver and 7.5% of any base metal, although normally the alloying metal is copper in today's world. Silver takes on a brilliant white polish and the copper lends enough durability and strength for anything that Arch makes. Silver is known as the Queen of Metals.
Vermeil (pronounced ver-may) is considered a precious metal and is a thick plating of gold over sterling silver. This plating is much thicker than most gold plating and vermeil is different from most gold-plated jewelry, because that is normally a very thin gold plating over brass or other base metals. By law, vermeil requires a much thicker plating of gold over sterling silver.
Gold is the King of Metals and holds a special place in most civilizations. Gold is easy to care for because it doesn't tarnish easily. It oxidizes extremely slowly and wiping with a polishing cloth now and again is enough to maintain its shine. Arch prefers to use 18K gold because of the extra strength. 18K gold is 75% gold and has a rich yellow gold color nearest to 24K gold, yet is strong enough to hold its shape.
Arch is happy to make any of his pieces for you in 18K gold or vermeil, but these are special orders and will take longer to deliver. Please allow up to 90 days for delivery of 18K gold and Vermeil pieces. Special orders require a minimum of 50% deposit up front and the remaining amount before shipping.
Finishes
Arch has traditionally offered his miniature sculptures in a brilliant mirror-polished finish that sets his pieces, especially the Wearable Wildlife line, apart from other similar items. Recently, he has developed an easy-care finish that doesn't reflect sunlight like a mirror. For that reason, the finish on all the River Sports items is the easy-care brushed finish. Some pieces in this catalog are available mirror-polished and others are available in the easy-care brushed finish.
It is up to Arch to decide which finish he will use on any particular piece so that it shows off the item as he designed it.
Arch produces these items by casting them in molds made from the original metal master. Pewter items may be cast directly in these rubberized molds. Silver pieces must be cast in ceramic molds made of investment-grade plaster using the lost wax method. A wax model is made and the molding material is poured around it. This must be allowed to completely cure because any moisture in the mold will cause it to explode when the hot silver is poured into the mold, and liquid silver is not something you want flying around the room or landing anywhere on your body!!
After the mold is cured, it is placed in an oven in an inverted position and then heated until all the wax melts out. The temperature is then increased so that any remaining wax is burned completely out of the mold. While the mold is still hot, the silver is melted and then poured into the mold, and both are allowed to cool. When nearly cooled to room temperature, the mold is placed into water so that it cracks open, leaving a metal sculpture. Any clinging investment is sanded off and a painstaking process is begun to finish the sculpture. First the sprue is cut off and the entire piece is sanded smooth. Then, finer and finer grits of sandpaper are used until the piece begins to look bright and shiny. After that, different grades of buffing compounds are used to bring it to a mirror-like finish. The last step is to buff the piece using jeweler's rouge to bring out the brilliant white color or gold color.
The easy-care finish is similar. Instead of using traditional methods, however, Arch has researched modern buffing materials and has found a new synthetic material that will produce a finely-textured, satin-like brushed finish that doesn't reflect sunlight as a mirror-polished piece will. This is especially important for the River Sports line because they are subject to being worn in conditions where you don't want the sun to flash into your eyes at just the wrong moment.
Unlike many others, Arch does not use tumblers or vibratory finishers. Each piece is individually finished by hand to bring out its best appearance. Whether mirror-polished or brushed to a satin-like, easy-care finish, Arch inspects each piece and won't put his name on it until it is the very best he can produce. Then he is proud to sign it and send it straight to you!
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