From the Artist's Bench
Methods of Jewelry Creation by Dan Balk: Hand fabrication or Lost Wax Casting Method

Materials used to create jewelry : Sterling Silver (.925), Mokume Gane (Argentium Silver .975 & Copper Combination Patina-ed), and 14K & 18K Yellow Gold, Pink Gold, Green Gold and White Gold.

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Mokume-gane: ( 木目金 ) is a mixed-metal laminate with distinctive layered patterns. Translating as "wood-grain metal", the name was borrowed from one type of pattern created in the forging of swords and other edged weapons.
The traditional components were relatively soft metallic elements and alloys - gold, copper, silver, shakudo, shibuichi, and kuromido - which would form liquid phase diffusion bonds with one another without completely melting. After the original metal sheets were stacked and carefully heated, the solid billet of simple stripes could be forged and carved to increase the pattern's complexity. To achieve a successful lamination using the traditional process required a highly skilled smith with a great deal of experience.

Coloring of Mokume-gane:
To increase the contrast between the laminate layers many mokume-gane items are colored by the application of a patina (a controlled corrosion layer) to accentuate or even totally change the colors of the metal's surface. One example of a traditional Japanese patination is the use of rokusho. Rokusho is a complex copper verdigris compound produced specifically for use as a patina.

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Lost Wax Casting Jewelry
A wax is obtained from a custom-made wax or mold. Occasionally, a custom-made wax might be molded in rubber first as insurance against the loss of the unique wax and related labor costs incurred in carving it. The wax or waxes are sprued and fused onto a rubber base, called a "sprue base". Then a metal flask, which resembles a short length of steel pipe that ranges roughly from 1.5 to six inches tall and wide, is put over the sprue base and the waxes. Most sprue bases have a circular rim which grips the standard-sized flask, holding it in place. Investment (refractory plaster) is mixed and poured into the flask, filling it. It hardens, then is burned out as outlined above. Casting is usually done straight from the kiln either by centrifugal casting or vacuum casting. The lost-wax process can be used with any material that can burn, melt, or evaporate to leave a mold cavity.

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Hand Fabrication or handmade refers to the method of using raw materials to create jewelry.

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