Handmade silver ring making with silver clay (Art Clay Silver) – step by step

I made this special handmade silver ring from silver clay using just 7 grams of Art Clay Silver and a special silicone ring band mold from Art Clay Silver Japan. These silicone molds are specially designed for working with metal clay and make it easy to create a professional ring band with beautiful textures.

For this ring, I used a silicone ring mold for silver clay with leaf texture, which prints the details directly into the wet clay. This is ideal for anyone working with silver clay, Art Clay Silver, or metal clay jewelry making. To keep the clay from sticking in the mold, first coat the mold with Coolslip anti-stick formula.

The prong setting I used is also exclusively from Art Clay Japan and specially designed to bake directly with silver clay. In our webshop you will find various haberdashery and jewelry components for silver clay, including settings suitable for co-firing.

I cut the prong of the setting to size with a side cutter and pressed it into the wet silver clay. Thanks to the clever screw structure on the prong and the natural shrinkage of silver clay during firing, it sits securely in the ring after firing.

Silver clay firing: oven or hand torch

This ring can be fired in a special silver clay kiln, like the Prometheus kilns, but also with a hand torch / torch on butane gas. That makes this project suitable for both beginners and advanced artists working with Art Clay Silver without a kiln.

After firing, I first brushed the ring firmly with a steel brush for silver clay to reveal the fine silver texture nicely.

Then I smoothed and polished the inside with sanding pads from coarse to fine. You can also perfectly use a Dremel or rotary tool with polishing attachments for this, to get the inside of your silver ring mirror smooth. Then you can use polishing paste on a polishing cloth for a high-gloss finish

Antique finish with blitz stain

For extra depth, I first blackened the ring with blitz stain for silver. This turns the entire ring deep black. Then I partially polished back the higher parts with the M3 green polishing pad, bringing out the leaf texture beautifully and creating a nice antique look.

Using an agate pen for silver clay, I then applied extra high gloss to the edges of the leaves, the texture details and the outer edges of the ring. This gives a stunning contrast between matte, dark and shiny silver.

Stone setting in silver clay

As a finishing touch, I set a black faceted spinel stone. The stone is fixed by gently pressing the prongs with a setting steel. This creates a professional stone setting in silver clay with a luxurious look.

Do you want to get started yourself with Art Clay Silver, silver clay ring making, silver clay accessories, silicone molds for metal clay or co-bakeable settings? In Esquell’ s webshop you will find all the materials and tools you need to start making your own unique silver clay jewelry.