Jewelry & Sculpture
Jewelry and Sculpture by Frank Sanders
(See copyright notice below)
I have tried my hand at jewelry and some simple sculpture. I made a beautiful (if I do say so myself) solar system pendant for a (now-ex) girlfriend whom I had once thought I would marry. I loved her very much, and I expressed my love for her by designing this pendant, individually selecting the stones, having it made, and giving it to her on Christmas Day 2004. She advised me on the overall look that she wanted, which made it even more special. The stones are bezel-mounted on planetary orbits. The Sun is a large, clear colorless diamond, Mercury is a gem-quality garnet, Venus is a dark blue Yogo sapphire, Earth is a beautiful blue diamond, and Mars is a nice little ruby. An emerald is used for an asteroid which travels on a highly eccentric orbit between the orbits of Mars and Mercury. A hyperbolic comet trajectory (with no stone) crosses the piece laterally and is continued by the chain that suspends the pendant from the woman’s neck. The asteroid and comet orbits hold the piece together mechanically and are executed on a second (and lower) plane. Using a third dimension for those two orbits makes them less visible and keeps the piece less busy and more visually pleasing. The planetary orbit diameters are mathematically accurate. All of these features are my key design innovations, ones that I haven’t seen anyone else do in this sort of piece.
The piece was executed in white gold using the lost-wax technique. Its diameter (at the Martian orbit) is slightly larger than a U.S. quarter-dollar. It required the talents of a very skilled jeweler to create the wax original--he said it was the most technically challenging piece he had ever made in wax.
To reiterate for the benefit of the lawyers, the key elements that make this design unique and copyrightable are as follows: The piece represents the inner solar system with the Sun, four planets, and an asteroid represented by individual gem stones in bezels. The orbits of the four inner planets are represented in mathematically accurate ratios of their diameters. Two non-planetary orbits (one of an asteroid and one of a comet) go across (and connect) the planetary orbits. These two non-planetary trajectories hold the piece together mechanically. They use a third dimension (of depth, in a lower plane) that makes them less visually cluttering and intrusive than if they were in the same plane as the planetary orbits. Yet another key element is the use of a hyperbolic comet trajectory to connect the piece to the chain that goes around the wearer’s neck. This feature visually extends the comet orbit (and the pendant’s theme) into the invisible regions beyond the solar system (behind the wearer’s neck).
I hold the copyright on this solar system pendant design. If you aren’t sure whether your design infringes on my copyright, then your design probably is infringement, especially if you are making use of any of the key design elements that I cite above. Anyone who wishes to reproduce this design in any form, either as jewelry or otherwise, will need my written permission to do so, under the terms of a formal license agreement. My terms are very reasonable. I am not greedy. But I will zealously defend my work against people who try to illegitimately use my idea for themselves without giving me credit for the design and without allowing me any fair share of the profits that they might reap from selling this design. The bottom line is: If you want to reproduce this design, I only ask that you please treat me fairly. Please contact me and arrange for me to reap a fair and reasonable reward for my idea. Believe it or not, I’m more interested in having fair and public acknowledgment for the use of my design than in having money.
The little sculpture that is pictured is a mythical animal that I modeled one day when I had nothing else to do. I executed it in bronze in a simple, open-topped mold. It is a paperweight. I likewise hold the copyright on this design.
Go to the Using My Photos page on this site for instructions on how to obtain high-resolution versions of these images from me. I don’t charge money for my photos, but I do require a photo credit in your end-product in exchange for the use of my images. Key words: solar system pendant; solar system jewelry.
