Silver Clay Pendant: Jewelry Workshop

This silver clay pendant workshop walks you through shaping a soft, workable form of sterling silver into a solid pendant you design, texture, and fire yourself. Silver clay is real metal in workable form, so this jewelry making class leaves you holding a finished piece of fine jewelry you made with your own hands, not a craft project that only looks the part. The class meets in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and welcomes anyone who has never touched metal or clay before.

Working with silver clay might sound like it takes a background in metalsmithing, but that's exactly what makes this class worth trying. You shape and texture the clay by hand, choosing whether to keep the surface smooth, press in an imprint, or build out a design of your own, embracing the subtle irregularities that make each piece unique rather than working against them. Once your piece is dry, the instructor fires it in a kiln, a step that burns away the clay binder and leaves pure, solid sterling silver behind, then you sand and polish the metal yourself until it shines. Seeing your piece come out of the kiln as solid metal, after being so soft and workable just moments before, is the part first timers remember most.

Because you decide the shape, texture, and finish, no two pendants from this class look alike. Some guests design something to wear that same night, others make a keepsake for a partner, a friend, or a parent who will know exactly what it means to receive something made by hand. Come on your own or bring a friend. Either way, you leave with a pendant you can wear right away, and a foundation in silver clay you can build on in future jewelry classes.