Concept
In the early 1990s, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (MMC) in Japan lead a team of scientists who developed and patented a material with the working properties of modeling clay known today as Precious Metal Clay. An organic binder provides elasticity while holding very tiny grains of metal suspension. After the water is driven off, the object is heated to the fusing temperature of the constituent metal. When the object is heated to a high temperature, the binding material burns away and the metal particles fuse to form solid silver as .999 pure. The heating process causes the object to shrink to a degree equal to the volume originally occupied by the binder. The process is easiest with pure silver and gold because these metals resist the formation of oxides and fuse at easily attainable temperatures.

Endless Opportunities
PMC has been available to American artists only for less then 10 years. It opens endless opportunities for creativity. It fits a wide range of artistic visions but not all. It can be shaped by hand, folded, molded, extruded and painted on another surface. It can be endlessly textured and takes on microscopically fine definition. It can be fired with stones and ceramics; be glazed and enameled. Precious Metal Clay can be used with wide variety of materials creating a vast range of forms and surfaces that are unobtainable using traditional techniques.

Take a look at my website at:
Precious_Metal_Clay_Collection.html to see a new jewelry collection from PMC.

About the Author

Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia Elena worked at the Museum of History (Peter and Paul Fortress) and with some amazing Russian artists.  As a world traveler she takes her love for art and cultures from other countries and integrates these influences into her designs using unique stones, precious metal clay and only natural materials.  Her jewelry is truly international; it is inspired by diverse cultures and by the colors of nature surrounding her; it is an expression of how she sees the world.  Every hand made jewelry piece is distinctive and different.