Stamped Silver Concho with Overlay Border

Soldering Oxidizing Stamping Sawing Overlay

The expert breakdown

Overlay work: two sheets of sterling, the top sheet pierced with a jeweler's saw in the rain-cloud and arrow motif, then sweat-soldered to the base sheet so the pattern reads as a raised silhouette once oxidized in the recess. The stamped texture inside the cutouts is done before soldering, on the base sheet only, using traditional steel stamps — order matters, you cannot stamp cleanly after the two layers are joined. Edge is a hand-filed and polished bezel-wire border, not commercial trim wire, which is the tell for handmade versus cast reproduction pieces in this style.

Supply list

Brass Design Stamp Set, Southwest Motifs — The full Southwest motif set, not just one or two stamps. $89.00 Buy →
Fine Silver Sheet, 24ga, 3in x 3in — Fine silver for the top pierced layer keeps the pattern crisp under the stamp. $46.00 Buy →