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Steampunk is a style that incorporates Victorian aesthetics with Industrial Revolution-era elements. The result is a romantic time-traveling, mad-scientist vibe that combines the best of science and invention with the romance of an earlier era.
One of the simplest ways to bring Steampunk style to your wardrobe is through jewelry! You can create a beautiful and unique pair of Steampunk earrings that will add an instant retro-futuristic touch to your outfit.
Glass
Using glass in Steampunk earrings is a great way to get the look. It evokes the Machine Age, when richly engraved and faceted glass was available to most people.
In addition to the etched glass, other forms of glass used in Steampunk jewelry include glass beads and glass domes. These can be paired with other ephemera like wire, metal stampings and tiny gears to create an intricately designed piece of jewellery.
There are plenty of do it yourself books available to help you make your own steampunk earrings. One of the best is Jean Campbell’s Steampunk Style Jewelry which covers 30 individual jewellery projects and is full of photographs to illustrate the process.
Stones
Steampunk is a science-fiction genre that harkens back to Victorian England. Its characters are mad scientists and time-travelers whose world is filled with brass fittings, steel gizmos, coiled thingamabobs and glowing orbs.
The best Steampunk jewelry pieces use some of the most evocative materials that come to mind when you think industrial and mechanical. These include old skeleton keys, watch parts, gears and tiny machinery bits, wire springs and metal stampings. For a truly Steampunk necklace, try combining some of these with brass and copper findings, chains and a dazzling assemblage of beads. A sprinkling of charms and cameos can complete the picture. The right mix of style and substance is a winning combination for any jewelry maker. It is a fact that you will see more and more Steampunk jewels on the market.
Bits of sentiment
Steampunk jewelry is great for anyone who likes to wear something that tells a story or carries a bit of sentiment. Lockets with hair from loved ones, a small painted portrait or other remembrances are easy to incorporate into your steampunk jewelry.
Steampunk-style jewelry is also fun to make with found objects such as small metallic watch parts, skeleton keys, machine parts, war medals and metal game pieces. These materials add a time-traveling, mad-scientist vibe to your steampunk jewelry. Choosing these materials will help you to create your own unique, one-of-a-kind steampunk jewelry.
Found objects
If you have a stash of random metal ephemera you’ve never intended to use for jewelry making, steampunk earrings are the perfect way to turn it into a statement piece. Vintage watch parts, old skeleton keys, brass fittings and steel gizmos are all the elements you need to create a pair of steampunk earrings that speak to your inner fashionista or eccentric personality.
Steampunk is a style that strives for imaginativeness over historical accuracy and seeks to create art objects that reflect the Victorian era and the Industrial Revolution. It often incorporates found materials such as iron, copper, brass and metal as well as wood and glass in its designs. Its motto is “waste not, want not.”