Horseshoes and forget-me-nots

These earrings were somewhat of an artistic challenge for me. A request from my niece, who is an equestrian jumper, they needed to be post type and not too big. She also wanted horse shoes and garnets. I generally do not care for commissions because of the constraints and this was similar. I played with several concepts, most of which had roses in various places, before settling on this one with forget-me-nots. Putting the flower in the center provided a place to attach the post so the opening on the shoe is up (I'm told if they are upside down the "luck falls out" and no true equestrian would wear them...thanks to one of my students I did not make that mistake). Anyway, after depletion gilding, I put them in the tumbler with some burnishing shot. I will set the stones with bead settings.