The following images document some of the making of Gyroptere. The idea for this piece came from a French flying machine (that never got off the ground) built in 1914. This necklace has a series of 14k gold sheet wedges that can slide into the silver die formed 'wing'. When not being worn, the wedges disappear and the silver piece resembles a scientific model. Once picked up, the gold wedges freely expand to allow the piece to be worn as a necklace.

Gyroptere in progress
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

The cover of Popular Science featuring the Gyroptere.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

A photo of the actual Gyroptere.

Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

Another view of the Gyroptere.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

And yet another view.

Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

A drawing of the piece closed.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

A drawing of the piece open.

Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

A full scale model made of styrofoam, matt board, hot glue & paint.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

The die form & first pressing in 18g silver for the main part of the necklace.

Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

4 presses later at about 8000psi each.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

Here I have cut out some layers of rubber sheet to push certain areas deeper.

Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

Here is the finished silver piece. You can also see the original test die form in copper.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

My fire engine red hydraulic press.

Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

Here is the die formed 18g silver wing. The front & back have already been soldered together and now I am starting to cut apart the sections. You can see the phenolic die forms and my paper template for cutting the sections.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

To get an idea for the measurements of the wedges that will go in between each wing section, I taped the paper template to a model, and traced the negative shape in between each piece.

Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

Here is the spacing for the back of the piece.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

Now the wing has been cut in 14 sections. I have cut out the silver end caps for the sections, and have inserted wedges made of matt board.

Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

Here the end caps with matt board wedges have been hot glued to the silver wing sections.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

Now the sections can be pulled open, revealing the matt board wedges. This allows me to check the spacing and flexibility of the wedges to see if I need to make any changes.

Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

After making adjustments to the matt board wedges, I cut them out again in copper sheet and hot glued it all back together.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

Now that I am happy with the spacing and flexibility, I can take it all apart, cut out the wedges in 14k gold and begin to solder the pieces together.

Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

The finished piece 'closed'.
Chris Irick  Gyroptere in progress

And the finished piece 'open'.