‘Gingko’ earrings

I make silver jewellery pieces, one at a time, by hand.

FIne silver jewellery begins with an ingot of 99.9% silver. I anneal and roll the ingot out to about 0.6mm thick and cut out appropriate sized sheets. The sheet is then folded, the half-shape cut out and worked with a hammer against a steel block to create a gently curved shape that opens out to an elegant 3-D form. Final shaping of the piece is done with mallets over a wood form. Off-cut pieces are collected, melted down and a new ingot poured to start the process over again.

Chain mail jewellery is made with sterling silver (92.5%) rings. Each ring is opened and closed with pliers. Interlacing the rings before closure generates the pattern. After the chain is complete, it is subjected to repeated flame treatment and chemical dip to remove the copper from the surface layer of sterling. This gives a very bright pure silver appearance and retards tarnish.