Experimenting

I came across a silver bracelet in one of our jewellery boxes. (They're all muddled up so I have no idea whose is whose) It's dated Edinburgh 1999, so I've been racking my brain as to when and where it was bought - and by which one of us.

It got me wondering about making a silver chain bracelet. I haven't made one before, although I have made many bangles. So I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Boy, it's fiddly. There are ten larger rings that all had to be soldered using a high melting point solder, then nine tiny linking rings which are soldered with a lower temperature solder - otherwise the first solders all melt. I made and soldered the bigger rings first, then connected all the smaller jump rings and soldered those. Next I made a litte clasp to finish the circle which then had to be soldered on. After that I dunked the whole thing in some hot pickle that gets rid of the fire black which is produced during the blowtorch process. Finally, I cleaned everything up and gave the bracelet a brushed finish.

It fits and I'm pretty happy with it. The next one will be a bit more refined no doubt.