It's one thing to love handmade silver jewellery and quite an easy thing at that. But it's another altogether to understand what goes into making it. Crafting handmade silver jewellery doesn't require earning a PhD, but neither does it depend solely on inspiration. Like all other arts and crafts, making silver jewellery requires some learning and practice, practice and more practice.
The first thing you must know about high-quality handmade silver jewellery is that it requires the use of Sterling silver, which is not actually pure silver. Rather, sterling silver is an alloy or composite of silver (92.5%) and an admixture of copper, tin and antimony (7.5%). These metals, like all other metals, interact with the air in a process called oxidation. Whilst the copper, tin and antimony are what make handmade silver jewellery durable, they are also what make it turn black, requiring us to polish our handmade silver jewellery from time to time.
Hand-crafting silver jewellery usually involves soldering pieces of silver together. First, the maker of handmade silver jewellery starts with a sheet of silver. The jeweller then heats the silver to make it pliable. But before soldering, the silver must be dipped in a caustic solution of sodium bisulfate, known as a "pickle". This solution rids the silver of any undesirable elements, which may have become visible during heating.
Repeated heating, bending, hammering and reworking can make silver fragile, however. If this occurs, the silver must be annealed that is, (re)softened. Usually, a sheet of sterling silver used in making silver jewellery can only be annealed five times before becoming unusable. Designers of handmade silver jewellery therefore plan their designs with care, thinking through the execution of the design before beginning to work.
Once the silver has been annealed, it can be hammered, smoothed, and bent into various shapes; holes may be cut in it; semi-precious or precious gemstones may be affixed to it. Each of these techniques requires the use of special tools and practice, practice, practice. For example, the silver used in handmade silver jewellery is smoothed by being hammered first counterclockwise, then clockwise, working from the center of the sheet of silver outward on both sides. Engraving, if desired, is undertaken whilst the silver is flat; only after engraving is the silver bent or twisted into a bracelet, ring or pendant.
Fashioning handmade silver jewellery can thus be a lengthy process with multiple stages, not all of which may be completed in one day. So the next time you purchase or receive a gift of handmade silver jewellery, take a moment to appreciate the work that went into making it in this intricate and fascinating process.
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