A Look Back at My Handmade Rings

I now have a total of six rings under my belt, so I thought I’d take a look back at my handmade rings. I probably need at least another 20 more to iron out all the kinks! That said, it’s been an invaluable experience and I thought I’d share what I learnt each time…

1. Sterling Silver Ring, Textured with a Rolling Mill, Made in Class

I made this ring using rectangular sterling silver wire, around 4mm wide and 1.3mm in depth.  It was made under the watchful eye of my instructor at the London Jewellery School (LJS), during my first beginner’s jewellery class.

The main problem with this ring developed a couple of weeks after the class – I noticed a crack forming on the inside of the band, and some of the patina started to come off where the pattern didn’t get pressed in as deeply into the metal.

I have been asking some nice folks at the Art Jewelry Magazine forum for advice over why this crack has formed. (09/04/2021 Update: Unfortunately, Art Jewelry Magazine forum no longer exists, nor is Art Jewelry Magazine published. Sad times.)  It seems that my metal became work hardened (i.e. I didn’t anneal it enough) and it looks likely to have occurred when I was shaping the ring, as I didn’t really start with a perfect (or even remotely close to perfect) circle! So lesson number 1 for me is to anneal and anneal often!

2. First Attempt at Making a Similar Ring at Home

This ring was made a couple of weeks after my first beginners’ silversmithing course at the LJS.  I followed all the same steps – the main difference is that I used a thinner rectangular wire (this was 0.84mm wire).

I’ve textured the ring using my rolling mill and a brass texture plate that I bought at the PMC Shop UK.  This time, rather than apply a patina with liver of sulphur, I have left the ring “au naturelle” and just polished it up nice and bright.

Critiquing myself, I can still see the solder join.  I suspect that I didn’t use enough solder – it’s joined pretty solidly, but on the outside, I can still see the gap where the ends met.

3. Sterling Silver Ring with an Etched Texture

This was the week that I had a go at etching – the etching process itself worked pretty well. I’m still using the 0.84mm rectangular sterling silver wire.  What I have learnt from making the etched ring is to plan out the design in advance (looking at the under-side of this ring, I can definitely see where I joined it and it’s not really because I didn’t use enough solder.  It’s because the pattern didn’t quite join up properly and in quite an obvious way!).

4. 2nd Sterling Silver Ring with an Etched Texture

Quite honestly, this was a disaster as far as etching went.  I attempted to use transfer paper to transfer an image onto the band of the ring.  It really didn’t come out clearly at all.  The joins were fine and I’ve started to get control of my soldering.  Yep, not a good ring!

5. Silver Filigree Ring – 1st Attempt

I attempted a filigree ring for the first time. The project was sourced from the Mt Gravatt Lapidary Society Inc. To all extents and purposes, it wasn’t a bad first attempt. The filigree scrolls are not very consistent; the overall ring frame was bent to fit the pieces; and the soldering was mediocre.  If you look closely, you can definitely see a gap between the love heart and the frame! From this ring, I’ve learnt the importance of making sure the scrolls are the same size, and that the joining surfaces are perfectly flat and touching.

6. Silver Filigree Ring – 2nd Attempt

This was my second attempt at the filigree ring.  It was better (up until I squashed it while trying to correct a mistake).  The scrolls still don’t look right – next time, I will need to mark up my round nose pliers to try and ensure that they are all the same size.  The soldering joins, on the whole, are better.  But the ring is still lop-sided, as I couldn’t get the love hearts and horse shoes to fit in properly (which is how my ring got squashed to start with!).

Hope you’ve found it useful to see the sorts of mistakes I’ve made while practising rings.  I hope to add more rings in the future!