One summer time, between school and university I worked with an independent jeweler making silver rings by hand for sale in National Trust centres and tiny gift outlets. Now I believed every single ring would take a long time to produce, and you'd start and completely finish one ring before beginning another, how wrong I was. The
silver ring making process was a lot more ordered than that to be sure output was profitable and the stocks were kept high enough for unpredicted demand.
The first part of the process is turning the basic silver wire ordered in large rolls of different weights into ring shapes. This is accomplished using a special steel rod the same shape as quite a long taper. The raw silver wire is secured tightly at both ends and then employing a twisting handle at the other end of the vice it is turned and wrapped tightly into a spiral until each turn of the spiral is as near to a ring form as possible. The tapering is to make sure you end up with several rings of various sizes to cater for a number of finger sizes.
Once the spiral of silver is cut down the center leaving a few un-joined silver circles you next need to learn how you can hold a jeweller's solder safely, and ways to use the silver flux. Wearing an apron to protect your clothes, you lay out the raw silver rings onto a heat proof board in rows of ten and add the flux to the join of every ring. Moving carefully along each ring, you heat the silver ring up by using a circular motion until its molten hot but not melting, once you see a silver flash the flux has melted and bonded with the silver. As soon as the two ends are fused together, utilizing tongs you lower the ring straight into boric acid to pickle and thoroughly clean away the flux. Rinse them in water after.
The next phase with your batch of
silver rings is to reshape them using a soft hammer and mandrel, sand away any abrasive edges then polish them up in barrels brimming with ball bearings over night.
Toe rings have never been cuter: wearing two hearts intertwined on your own toes has to be the nicest and most original way to show somebody that you care about him. Unobtrusive, yet striking once you see it, this heart toe ring is one of the most original methods to wear jewelry. Crafted entirely out of sterling silver, the ring is adjustable and comfy. Classy yet unpretentious, it will match all kinds of outfits from beachwear to fancy dresses.