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Create Brushed Finish on Sterling Silver

The third is very similar to the satin finish , however you will use more aggressive means to obtain your new look. To create the brushed look, the finish will have more distinctive lines. You can use many things to create look. By hand you could use, and emery board or a file. Or you can use a course steel wool pad, a ball of aluminum foil or any other course metal or abrasive material.



With all of the above methods, I suggest either working at your bench, where you can clean up any metal shavings that may come off your piece. Otherwise working on a table with some newspaper down to catch the shavings is perfect. Take each piece you'd like to brush, and be sure to brush all sides, if it tends to slide, feel free to put a small amount of tape on your surface, in a loop, so it will stick to the surface and to the other side of your piece and stay still the entire time you’re brushing your component.




**Be careful with gold vermeille, as gold vermielle is sterling silver that is been plated with 14kt gold, so be wary of putting any aggressive finishing techniques as the gold may come off.

When creating your own brushed finish, it can be used in many different ways. If you're looking for a more defined look than satin, but not as rough as a hard brush with an emery board. You can complete a piece in full, and then run it through a steel wool pad, or a 3M pad. This will give it slight more edge than your regular satin finish. Or you can brush each individual piece and then put them all together. But, be sure to think of the small things, which will really bring the whole design together. Pieces that are often forgotten are components like jump rings , the clasp or the bail . These are parts that, if brushed, will complete the look. And remember, mix it up, and have fun with it!

Jewellery Sales in an Economic Downturn

Recently, I've been asked by a number of customers about how our sales have been at Stones and Findings. They've wondered if the economic downturn has affected the sales of our jewellery components. Some have mentioned that their sales have been affected, and a number of component suppliers have also seen their sales plummet. Stones and Findings' year over year monthly and tradeshow sales have, in fact, increased dramatically. It is an interesting, and a happy, situation and I've spent a bit more time looking into the reasons behind this. I want to do more of what we're doing right, and if there are any formulae or secrets that can be transferred from the jewellery component wholesale business to jewellery designing and sales business, I'd like to share them with our customers.

credit: InAccessories.com


I realize the economy has been tough recently, and may continue to be so for a while. Jewellery purchase is a discretionary spending for the most part. However, historically, when the economy has been poor, we find that sales of certain things that beautify our world increases. They are pick-me-ups, and help remind us that we're still going to be okay. I do believe that jewellery is one of these things, and I know some people who swear by it. I've spoken to many boutique owners and chain store buyers, some of whom carry other categories of merchandise such as clothing and giftware. They are finding that instead of buying entire wardrobes, customers are buying pieces of jewellery that accent and update their current wardrobe. It is less expensive and more fun.


credit: InAccesories.com

However, if you look at it more closely, the items that get squeezed out are mainly the very low end, disposable pieces, and the very expensive. Customers are buying fewer jewellery pieces than before. However, they're buying items that represent something, that resonate with sense of well being. As a result, boutiques that are carrying the unique, locally made (representing Canadian jobs), and pretty things are faring better than chain stores that import the mass production jewellery designs. People already have the mundane. They're certainly not going to spend further limited dollars on buying what they already have. They will, however, spend on jewellery pieces that are different and make them feel good about themselves and about wearing them. They are still cautious about prices, and they won't stock up huge quantities, but they will purchase the right things. This said, as jewellery designers, our customers are right to monitor the situation carefully, and make their selections wisely. Their designs must be unique, and priced well. The components they choose must be different and also priced competitively. And I think that is why our jewellery component wholesale business has been almost doubling.



New customers do test orders with us even though they don't want to bother switching from their current suppliers for a few cents less. However, they have never seen many of our jewellery components elsewhere. We create a number of our own jewellery findings, and we are making more and more of these because of how popular they've proven to be. Customers come back and place ever increasing orders because they realize how easy it is to make different and elegant jewellery designs when they have the right components to begin with. We are finding more and more customers switching a greater percentage, if not entirely, to Stones and Findings. And this is very satisfying. We know we have unique components that are well made and well priced. Our quickly expanding

Gold Vermeille

Gold vermeil (pronounced 'vermay') refers to metal that has been plated with a thin layer of gold. Usually the base metal is sterling silver, and if the item is to qualify as gold vermeil, it must have at least 10 karat layer of gold 1.5 micrometres thick. Stones and Findings carry gold vermeille chain and jewellery components with a plating of 22 to 24 karat gold.

Gold vermeil was originally produced in France in the mid-18th century through a process called fire gilding. However, a key component of the fire gilding process was mercury, and so much of it was needed to plate the base metal (about twice as much as gold, by weight), that it was an incredibly dangerous process, frequently resulting in blindness or other injuries. Unsurprisingly, fire gilding of this sort was eventually banned by the French government.

A century later in England, George and Henry Elkington were able to develop and patent a new way of plating metals known as electroplating. Electroplating is an electrochemical process that applies positive and negative charges to metals, causing them to associate favourably. The process is, thankfully, totally safe and mercury free. As a result, we have continued using the same process pioneered by the brothers Elkington up until the present day, with only minor modifications and refinements.

Modern electroplating deposits some 120 layers of gold onto the base metal, creating affordable, tarnish-resistant gold vermeil jewellery that can last for decades with proper care.

To look at various examples of brushed and shiny gold vermeille, click here.

For other examples of gold vermeille,click here.

Our New Gold Frame Components!

GOLD VERMEILLE






14 KT GOLD FILLED

Creating your Own Hammered Finish

Creating your own hammered finish on sterling silver, gold filled or gold vermeille components is easy.


For the following , I will be using sterling silver as examples. Since there are many different types of hammer heads, this leads to an endless list of possibilities! Some tools you can consider to change the look are: a ball peen hammer, a flat nose hammer, a rawhide hammer, or a wooden hammer. Each hammer will give your sterling silver, gold filled or gold vermeille component a different result. When you are hammering your metal, try out a couple different bases underneath. You could use a piece of wood, which is a soft base, and this will provide some give to the metal, and it can bend. Depending on where you hammer your sterling silver, it can move the metal in small amounts. Try it out on a test piece to see what type of hammer dent will provide what you're looking for.

Another base is a steel block. When hammering on the steel block you will not only be creating a finish on the side you are hammering, but you will also be creating another finish on the side of the sterling silver component that is facing the steel.



*TIP* if you do not want to dent your hammer or your anvil's finish, put some masking tape on the surface you will be using, it will lessen the likelihood of you damaging your tools.

There are many bases that will give different looks pending on the hammer and the amount of resistance your surface will give. I've used a hockey puck as a base once, so I was able to easily give a hammered effect to one side of the sterling silver component, yet the other side was not affected and did not dent the same way as if it was on a harder surface like a steel block.

*TIP*Keep in mind when holding your hammer, do not point out your index finger, since this can result in injury. You want to hold the hammer at the end of the handle for the most effective hit. And be sure to use your whole arm and elbow. Misuse of a hammer can often result in wrist injuries as well.




A ball peen hammerhead will create metal divots, and pending on the size of your hammerhead, you can have something similar to pointillism or even something large like a creator and everything in between. With this you can create many unique and diversified looks on your sterling silver components.



A flat nose hammerhead will create a line. This type of simple mark can be used for a wide range of designs. For example you can fan out the pattern on your sterling silver component, or you can crisscross it like a pile of sticks.




Feel free to try out this technique, I guarantee you will have a lot of fun with it, and it can also be a great stress reliever!

How to Create your own Jewellery Pins

There are three standard jewellery pins; head pins, ball pins, and eye pins. And then, there are always unique jewellery pins that provide a cap with in the in pin itself. Stones and Findings a wide variety of pins, including ball pins , eye pins , head pins as well as fancy pins in sterling silver, gold filled and gold vermeille.



However there are times when all you need in your design is just the bead. If your design requires nothing fancy on the end of your pin, then there is a great way to create your own pin head. This works especially well with pearls. Often basic pins are a little too thick for your standard drill hole on a pearl, too. The examples below demonstrate how you can make the different types of pins, using Sterling Silver Wire. You can however, just as easily use Gold Vermeille or Gold Filled wire.



Head Pin

Simply take a section of your sterling silver 22 Gauge wire, and cut off the desired length for your pin. Then put this section of sterling silver wire, into your parallel pliers, leaving a millimeter peeking out at the end. With a flat nose hammer, hammer the exposed bit of your sterling silver wire with a few strikes. Hammer in one direction, and then take out the pin and rotate it a quarter of the way. Then continue to strike the sterling silver tip. This will expand the metal just enough to stop your bead from sliding off the end of the wire. By rotating your piece ofsterling silver wire, you will ensure that the end of the pin is equally fanned out. And there you have it; you've created your own sterling silver head pin.



Now to the naked eye, it may not seem like you've created something that will stop the pearl, but by creating a small flat end on your sterling silver wire you will essentially stop it from sliding off.

*TIP* - to get a professional finish, use an old pair of parallel pliers, or wrap masking tape around your pliers ends to ensure that you do not leave any hammer marks on your sterling silverpins.

Eye Pin




Start by taking the end of your sterling silver 22 Gauge wire, and using your round tip pliers, bend into a small circle at the end of your wire piece. Then, depending on the length you need for your project cut about 1cm or more from your sterling silver wire. This will allow you to have extra room to wire wrap once you've put your stones or beads onto the finished sterling silver eye pin.



Ball Pin

For this project, it would be ideal to have access to a torch. With it you can heat up the end of your sterling silver wire, applying a small amount of heat and the metal will ball at 1640f/893c. Once your sterling silver wire has started to ball, take the heat away, quench and polish the piece and then you will have your home made sterling silver ball pin.



*TIP* - if you are using soft sterling silver wire and find it too soft for your project, take the section needed and hold it from end to end with your two parallel pliers. Then twist the piece of sterling silver wire in opposite directions and it will harden a bit. Twist it a lot and you'll have your soft sterling silver wire to harden in no time!