Chapter XV: Necklaces, Brooches, Bracelets

NECKLACE

This necklace is made on the basis of a circle 7 ins. in diameter. Most necklaces having pendants are about this size. The design of this necklace is very simple. One stone is set in the pendant and this shows on both sides. The whole is connected by silver links. The stones, one either side of the pendant, between the links of the chain, are set in the same way as you set the stones in the scarf pin and rings. The only work to be done which is different from any you have done before is the making of chain links.

_Material:_ No. 20 or 22 round silver wire, the amount depending upon the size of the chain. Stones, carefully selected.

_Directions:_ Draw the design of your necklace on a piece of paper. Place the stones at intervals. When they seem well proportioned draw the chain links between them. The length of the links will depend entirely upon your setting. When you have decided just how many links go between the stones on your design, measure off the length of one of those links. Round links do not hang as well as oval links, neither do they look so well.

_To make the links:_ Take a piece of iron 3/16 in. in diameter and file the two sides oval in shape. This is a bar on which you can bend the links. One end of the silver wire is placed against this mandrel and both put into the vise and fastened. Bend the wire round and round this iron rod, making the coils as close as you can get them. Count each revolution as one link. You can easily count the number of links in your necklace. When you get the number of turns needed, unfasten it all from the vise and pull the rod out. You have a spiral-shaped coil. With a jewellers' saw, saw the length of the spiral on the end of the links. Each one will drop off in the shape of a link. This is the very best way to bend up a number of links that will be uniform in size. You will notice that the ends of the link, after it is sawed off, are not opposite each other. Push these ends together, using the fingers or a pair of pliers. If the sawing is carefully done the links will be ready to solder. Solder first one link in the usual way. Hook the other link into it. Repeat until the chain is the desired length. If the proper amount of solder is placed on the joint it will run in without making lumps to be filed off later.

_Pendant:_ The pendant is made in the same way as the watch fob, which is explained in a later chapter. The setting of the stones in the chain is done as other stone setting, except that the ends are filed into shape to receive the links for joining. Fastenings for the necklace can be bought at any jewellery store. It is much better to buy them than to attempt to make them.

Square silver wire can be used to mark out the design, or any design, instead of round wire, and great variety can be secured merely by a change in the shape of the wire used for the links. Again, you may have a necklace with or without the pendant; the so-called bar necklace, the dog collar, or the chain may be lengthened until it becomes the watch chain.

In the group picture of necklaces there is one necklace made up of long flat links joined together by small links soldered on. The design for the necklace is sawed out. It is used for a necklace and watch chain. This is only one of many suggestions for sawed out design work applied in this way.

COLLAR SLIDE

Collar slides make very pretty pieces of jewellery. Three form a set, and they are easily made. These given here are all made of silver with turquoise setting. The centre slide is usually a trifle larger than the other two. A piece of ribbon is slipped through a little wire slot put on the back of each slide for that purpose. Any colour ribbon that blends with the silver and turquoise looks well.

_Material:_ One piece silver, 5/8 × 1-1/8 ins. (for centre slide). Two pieces silver, 9/16 × 1-1/8 ins. (for other two). Three stones well matched. Piece of No. 20 silver wire, 5 ins. long.

_Directions:_ Cut out the shape as the picture shows and saw out the inside according to the design, leaving a flat space at the top large enough for the stones you have selected. Set the stone the same as you did stones for rings, scarf pins, etc. After the bezel is in place for soldering, cut off a piece of No. 20 wire, and bend it in the shape of the sketch given here.

This is soldered on the back of the slides. Bind this on at the same time you bind on your bezel, wash with borax, and solder both. Do same on each one. File down the bezel, put the stone in place and push the bezel against the stone by rubbing. Polish and finish. This design will no doubt suggest many ways of making slides.

BROOCHES AND BAR PINS

Brooches and bar pins are made in much the same way as scarf pins. The bezel is soldered as to a flat bar of silver to receive the stone. But, in place of the stick pin, brooches have a bar, hinged on one end, and a little catch hook on the other. These bars and catch hooks can be bought very cheaply at almost any jewellery store, and cheaper than one can make them. However, if you wish to make that part of the brooch or bar pin yourself you can do so in the following way: Take a piece of silver 2 ins. long and 1/8 in. wide, No. 20. Round this piece of silver up by driving on the wide side about one inch from the end. Keep doing this till the piece of silver is about 1/16 in. square. Drive the four corners down, and you have an 8-sided bar. If these corners in turn are hammered down you have a 16-sided piece, etc. Continuous hammering reduces this bar to a round piece of silver about one inch long. The end should be flattened down according to the sketch (1).

_To make the hinge (staple and hook):_ Take a piece of silver, No. 24, 1/8 in. wide and 3/8 in. long. Bend it up in the shape of a staple, square at the end (2). The piece for the hook can be made at the same time you make the piece for the pin. Use a piece of wire 1/16 in. × 3/8 in. long. After hammering, bend it like the sketch (3).

_To put the staple and hook together:_ Drill a 1/16-in. hole in the staple very close to the top. Drill one in the flat shank of the pin also close to the top. (See sketch.)

Put a silver rivet in and rivet the two together, making a hinge. Place this on the bar pin or brooch and then put the hook in its proper position. Now you can get the exact length the pin should be. Cut it off long enough to let the end project through the hook about 1/8 in. File this to a needle point and polish very smooth. If it is rough it will not push through any kind of cloth easily. To solder, bind the pin and hook to the brooch or bar pin, and solder as you would any other piece. Polish and finish up as you have done before.

BRACELET WITH SAWED OUT DESIGN AND STONE SETTINGS

_Material:_ One piece of No. 20 silver, 8 × 3/8 ins. One piece of No. 24, 1/6 in. by any length needed for the number of bezels required. Three or five stones (turquoises blend well with silver).

_Tools:_ Saws, saw frame, drill press and drills, small files, borax and solder.

_Directions:_ Secure small stones of uniform size and the same colour, or colours that blend well together. If the stones selected are too large the bracelet is apt to have a heavy or clumsy look. Bracelets should be fine, and above everything else dainty looking. Take your 8-in. piece of silver and divide it into five equal parts if there are to be five stones, and three equal parts if three stones are to be used. Lay each stone in its section and mark the outline with pencil on the silver.

The sawed out design is a matter of spacing between the stones. The design shown here is a good one for this. You will see that the spaces between the stones are cut away so that the stones stand out as the design rather than the bracelet itself.

If you are working out the design given here, drill holes and saw out the spaces. Do this while the silver is in a straight piece, also file these slots or spaces true and straight, rounding the edges both ways. At the same time round the outside edges both ways, too. This makes the bracelet free from sharp edges and it will feel comfortable to the touch.

Shape the bracelet, bending it as you have bent other bands. There is danger, when bending this, of the weak places, where the open spaces come, bending in sharp angles. To avoid this put the greatest strain on the solid places and bend these first. Bring the two ends tight together, then bind and solder. When you have taken off the binding wire, file down any thickness left at this joint flush with the silver band. Bracelets are both oval and round in shape. Choose one of the two shapes and round the bracelet up in that form.

Now cut the silver for the bezels long enough to go around each stone. These are all soldered in the usual way, then filed to fit and lie flat on the bracelet. Place the bezels on the solid places and bind each one separately. Place a little bit of silver solder on the inside of each. Be careful to wash the joint made in the band with a little clay to prevent its melting during the soldering of the bezels. If the bracelet during the soldering has lost its shape round it up again. File all the bezels down so that the tops are perfectly smooth. File off any rough spots in the circle or bracelet and polish it all inside and outside. Shape a soft piece of pine wood to fit the inside of the bracelet. Put this wood into the vise and put the bracelet on it. Now set the stones, one by one, and rub the bezels tight against them. Polish with rouge or pumice.

THE INDIAN BRACELET

The open bracelet is really an Indian design. Take a piece of silver wire, 3/16 × 8 ins. long. Hardened silver is best. It can be gotten just as silver wire that has been softened can be bought. Cut a piece 3/8 in. long from each end. Place these pieces on a piece of charcoal. With the blow pipe melt these pieces. Each will run into a little silver ball. Solder the balls to the end of the silver wire, one on each end. Bend the wire now in the shape of a bracelet. You can make the two balls just touch or you can leave them about an inch apart. Polish in the usual way. If the balls are carefully soldered on to the ends of the wire they make a very effective decoration.