This is one of my favourite chains, that I call 'oyster', because of the shape of the links. It's a labour intensive, and reasonably complex process - coiling the wire before sawing the coil to make individual, evenly sized jumprings, then soldering all of them closed. Beating opposite sides, then curving them to give the double bend, finally re-sawing half of them before assembling into the chain.
Sounds simple but between each stage I have to heat them all with my blow torch to make the silver malleable - and do so without melting any of my joins!
This exact necklace was commissioned and therefore future ones are usually made to order - yours too will have a fully hallmarked S clasp and every component will be handmade by me. The S clasp will fit in any of the links, each of which has an internal diameter of approximately 9 x 12mm, external dimensions of 12 x 16mm and the curves give a profile of about 3-4mm.
There are two variants - the super lightweight and the regular. Super lightweight is made with 1.2mm wire and I have one, measuring 25 inches /64cm available now, weighing 25grams
As mentioned, future chains will be made to order - it may take up to 2 weeks for me to do so. If the size you want is shown as sold out, please send me a message. I've included postage within this listing - I will be sending your chain by Royal Mail next day, in order to ensure it's covered in case of loss or damage.
Please see my policies regarding returns for items with postage included As with all my fully hand crafted pieces, I use certified recycled sterling silver, and although future chains will be made to the same method, there will be slight variances.
Handcrafted, sterling silver, hallmarked oyster chain necklace
Sterling Silver will eventually oxidise or tarnish. It's a natural process that can be slowed down by regular wear and by keeping unworn items away from the atmosphere. If you leave your jewellery out on display, this oxidisation will be faster. You can polish up your items, with a soft cloth, some silver polish, or a buffing cloth such as Town Talk, which is readily available from any high street jewellers in the UK
Fine silver is 99.9% silver, and because of this the tarnish rate is much, much slower. Again, a buff should do the job for polishing it back up. If I have patinated your silver already, be gentle when buffing!
Each piece should stand up to regular wear, but , as with all jewellery, please remove it before washing, using chemicals or applying perfume etc
Apply body lotion and perfume a few minutes before putting on your jewellery to help slow down tarnish
The sterling silver used in these items was sold to me by my bullion dealer ass certified recycled.
The gemstones I use have been sold to me by reputable dealers as untreated (unless stated specifically in the listing). They are a natural, organic creation from the earth and each one will be slightly different. You can see examples of this on my Facebook page.
I select the stones that I think go together best for each project, hence my comments that each item is individual.