New Project - Carnelian and Sterling Silver Etched Ring

I'm really enjoying creating jewellery for me for a change! Despite making jewellery to sell I very rarely set something aside just for myself. Why? I have no idea other than the uncontrollable urge I have to keep making new pieces to add to my shops. In fact I feel a tiny bit guilty spending time making jewellery for myself which is utter madness I know.

So to make up for this I've been making pieces at my jewellery course at night school that really are just for me and it makes me feel very extravagant {although I think that's more to do with the cost of silver to be honest!} As I make mostly earrings to sell and not really being a pendant type of person (I should be I know) the last two projects I did at college were rings.

The latest is an etched silver and carnelian combination which morphed into being like a lot of my stuff does. It was originally going to lie lengthways along my finger than I realized it looked better going across. The shape changed several times until I went for ovals with the cab positioned off centre.

I'll be honest I had a bit of trouble soldering the small oval onto the base because of the etched design. Some of the solder flowed out onto the base piece which I cleaned up as best I could without taking off most of the etched pattern. The solder didn't flow all the way round either due to the uneven surface. Oxidizing it helped to cover some of the design irregularities {my made up term for mistakes!} And I still need to practice my finish on the very top edge of the bezel - I'd like it to be perfectly smooth and tight to the cab but fear of slipping with the burnisher and scratching the stone stops me from pressing too hard. Maybe I'm too much of a perfectionist ? Any advice on this would be welcome  - not on me being a perfectionist, more on smoothing the top of the bezel :D

There's a two week break from college for Easter then we're back and I'm planning on making a pair of etched silver hollow form earrings with bezel set cab...........although that may change if I suddenly find something else I just have to try.

Stay tuned!

Contrasting Textures - Copper And Silver Earrings

One thing that has always caught my eye when I look at metalwork jewellery is contrast and layers. That difference in texture between patterned and smooth and also the depth added by layers and overlaying.

I recently tried etching sterling silver firstly using copper nitrate and a battery. It worked but the results were unpredictable. By that I mean some pieces etched well within an hour and the next batch were hardly touched after 4 hours. A bit frustrating and not reliable enough for someone who isn't the world's most patient soul! So I decided to try ferric nitrate which is a bit more "hardcore" than the previous method and one I'd been hoping to avoid.

The sterling silver etched well with the ferric nitrate. I used vinyl/plastic stickers you can find in craft stores and left it for about 2.5 hours. The stickers worked well and the etch was really clean and quite deep.

 These earrings were hard to photograph because of their shiny shiny nature but the etched design shows up well. I soldered the etched piece to a plain piece to highlight the contrast in pattern and smoothness.

A copper and silver combination. I'm starting to feel a bit more confident when I solder as I try different things and work out how to get over those little problems they don't tell you about in the jewellery books. Positioning a piece so it won't move when you solder on loops and earwires for example. Fellow jewellery makers also help a lot (thanks for the tips Tania!)

These were made using the silver I etched using the copper nitrate and battery method and a rubber stamp design. I added the wavy edged smooth silver at the bottom as a contrast. I really like that look so will no doubt do it again!

A pair of little sterling studs with etched and smooth silver.

Copper "shields" with etched silver. Getting to know how much solder to use to attach the silver pieces to the copper is a challenge - too much and it can spread over the copper and cause a lot of cleaning up work (ask me how I know that). 

Ah well, it's all part of the learning process as they say!

Bead Magazine Project - Copper Wirework and Ceramic Flower Earrings!

Look out for issue 45 of Bead magazine which was out on 13 March. Bead has a new look this issue and is full of Spring inspiration! There's quite a lot of floral action going on including a step-by-step project for my copper wirework earrings with ceramic flower beads.

 I love those beads!

 Seeing the photos has reminded me to dig out the rest of those ceramic flower beads and do something else with them. I bought a mix of colours including lilac, pink and yellow. I'd like to thread them onto copper or silver hoops then solder the hoops closed. I "think" the ceramic beads will stand up to the heat of the torch ok. Some strategically placed pliers would act as a heat sink and easy solder would make it a quick in and out job so I may well have a go soon.

Here's the colourful front cover of Bead magazine - it's so bright you can't help but be cheered up by it :D

Etching Copper With Ferric Chloride

 I decided recently that etching is one of my favourite things to do with metal. I read about it online quite a while ago and immediately thought it looked cool but the thought of using an "acid" and having to find somewhere to store it (a perennial problem when you don't have a workroom) put me off. So instead I admired etched copper from afar. Until I got a bee in my bonnet about it again and bought Lexi Erikson's copper etching dvd.

Lexi Erikson is very good at explaining jewellery techniques and making them seem much more straightforward than they first appear. I already knew that ferric chloride was a salt and not an acid so wouldn't eat my flesh through to the bone if I accidently spilled some on my hand. The dvd made me feel much more comfortable about having a go so I ordered some ferric chloride from ebay and bought some stamps and StazOn ink from a local craft shop. My first attempt went ok but for some reason I left the copper to etch for an hour and a half without checking it at all. Don't ask me why I did that, I have no idea! The copper etched ok but a really deep etch that left it looking a bit chewed up and rough around the edges. Having learned my lesson I had another go and got much better results the second time.

These photos are from a recent etching session. Please note this isn't strictly a tutorial and I would recommend reading up on copper etching with ferric chloride in order to do it safely and learn what you can and can't tip down the drain!

Ferric Chloride in my glass etching dish, never to be used for cottage pie again!
I pour it back into the bottle when I've finished etching. It will eventually lose it's power and need to be replaced. When that happens I will need to ring the council and find out where to take the spent ferric chloride as it is classed as hazardous waste and cannot be tipped down the drain.

Some very cute Dovecraft mini letter stamps I found at The Range for 99p! They were available in other fonts too but I chose this one mainly for the heart (at the top next to the e). As you can see I don't do keeping things in order!

 Copper discs stamped with StazOn ink and the heart stamp. They're stuck to the packing tape ready for suspending in the ferric chloride. Before stamping the design I cleaned the copper with wire wool to remove any grease from my fingers.

Copper washers stamped and ready for etching.

The small copper discs suspended upside down in the solution. This allows the copper etched away to fall to the bottom of the dish. Giving the dish a wiggle or stirring the ferric chloride occasionally will help to loosen the particles of copper from the surface of the discs. I normally leave it for about 30 minutes before checking the etch. I use a piece of copper wire and gently scratch the design to feel how deep the etch is. At the moment it takes about 30-40 mins to get the depth of etch I like. As the ferric chloride becomes contaminated with copper particles the etching time will increase.

When the etch is deep enough I remove the tape from the glass dish and dunk the lot in a water and baking soda solution. Then I remove the copper pieces from the tape and clean under the tap with a toothbrush. You can clean the ink and mustard coloured residue off with wire wool then I like to pickle them to make sure everything is properly clean.
 I must admit I don't wear gloves to remove the tape from the glass dish as they stick to the tape and get annoying, but you may prefer to. I have got ferric chloride on my hands accidently and still have all my fingers but please remember chemicals need to be treated with respect.

A close-up of the etched discs, before and after cleaning.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with these larger pieces yet!

Below are some of the etched copper pieces turned into charms and earrings.

Copper studs

Etched copper washers with sodalite

Etched heart charms

Ogham Jewellery - Unique Handmade Jewellery Designs

Silver and Enamel Ring - Daniel Vior

Ogham Jewellery is a jewellery business based in Ayr, Scotland. Run by Michael Freedman, Ogham Jewellery sells a selection of finely handcrafted jewellery for men and women chosen from designers around the world. I was really interested to find out more about the business and any advice Michael might have on selling jewellery online.

Silver and Rose Gold Ring by Aviv

 What is your background? Have you always had an interest in jewellery? 

Ogham Jewellery is a family business, which was started by my parents, Norman and Hazel Freedman. My father Norman was originally an accountant and a business consultant and mostly handled the financial side of the business, while my mother is a more creative person who had qualifications in art and pottery.

My parents also ran a number of retail businesses over the years, including clothing shops, a restaurant and a sweet shop. However my mother made the decision to open a jewellery shop as she had a passion for beautiful jewellery designs and because she felt it was so difficult to find the type of jewellery she loved in most jewellers stores, unique handmade designs, rather than mass produced pieces.

I became involved in the jewellery business seven years ago. Before that I ran a business consultancy with my father, helping companies to save money on their overhead expenses. I studied an HNC in gemmology and then the Professional Jeweller’s Diploma with the National Association of Goldsmiths, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Learning about the properties of gemstones, diamonds and precious metals, was the start of my own love of jewellery and I have come to share my mother’s love of handcrafted jewellery designs.

 

Silver and Enamel Ring by Sheila Fleet 

When did you open your shop in Ayr and how long was it before you started the website?

Our shop in Ayr opened 12 years ago. When I joined the business seven years ago I felt that the internet would become more and more important to our business so I started our website then. The original design would look very primitive now, most websites had terrible designs at that time. Over the years, I have spent a great deal of time developing our website store, improving the design and working on the content.

Sterling Silver Stingray Pendant by Chris Hawkins

How do sales compare between the two?
 

The majority of sales still come from our shop, the website accounts for around 30% of our sales at the moment, but I believe over time the internet will account for a higher percentage of our sales and eventually overtake the shop as online shopping is becoming more and more popular.

Perhaps the biggest reason for the growth of online shopping is the lower prices that online stores can offer due to their lower costs compared to traditional jewellery shops. This is of increasing importance because of the economic problems in recent years and the rising prices of precious metals.

Nevertheless, I think there will always be a place for the traditional high street jeweller as people enjoy browsing around shops and like the personal touch that a shop can offer, as well as the opportunity to try on jewellery before buying it. For instance, with the purchase of an engagement ring or wedding rings, I think most couples would find the experience of visiting shops and trying on rings together far more romantic than buying online. 

 Gold and Diamonds Pendant by Leon

How do you choose your designers? 

We are always keen to find new designers and new ideas in jewellery and regularly visit the UK trade shows, such as the IJL (International Jewellery London) and Birmingham Spring Fair Jewellery Show.

As we love to sell more unusual pieces from around the world, we also visit trade shows in other countries and cities such as Vicenza, Tel Aviv, Munich and Las Vegas.

When we visit these shows we are always looking for the unusual, something different from what the chain stores sell but also beautiful and wearable jewellery and ideally also hand crafted.

We also often receive mail or email from many designers, advertising their collections and we are always on the look out for exciting new designs.

Silver Heart Pendant by Ortak

What is your most popular style/metal sales-wise online and shop based?

 

We are not sure of the reasons, but the profile of our shop sales and website sales are quite different.

By far, the most popular jewellery in our shop is the hand crafted designs from Israel which are mostly made in sterling silver, often set with opaline, garnet or amethyst gemstones. However, online our gold jewellery and rings are very popular.

Our Scottish and Celtic jewellery sell very well both online and in our shop, with the traditional Scottish designs being particularly popular in our shop with tourists and ex-pats and the more contemporary designs appealing to a wider range of customers, particularly the Sheila Fleet and Ortak jewellery which is hand made in the Orkney Islands. Online, we regularly receive orders for Scottish designs from all over the world, especially from America.

With engagement, eternity and wedding rings, gold and white gold are still the most popular metals, however palladium is becoming more popular all the time, as it is a naturally white metal which is lower priced than 18ct white gold. For men’s jewellery and rings, industrial metals such as titanium, zirconium and tungsten carbide are very much in demand.

Sterling Silver Ring by Banyan

What do you find the hardest thing about selling online?

The most difficult thing about selling online is that it is always changing. Websites have to update all the time to remain current, both in their design and features. In addition, most website traffic comes from Google searches so we try to ensure our website ranks well on Google so that more potential customers can find us on the web. Of course every online jeweller is in the same position so there is a lot of competition and Google often changes the way it ranks websites.

With regards to jewellery products, engagement and wedding rings are a very difficult product to sell online as people would generally like to try these on before buying and often they must be specially made in the customer’s size which increases delivery times.

Silver and Pearl Ring by Shablool

Do you have any tips for someone just starting to sell their jewellery online? 

The first thing I would recommend is using one of the large ecommerce platforms for your website, rather than a small web developer. These platforms include Volusion, Big Commerce, Shopify and a number of others. We moved our website to Volusion in November and have been absolutely delighted with their service. The main reason I chose Volusion over the others, is that they seemed to be set up better for UK businesses whereas the others seemed more US based and did not even have a UK phone number to contact.

We worked for years with a small web designer, who was very technically gifted and did a good job for us, but it was hard to get enough of his time to constantly update and improve our website and it also proved expensive in the long run to constantly add new features. When we moved to Volusion we found that the store started from the beginning with all the features we needed and more, such as product picture magnification, customer reviews section, facebook, twitter and pinterest share buttons and a mobile phone version of the store, etc. These features all made the website more professional and credible and there was technical help available 24/7 for any questions or issues. Rather than paying for individual updates to our website we just pay a small monthly fee and the Volusion platform is regularly updated to include new features so our store remains at the cutting edge of online shops.

SEO and ranking on Google is important to any online business and the methods for achieving this all changed after Google’s recent panda and penguin updates. However, another tip I would give is not to be too focused on Google, but instead to engage with your community and customers on social networks, etc. and to focus on the quality of the content on your website as this in itself will improve Google rankings, increase sales conversion and improve the website experience for your customers.

Nowadays, if you offer a great product and excellent service and make a quality website, your customers will do your advertising for you and spread the word to their friends by word of mouth and also to their followers on the social networks. We believe that these social networks, like facebook and twitter, etc. will become more important over the coming years and so we have started building a following and engaging with our customers on these platforms.

Silver and Enamel Brooch by Sheila Fleet

I think you'll probably agree there's some stunning jewellery to be found at Ogham Jewellery. I love the mixture of the more traditional styles with the contemporary handmade pieces and particularly love the work of Orkney-based Sheila Fleet and the Israeli designers Shablool and Banyan. The website is well set out and very stylish inviting you to browse further.

The tagline in the website's banner really says it all - Ogham Jewellery definitely is the home of "Unique Designer Jewellery."