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MrsWCA saw a necklace she liked on the Antiques Roadshow so I thought I would try and make her a copy.
I probably will be using less gold and diamonds on my first attempt but am more interested in the physical mechanism to get the thing on and off the neck. Is it as simple as a single swivel/rotating piece on the side?
I am thinking that I could make the question mark shape out of a bit of metal wire or tube and then thread on the decorative design, probably wood and beads for the prototype, but need to be able to get it around MrsWCA neck without requiring a head amputation.
Suggestions please
That looks tricky. I am not a jeweler but would memory wire be a better option rather than a pivoting mechanism, it would allow the wearer to gently bend the neck open to put on/off while retaining its shape?
Not a silversmith (my dad was though). He made neck peices out of springy square wire with just enough flex to be able to open out to get around your neck with a j-shaped bend on each end so that the spring pressure outwards would clip into and hold the pendant element - it was so the necklace held a shape in space around the wearer that he’d drawn rather than a chain conforming to their body. He was all about a good line!
on a larger scale if I wanted that curve to articulate so I could fit it around something immovable I’d make that in cut / mitred hollow sections, thread a cable through and tension it. So maybe something elasticated through the middle? Or a cord or fine chain that can be pulled tight and clasped?
The whole thing looks segmented - possibly every piece individually cast with ball and socket joints, then crimped close? The malleability of gold means you can do stuff that regular metal can’t - my brother was a goldsmith.
I also want the piece to lie on the neck in a preformed shape rather than simply hang like a chain.
I was thinking about articulated pieces with some kind of sprung tension but doubt I have the skills or materials to achieve something that will last.
A sprung band makes sense, I wasn't sure if there would be enough flex in it though. I will try with a bicycle spoke first 🙂
Assuming no pacemakers, etc, a neodymium magnet cunningly incorporated into the design might do the trick? Also provides a safety breakaway should the necklace get snagged in anything.
I think as big a challenge as the articulation is balance - it’s an asymmetrical design - it’s visual ‘weight’ is to one side- how do to get it to rest in the way you want it to?
[i]Assuming no pacemakers, etc, a neodymium magnet cunningly incorporated into the design might do the trick? Also provides a safety breakaway should the necklace get snagged in anything.[/i]
I don't want the necklace to join, just hang magically in place.
[i]‘weight’ is to one side- how do to get it to rest in the way you want it to?[/i]
I have a nail gun?
I have a nail gun?
A well aimed narrow crown stapler would avoid damaging the necklace so your next wife can wear it
I can see how this may end...Mrs WCA lying on the floor garrotted by wire 😳
without knowing exactly what you're going to make it out of, an dthe size of the material, It's hard to suggest a solution TBH.
Gold would have a different answer to steel, or aluminium, or plastic. Tube would be different to solid etc.
My current plan, based on feedback so far, is to use some sprung memory wire to form the basic question mark shape. This wire will mostly be hidden so the colour is not too important as long as it is relatively easy to put on and take off while still retaining the shape when hung with the ornamental bits.
The ornamental bits I am a bit less clear on but first thoughts are some kind of beading around the neck loop and then an intricately carved, extremely thin sliver of wood, probably bamboo for strength and structure, to form the main decoration. Of course, all of this may change as I develop the design and even as I type I am wondering about a bit of gold leaf on some parts of the main design to add colour...
Please remember that I have never made a piece of jewellery before, the nearest I have come to gluing some paint spills onto the pre-formed pendant trays and sticking a cabochon on top.
What about using a screw clasp?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171225389908?hash=item27ddd41b54:g:v7IAAOSws65TndpO&var=471151244643
I have had quite a bit of experience in silversmithing and jewellery making. I think your idea of sprung wire and beads makes sense. Keep it as simple as possible- I would not want to tackle the exact shape and method that appears to have been used in that piece, so as a first timer……no way.
Any kind of rotational joint is likely not to give the desired shape on the neck
Sounds like you need some nitinol wire, it's quite cheap and you can get jewellery grade
I would suggest taking a look on a jewellery findings manufacturer's website, off the peg stuff or an idea for a solution would be there.
(Time served jewellery model maker 25 years.)
Memory wire inside a decorative outer sleeve, perhaps? It only needs to be able to flex enough to fit around your good lady’s neck, so any articulation can be managed by the flexibility of the material, something that wasn’t available back in the 20’s and 30’s.
My mate’s been a goldsmith for getting on for forty years, I’ll try to remember to ask him when we go for beers on Friday, he watches Antiques Roadshow, so will probably know that piece.
It was pretty spectacular!
Gold coloured memory wire with small beads around it gives the required flexibility to articulate around the neck whilst the beads keep it comfortable as they can move and roll to stop it snagging on the skin.
Currently working on the best way to create the main decorative pendant and also how to put and end on the wire so it looks nicer than a simple loop of bent wire or a big bead glued to the end of it.
Updates should follow