Five reasons to start silversmithing

1. You will be able to make yourself all those jewellery pieces you’ve coveted.

If you’re anything like me, you love buying and receiving jewellery and have an Etsy (or otherwise) wishlist containing hundreds of rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and other shiny things you have coveted for ages. You might also, like me, occasionally treat yourself to the odd thing on your wishlist, but mostly feel a little bit guilty for splurging on jewellery for yourself (it’s not like you actually need more jewellery). The great thing about learning to silversmith is that you can make everything you want for yourself! Simple things are obviously easier to start with, but when you learn a more tricky technique to make a more complicated piece, it really feels like you’ve earned it!

2. It’s extremely satisfying wearing something you have made from scratch.

“Oh, I LOVE that ring you’re wearing! Where did you get it?”

“Thanks – actually, I made it myself”

Those of you who make jewellery will recognise the above conversation. It’s really satisfying seeing some plain old silver sheet and wire turn into something beautiful, delicate, three dimensional, functional, modern…

3. There are always new techniques to learn.

There are lots of other good creative hobbies around. I tried making stained glass panels a couple of years ago, which was a lot of fun too, with similar practical elements (cutting glass, soldering, etc)… but I did feel it was quite straightforward after learning the basics. The difference with silversmithing is that there are so many techniques to learn and master that the hobby never gets old – and new techniques seem to be evolving all the time – just look at the invention of precious metal clay (clay which can be moulded like dough into a shape, then fired to burn off the clay and leave pure silver).

4. You will be able to give the best, meaningful gifts to your family, friends and loved ones.

It’s always nice to be able to give someone special a handmade gift. I think that’s especially true when it’s silver or gold jewellery that it something they would love to receive anyway, and you can design and make it just for them and their tastes. Personalisation is a great touch.

5. It’s not hard to learn.

It might seem difficult to start silversmithing – with all the mountains of tools needed and lots of unfamiliar names and techniques – but actually, in reality it’s not that hard to make simple things. I’m pretty confident that most people could do it. There are also a lot of short taster courses out there for complete beginners and books – so I thoroughly recommend giving it a stab and seeing how you get on!

Tutorial: Make a Simple Geometric Charm

So I'm going to attempt writing my first tutorial - let's start with a simple project for a beginner at silversmithing. A small charm like this is a great first project, being versitile to wear - on a charm bracelet, necklace, or turn into earrings - and you don't need a lot of equipment to make this. I opted for a geometric diamond design which is a good oportunity to practice accurate piercing, but other geometric designs will work just as well (see my post on geometric designs for inspiration).

Materials and equipment needed:

15mm x 15mm of 0.5mm width sterling silver sheet
2 x 0.5mm heavy sterling silver jump rings
A silver chain, if wearing as a pendant - I use a 18' trace chain

Piercing saw and 2/0 blade
Needle files
Drill and drillbit (I used 0.8mm)
Piece of wood
Optional: Soldering equipment (torch, soldering block, flux, hard solder, pickle)
Barrelling machine or pendant drill with radial discs
Chain nose pliers

Workshop Review: Silver Jewellery for Improvers at Amy Surman

I attended the ‘Silver Jewellery for Improvers’ workshop at Amy Surman a couple of months ago, with great results, so, here’s my review for anyone else interested in attending. It was overall a pleasantly different experience to the one I had on the Stone Setting course at Holts’ Academy (you can read my review of that here).

The basics

Workshop name: Silver Jewellery for Improvers

Cost: £70 + materials

Timings: 6 hours (incl. lunch) on a Saturday (Amy also does a weekly class version)

Location: Amy Surman Oxford Bead Shop, Cowley, Oxfordshire

Skill level: Intermediate, but suitable for most levels except complete beginner (other workshops are available with more guided tuition for complete beginners)

Website: www.amysurman.co.uk

Overview

The Oxford Bead Shop is an independent retailer owned by Amy Surman, who offers a great selection of workshops across a number of different jewellery topics and disciplines, from silversmithing and metal clay to beading and lampwork. She also offers one-to-one private tuition at a reasonable price.

The Silver Jewellery for Improvers workshop is designed for those that have tried some form of silversmithing before and want to explore new techniques and designs, without being restricted to one particular technique. I found this was a great opportunity to try new things that I had wanted to try, with the support of a more experience tutor overseeing and advising.


In Amy's words: "The idea of the class is to give people who can't make our very popular weekly class the opportunity to come along for a whole day to explore and make their own projects with my support and gain ideas from the other three people in the class."

Pendant by another attendee

The workshop is limited to only 4 spaces (there were only 3 including myself when I attended) which meant we got a vast amount of one-to-one teaching and advise over the course of the 6 hours. Attendees are encouraged to make something to their own design, so it’s a good idea to bring a design along – if not, students have time at the start to come up with a design with help from the tutor and her wealth of books for inspiration. The small group also allows attendees to get insight into others’ designs and the techniques they are learning, which is really nice.