As our June of love and celebration winds down, we are looking forward to the red hot ruby excitement of July!
Ruby is the birthstone of July, and the not-always-known sibling of sapphire.
Our July will start Tuesday, and we will be thrilled to discuss any jewellery projects you have in mind.
Well, it seems that summer is well and truly here, with the summer solstice a couple of days ago, the recent strawberry moon (I didn’t know such a thing existed!) and the heat wave we’ve had, we hope you’ve all been keeping your cool! It’s nice and cool in the studio – so if you’re out and about in Roncy, it’s a good time to come see what’s new in the bubbles, or have a chat to us about your repair or custom piece you’ve been thinking about for a while!
Have a piece you’ve been thinking about for a while? A client had this lovely coffin-shaped lapis kicking around their drawer at home, and decided it was time to do something with it, so we made them this lovely statement ring in sterling silver!
Happy Saturday!
Mokume Gane is a Japanese metalworking procedure. What you see is a mixed-metal laminate with distinctive layered patterns like the photo above. (Cufflinks made by Gillian Batcher).
Mokume Gane looks like wood grain and is closely translated from Japanese as “wood grain metal”. It has the appearance of natural wood grain.
With Mokume-gane, you fuse several layers of differently coloured precious metals together to form a sandwich of alloys called a “billet.” Then the billet is manipulated in such a way that a pattern resembling wood grain emerges over its surface. There are many many ways of working mokume gane to create diverse patterns.
I thought i’d share what mokume gane is today as two customers came in and were really admiring the patterns on the different rings using Mokume gane.
Is this even worth fixing or selling or should I just throw it out?
Some pieces are not worth the effort or cost to fix.
There comes a point when you must be willing to let go of things you have enjoyed wearing. This point arrives sooner for a lot of costume jewellery than jewellery made from precious metals, but it does happen for both types.
It is time to let go when the only thing holding your jewellery together is glue and it has been fixed that way multiple times.
Listen to your jeweller. If they tell you they can fix something but it will break again you should be asking if there is something else that could be done to fix it, or if it should just be put to rest. Honest jewellers will advise against repairs they know will just come back with the same problem repeatedly.
If you find your jewellery is breaking often, you may want to invest in higher quality pieces. Higher quality does not have to mean more expensive materials or stones, just that it is made with more care for the longevity of the piece to withstand more frequent wear. Do not be fooled into thinking luxury brands are better because they are more expensive. Quality is not dictated by price, but rather it is a reflection of how well the item is crafted.
Glue rarely says well made!
’20 Tips on maintaining our Jewellery’, Gillian E. Batcher, 2013
Today in our studio, we have a group of makers who are learning from Gillian, how to apply textile techniques to metal.
They are learning how to make samples of these techniques, and consulting with Gillian on their idea for beautiful jewellery they can make to showcase their new skills.
How would you apply these techniques?
If you are interested in learning, take a look at our new courses coming up. If you’d have someone create your ideas for you, reach out to us regarding custom design.
Happy Saturday!! With the summer, has come a change in the windows display at Jewel Envy. It’s a bit different from our recent displays: one window is a fibre art collaboration piece, and the other two contain some fibre/silver jewellery pieces.
What’s that? You say? Well, about two years ago, I met a lovely fibre artist, Carolina Reis, when I was doing a studio tour show. I was a guest in her house, and we got to talking about all things fibre. One of Carolina’s interests is in networks (mostly social, community, etc.). Well, I like fibre art, and there are lots of networks in immunology, so I suggested we do a collaboration. This piece entitled (IMM)UNITY was the final result!
This is a bit of a teaser – it’s really better to see it in person! Also, there’s quite a long explanation about the intentions and concepts of the piece that is posted along with it. Made from quilted embroidered panels, and joined with crocheted cotton elements to make a whole, it incorporates (among other things), the feeling of togetherness, connection, and conflicting ideas, as well as representations of different cells, systems and concepts around vaccination and the immune system.
In the other two windows, I’ve placed a complementary series of necklaces and brooches, that I’ve called Portholes on Immunity, and mostly (but not entirely) is an homage to different cell types of the immune system. When I was thinking about making this series, I was reminded of various sci-fi films where you see people shrunk into miniature, along with their little submarine, journeying through the blood. So, these are how I imagine cells would look from the porthole window on a teeny tiny vessel in the blood.
This is a large multi-panel necklace. Again, the pictorial elements are embroidered quilted panels that I made, with some trapunto effects (this is a quilting technique where you add additional batting layers in selected parts to raise the profile). The panels are inset into sterling silver frames, or portholes.
This is the last window – a series of four brooches, and a single pendant necklace, using similar techniques to the above necklace. And bonus – there I am trying to take a picture without too much reflection (clearly that wasn’t entirely successful!).
If you’re passing by the studio this month, I hope you’ll try and take a look – they are all much more interesting in person! The large necklace is not for sale, but if you’re interested in any of the brooches, or the single panel necklace, stop in and ask us about them! Given the fabric nature of the pieces, they won’t be up for long, they will probably come down by the middle of July at the latest to avoid any sun damage.
Enjoy the nice weather, whatever you’re doing, and hope to see you soon!
-Robin (House of Cassady)
