Recreating a Byzantine Necklace - Part 3

The original necklace I started out with had a filigree hook and eye closure. I had never tried filigree before, but I definitely wanted to! So here's my adventure with that, keep in mind that this was my first real attempt at it (so there may be a better way out there of doing things). 

I liked the original necklace, but it's on display with a second, very similar one, that I liked a bit better. So I decided to base my closure on that one. The original is gold, as are most extant Byzantine jewelry pieces that have this degree of delicacy. However, two things, really: 1, gold is expensive. 2, more important to me, even, I'm horribly allergic to gold. Ergo, I used silver. Silver has similar, though not identical, working properties to gold, and there are examples of delicate silver jewelry and silver filigree in other cultures in the 7th and 8th centuries. It's not too much of a stretch. 

I started out by tracing a nickel, and sketching out the design. 

I used sterling silver beaded wire for the outer edge, and 20 gauge fine silver for the inner parts. I used the sketch as a guide for forming the pieces. 

I tried a few different methods for the inner parts, but this is what worked the best. 

It helps to finish the cut ends at this point.

And there's my first attempt. I learned, through some trial and error, that it's easiest to attach the inner pieces to each other first, and then attach the outer ring.

I got this little guy all the way to this point. I was able to get everything attached, in three stages, except one of the little granules. The center piece was a little wonky, but it was together. As I was attaching the last granule, I decided to see if I could gently melt and reposition the center. This happened. 

So I had to try again. This time, I made the entire motif a little smaller (because I had a scrap of beaded wire that was *almost* the right length, honestly, and wanted to use it). And I need two of these, right? So when I tried again, I went ahead and made two. I used basically the same process as above, so this is mostly going to be a bunch of photos. 

Formed and ready to go out to the soldering station! 

Soldered center, not attached to the ring. 

Soldered to the ring! Also, I'm going to fix that gap, but not until the very end. For no real good reason. 

This bail is much more accurate to the original! It's 1x2mm half round sterling wire, but it took FOUR tries to get the pieces attached. The closer the pieces you're attaching are in relative size and density, the easier it is to do, because they heat up at the same rate. So this took some more concentrated effort. And sheer luck. But I'm really happy with it.

The little granules are so fun to make. You start with scraps like this, right? Each one is maybe 3mm or so of my 20 gauge fine silver wire. Melt each one individually, and they ball up!

It's honestly fun.

So the one with the bail got two granules and an eye, and the other one got two granules and an eye on one side, and two granules and a hook on the other side. And they're done! I need to finesse the hook a bit more, and then these guys will get incorporated into a second (silver) necklace. Just for reference, I used medium solder for everything except the granules and eyes/hook. I used easy solder for that stage. They're not perfect, but I'm supremely happy with them as a first successful attempt. 

And if anyone is curious what my soldering station looks like...

It's kind of a mess.

Recreating a Byzantine Necklace - Part 2

So I want to show you two ways of finishing your necklace, both valid. A basic hook and eye, made cold with just pliers, is readily documented to Roman occupied regions from at least the 1st century BCE to about the fall of the empire. Once you get into the 5th-6th centuries CE, you start seeing more complicated filigree hooks and eyes. There's definitely overlap, and there's evidence of filigree before that point. What I'm saying is that either of these methods work, the complexity of the finished piece is more representative of the wealth and station of the owner, as well as the skill of the craftsman, rather than necessarily the exact time period. (The style of chain in my first post on this subject can also be seen through that same several hundred year period.)

Anyway, a basic hook and eye is really easy! If you made the chain, you've been making eyes for a while now! I wanted to use a sturdier wire for my fastening, so I simply made one more link, without a bead, exactly the way I made all the other links, just using 16 gauge wire instead of 20.

For the hook, it's even easier. Form a hook on one end of a piece of wire (a few centimeters in length). Then attach it to the other end of your chain the same as all the other links.

And you're finished! I'm going to put the filigree hook and eye in a separate post, because I don't want this post to get too long. But here's our finished piece! 

A Simple Soldered Bezel Ring

Wire, and specifically cold forming wire, is one of the few hobbies I have that predate when I started sewing. It's not something I've done a lot with, but it's something I've played with consistently. I find it relaxing. And often fulfilling. So I suppose it was only a matter of time before trying my hand at hot work. This ring is my first successful attempt. 

Bezel settings are seen all throughout history, up through modern day, so this seemed like the perfect starting point. 

I had a few mistakes before I really started making progress. I melted my first bezel. My fine silver bezel wire is 1/4 wide. Which is substantially wider than needed for this stone. I successfully soldered my second bezel and then tried to cut it down. That didn't work. The thing was so soft that it mangled. Third time's a charm! I cut the bezel wire down FIRST. 

Then it was a snap to shape it and cut it to length. 

That got soldered closed, and then attached to a sterling silver back plate. 

Dime for scale, pre-solder. You can see the tiny, tiny pieces of solder around the inside edge. 

Post-solder, it needs a pickle bath to remove some of the excess flux and oxidation. Then I cut three excess silver with a jewelry saw. 

Then came a lot of time with files and sandpaper as it passed through these stages. 

I ended up actually removing a little more than I had wanted, but you have to look at it this closely to see that. 

Moving onto the band, I used a 2x1 mm half round wire that I filed on the ends to make a slight knife edge.

These pieces are ready to be soldered together. 

I cleaned up that join on both sides, then got ready to set the stone. 

Pre-setting. It's held in pretty firmly, but it could still fall out. Many period examples look exactly like this, and I honestly can't figure out what's ensuring the stones stay in place. There has to be more than can be seen from the outside. 

And there's the finished ring. It just needs to be polished. The bezel is a little uneven around the top edge, but again, you need to look very, very closely to see that. I did thoroughly go over the entire thing with 1000, 2000, and 3000 grit sandpaper. All of the finishing on this piece has been done with hand tools. The butane torch is the only tool used that isn't entirely hand powered. 

Recreating a Byzantine Necklace - Part 1

I found this necklace on The Met's Pinterest page, and several more, similar ones, from various sources. It's a relatively easy thing to make (except the clasp; this particular one is a lovely piece that involves some soldering, and slightly more advanced skills). But this is a tutorial on the chain itself. I'll make a subsequent post on making a simpler (still documentable) hook and eye closure, and then we'll tackle something like the more complicated clasp in the original. 

For now, the chain! I don't have any beads similar to the original, so I just pulled some from my stash that seemed a similar enough size, and that looked nice together. I ended up not using one of the ones in the photo. I also have 20 gauge brass wire (the original is gold), round nose pliers, wire cutters, and not pictured, some needle nose pliers. 22 or 24 gauge wire would also be suitable.

Each link is a piece of wire, and a bead, and you build the chain as you add links. Each of my wires was cut to around 9 cm. Cut longer pieces to start out with, if you're new at this. The longer your tails are, the easier it is to manipulate them. 12 cm would be a good length, if your beads are similar to mine. 

Use your round nose pliers to make a large-ish eye. I had about 3 cm of wire at that initial bend, making up the eye. 3-4 cm is an okay length to work with. Any shorter is more difficult.

Continue until it looks like this. 

Use your hands and/or your pliers to twist the short end around a couple of times. Keep the spiral close and tight. Pliers and practice really help. 

Cut the end of the wire close to the spiral. Use needle nose or chain nose pliers to tighten up the cut end as much as possible. 

Slide a bead on and close the other end up. This is the only time you'll close both sides without adding a link first.

One link done!

Repeat the first few steps up to adding a bead. I've obviously done a few more here, but trust me, this is all rinse and repeat from here. When you get your next link to the point in the photo, go ahead and slide that tail onto your existing link, so that the eyes are linked.

Like this.

Sorry about the beads changing, these were better photos of this step. I find it easiest to grasp the eye with pliers at this point, and then finish off this link. Contine adding links in the pattern of your choice until the necklace is the length you want.

The original necklace is about 17.5" overall, so I made this one around 16.5". The rest of the length will come from the hook and eye.