Metal Casting Zone Info Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Handmade’

Before crafting handmade jewellery two things, casting and making of jewellery by hand, must be understood. This will help you to decide whether making of jewellery by hand is worse or better, than casting.

The handcrafted jewellery is designed by hammering, bending, twisting and soldering the metal in desired form. For instance, while making a plain gold wedding ring the jeweller will start off by having a lump of gold metal in an undefined shape and will melt it down. Then he will pour the melted gold into a steel container which will harden the liquid for giving desired shape. The liquid will be turned into a thick bar. Then jeweller will roll the piece up to a time that he will finally get a long flat piece. After that he will cut down the pieces in a length that can be easily fit in customer’s finger. In the next stage he will hammer the piece to give a shape of ring and will join the both corners to create a ring. After that, he will give it a nice circular shape and polish it. Then recommended gems or crystals will be fitted into the ring. Now the gold wedding handmade ring is ready. This whole process might take one hour or little more. The whole process will start again as mentioned, if another ring is required to be made.

So the hand made jewellery piece will take hours or may be days to craft while casting it will take minutes for casting numerous identical pieces. In hand made jewellery the labor cost is a main factor. On casting, only the cleaning is required and nothing else and short time is spent in casting method.

For casting, in the jewellery trade the Lost Wax casting method is used as main method of casting. In this method, a master piece is prepared first and this master piece can be used to make unlimited copies of the jewellery item. In casting method large number of rings are made at one time but in hand made method only one piece is made at one time. So it can be said that the piece of handmade jewellery is stronger and heavier because of the techniques used like hammering and filling which make the piece hard and qualitative.

In casting sometimes the bubbles remains inside and missed by the manufacturer, which make it a less quality product and less durable. Nowadays this kind of problem can be easily controlled by highly sophisticated equipments but it could happen. The casting method can also be said a duplicating method by which a manufacturer copies number of rings of a piece.

So comparing both methods, the hand made piece of jewellery can be a unique thing and an expensive one. Casting method is cheaper and many people can enjoy the same product. Handmade jewellery is long lasting, durable and harder as compared to jewellery made with the casting method.

Beautiful handcrafted designer jewelry is always in high demand. This is because handmade items are delicate and exceptional. And when the articles are made by following your own specifications, they are even more beautiful and alluring. Many designers all over the world offer personalized and custom-designed jewelry to their customers. You can also find websites where you can choose your own stones, metal setting and overall design of the article you are looking for. By following this method you can create your own jewelry articles by using certified diamonds and precious gemstones. In this article we will explore some of the most popular custom-designed jewelry articles.

High quality handmade jewelry is offered by only a few renowned designers. You can search for websites where personalized jewelry option is available. Some designers also offer to use stones and metals provided by you. If you do not trust the selection of different jewelry makers, you can provide them with your own precious gemstones and diamond collection to be used on jewelry articles. Custom engagement rings can also be created in a similar manner by specifying your diamond cut, clarity, color and carat. This way affordable and totally unique rings and personalized wedding bands can be bought.

Engraved designer jewelry in the handmade category is also loved by many people across the globe. The designers show the casting and cut of custom-designed jewelry before finishing it and giving it final touches. The finished pieces are quite stunning and absolutely beautiful. You can design rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets for both men and women. Rare designs like interlocking, tri-color and rolling rings can also be created by using the custom-design jewelry option. People order nugget rings, hand engraved wedding bands and gemstone rings in this category. In addition to these, lucky or four-leaf clover pendants, sacred heart necklaces, diamond earrings and gemstone bracelets can also be ordered.

People like to buy custom-made designer jewelry because of the wide range of exotic colored crystals and precious gemstones that can be used. These gemstones include, but are not limited to, aquamarine, garnet, sapphire, peridot, diamond, amethyst, ruby, opal, and emerald. In addition to these, you can also select among different Swarovski crystals such as bicones, briolettes, and rhinestones, and glass beads including heart-shaped silver beads, and millefiori beads in different shapes and colors. By utilizing these inexpensive crystals and semi-precious gemstones you can specify and create a fairly affordable jewelry article for yourself.

There are many categories of handmade designer jewelry and one of these is the custom-designed category. There are many websites where personalized jewelry is offered. By using this option one can specify their own choice of gemstones and metal setting to create a piece according to their requirements and budget. Diamond engagement rings and wedding bands can also be made by following this method. Religious jewelry, lucky necklaces, leather and magnetic bracelets, and modern silver and gold chains can be custom-designed to suit your specifications. You can find a number of design ideas and instructions on how to create your own jewelry online.

Jewelry-makers should learn terminology of basic jewelry-making components and techniques to work effectively with friends, customers and suppliers.

Jewelry toggles make up one category of many different jewelry closures for handmade artisan jewelry, mass-market costume jewelry and fine jewelry.  While toggle clasps definitely fasten jewelry, they can also enhance jewelry appearance.

What is a jewelry toggle?

A jewelry toggle is a set of two pieces: a jewelry loop and a jewelry stick.  The jewelry loop is attached to one end of your unfinished jewelry; the jewelry stick attaches to the other end.  The jewelry stick gets pushed through the jewelry loop, then turned so it rests longways against the loop, gravity holding the two components in place.  A skin-tight jewelry piece without any slack will not last long — this style closure is made to have some slack.

Toggle clasps come with a bit more risk than lobster claw clasps.  However, many jewelry fans seem to regard jewelry toggles as more fashionable than lobster claw clasps.  Jewelry closed with toggles may fall off the body if they are made with too much slack; sometimes the toggles may come undone when the tension on the jewelry is relaxed.

Fancy toggles will often be used at the front of a necklace as a visual centerpiece — especially fancy shaped toggles or toggles with addition decorations.

Jewelry toggles come in many different shapes:  round, oval, square, diamond, heart-shaped, floral, stirrup, etc.

Toggle Mechanics

A toggle is most secure when it cannot easily slip back through the loop accidentally.  The widest opening of the toggle loop must still be smaller than the shortest distance from your anchor point (often a ring soldered on or cast midway a metal toggle stick) to the end of the stick.    The toggle loop must also be big enough to accommodate the smallest beads on the end attached to the toggle stick.  The stick must be pulled through the loop before it can be turned to rest against the toggle loop.  Many jewelry pieces with toggle clasps will have beads graduated in size from the larger beads at the center, where they are most visible, to the smaller beads at both ends.  Toggles that are light with respect to the center beads will shift to the top as a bracelet rotates due to gravity.  A heavy toggle will help a bracelet to hang comfortably, with the toggle loop underneath the wrist.

Fastening Toggles

In pieces made with jewelry chain, you may see chain end caps soldered onto the chain and toggles connected with link locks or soldered jump rings.  Unsoldered chain pieces will often use open jump rings, split rings or link locks.  Jewelry designers will usually fasten toggles to bead wire projects using flattened crimps.  Some designers favor clam shells or bead tips to make the transition to the jewelry closures for bead wire projects and fiber projects such as knotted silk jewelry.  Inexpensive leather or fiber pieces may be knotted directly onto the toggle pieces with overhand knots.

Toggle Materials

Your “stick” may be as simple as a button with a shank used with a loop of seed beads on bead wire.  Your loop may be quite fancy, with “expandable” toggles of several rings attached together.   The rings on both the toggle loop and toggle stick should be firmly attached.  Toggle sticks with spiral patterns seem to be susceptible to bending more than many other designs.

Toggle in the United States will often be made of one of the following materials:

Platinum Palladium Gold Gold-Filled Silver: Thai silver, sterling silver (.925 silver) Titanium Surgical Steel Brass, usually plated with gold, silver, copper, antique copper, antique brass, gunmetal/black nickel and imitation rhodium Wood Stone

Many of these materials are available in different surface textures: shiny, matte, brushed, etc.  Crystals, cubic zirconia and gemstones may decorate toggles of the more expensive metals.

The jewelry designer’s unique sense of design and style will define the jewelry aesthetics and the the possible toggles for a jewelry piece.  Fortunately, toggles are available in a wide range of prices, shapes and materials.