All that glitters - put a hair pin in it
This blog contains spoilers for All That Glitters S02E02
All That Glitters returned for Episode 2, with one less jeweller and loads more drama! After a great start to Season 2 last week, I was really excited to sit down and watch the episode, and then get stuck into a challenge of my own.
The jewellers started this week with the Bestseller Challenge, and were asked to make a spinner ring in 3 1/2 hours. A spinner ring is essentially a combination of rings designed so that the outer rings move freely around the inner band, which fits on the finger. They’re also called fidget rings, and are a great aid for anxiety - the movement can be stress-relieving and soothing. Apparently they are inspired by Buddhist prayer wheels, which seems fitting!
They’re also a great staple for experienced beginners, because the process involves a lot of techniques that you can hone to take to the next level - multiple solder joins, flaring the edges of the inner ring (so the outer rings stay on!), and you can let your creativity run wild.
My favourites were Tianne’s, inspired by motorbikes and with a unisex, mixed metal look which I love - the warmth of the brass and copper really offset the sterling silver, and her mirror finish was *chef’s kiss*. My favourite though was the ouroboros ring made by Piers - the texture of the brass snake was intricately detailed, and looked like it belonged in the window of Bond Street boutique. I genuinely want one of my own - please, Piers, can you let me know where I can buy it?
Poor Emma and Nyanda had soldering issues however, both splitting their seams (not a euphemism!) and ending up with fairly rough and ready execution despite their really interesting concepts, while Bonnie’s was a little simplistic for the judges’ tastes.
Now at this point, I need to make a confession - I have never made a spinner ring. And spoiler alert - this was not the week I was going to try! But if you are interested in seeing some beautiful kinetic jewellery, then check out one of my faves, Kerr.Metal, on Instagram.
So onto the Bespoke Challenge, where the jewellers take their brief from a client looking for a special piece of jewellery. This week, the client Alice, a nurse wanted a beautiful hair pin to wear at work. Her inspiration was poppies and feathers (for her grandparents), as well as lions for courage.
So as spinner rings weren’t happening this week, I decided to take on the Bespoke Challenge, and gave myself 4 1/2 hours, the same amount of time as the jewellers. Once again, given the feather theme, I was inspired by my own WOODLANDS collection and so with ideas in mind I started sketching!
You all know by now that I can’t make a piece of jewellery without setting a gemstone somewhere! So I decided to add a little Blue John fluorite to the hair pin. The contestants themselves didn’t get any gemstones to use, but I hope you’ll allow me a little creative license!
After cutting out the feather shape and filing all the edges so they were nice and smooth, the soldering began! I’m going to pause there, and talk through the soldering process, which was discussed a little bit in the show, too. Solder melts at a slightly lower temperature than sterling silver itself, so you can join two pieces of metal without melting either of them. But as my design, and the designs of the jewellers, were so intricate, that’s where the different types of solder come in! Each one has a different melting point - starting with Hard, which has the highest melting point, to Medium, Easy and Extra Easy which has the lowest melting point.
So I started with Hard solder to create the bezel setting for the fluorite as well as soldering the spine to the feather, which is made from very thin half round wire. After I shaped the bezel on my mandrel (making sure it was a perfect fit with the stone) I used Medium solder to join the bezel to the feather. Easy solder was used to join the feather to a backplate, which I then filed so it was even and smooth. And then after hammering the wire to create a hair pin shape (which also helps to harden it so it doesn’t bend out of shape too easily), I used Extra Easy to secure it to the back of the hairpin.
Now with some pieces, I’m fairly confident just using Hard solder throughout, and controlling my flame. However, because this is a fairly big piece, I knew I’d need a lot of heat if I just used Hard, and that would increase the risk of melting something, or opening another solder join. Better safe than sorry.
All soldering done, edges filed and sanded smooth, and after a 20 minute acid bath in the pickle to clean, I popped the hairpin into my barrel polisher for half and hour to get nice and shiny. And yes, you know it - I had my dinner, too! There’s not a lot else that can be done while your piece is in the barrel polisher, so it’s always a good time to eat!
Sadly the clock didn’t stop for the contestants though. They powered on through, and created some spectacular designs for the lovely Alice. Tianne’s was my personal favourite, with a beautiful poppy and feather, but it was Bonnie who smashed it out of the park with an intricate design the client Alice loved so much she picked it to take home. Tianne deservedly won Jeweller of the Week, while poor Nyanda was sent home as her hair pin just lacked execution and finesse.
But back to my studio. Fed and watered, I took my hair pin out of the barrel polisher and dried it thoroughly. It’s really important to make sure that there’s no water trapped in the setting before you set the stone. As I’d measured the setting thoroughly before soldering, it was a perfect fit! The setting took about 10 minutes in total, including time to smooth out any marks with my sanding stick.
By this point, I was running out of time, so I made the decision to quickly oxidise the edges of the feather with liver of sulphur, which essentially tarnishes the silver to blacken it - it’s called oxidisation because sterling silver naturally tarnishes in contact with oxygen, this just speeds up the process. Check out my FAQs for handy jewellery care tips to stop and slow down oxidisation when you don’t want it happening! I then only had time to do one quick round of polishing on my Foredom (normally I’d do three or four). But under Challenge conditions, “done” has to be better than “perfect”.
Take a look at the process video I made bringing it all to life, and I’ve also added the hair pin to my online shop. Use the code ALLTHATGLITTERS for 10% off if you’d like to make it yours!
I have to say I really enjoyed this challenge, particularly because the design could fit in so nicely with one of my existing collections. I’ve never worn a hair pin before, and never really thought I could given that my hair is really curly and thick - I didn’t think they would ever work for my hair, but creating one of my own shows that actually they totally can!
So that’s two challenges down so far, and two jewellers eliminated from the All That Glitters workshop. I’ll see you here next week for the next in my series of blogs, where I’ll also be recreating another one of the jewellers’ challenges!
Did you watch Episode 2 of All That Glitters? I’d love to hear what you thought of it in the comments below, and let me know what you think of my attempt at the Bespoke Challenge!