I get emails from time to time asking for advice about finding this-or-that in the chainmail world. I can usually point people in the right direction, or at least tell them who to ask next. When Michael (head of production for Hannah Martin jewellery) emailed me almost exactly a year ago, I thought it would be a pretty simple answer. He was looking for machine-made 18K gold chainmail. I gave him a couple names of manufacturers, but said that I wasn’t sure if they produced 18K. His main concern was actually whether the rings would be small enough.
“How small are you looking for?”
After he told me (and after I picked my jaw up off the floor) I started to get a little bit excited – I do love a challenge!
“Try those places, and if you don’t find a source for machine-made? I might be able to hand-make what you need.”
Wow, what an adventure it’s been!
I started with a couple sample patches in 26 gauge sterling silver.
“These are nice, but can you go smaller? And even smaller?”
After some rounds of testing, we settled on a couple sizes that Michael liked, one 26ga and one 28ga. Thirty gauge turned out to be too impractical (as opposed to the completely-reasonable-and-sane 26ga and 28ga *laugh*).
And then the real challenge began… These are some crazy-tiny rings, and would absolutely need to be soldered closed. Luckily I’ve had experience using solder-core wire for making high-end pieces, but I’d never dreamed of going this small. Many fingers were crossed, much breath was held, and it worked! Such a relief – by this point in the process I was really invested in seeing it come to fruition.
After that I settled in for many (many) hours of tiny (so tiny!) micromail. I couldn’t have done it without my trusty CraftOptics (huge shoutout to them) and along the way I fell in love with some new pliers (details coming soon), which is always fun. I took a moment for some loving closeups before mailing the patches away, trying to capture just how small they were.
The jewelry collection has been released, and it’s such a delight to see these little patches of 18K micromail playing their part in Hanna’s designs.
I had an absolute blast working on this project, and I’m so glad I had the mad impulse to say “I might be able to hand-make that mesh for you.”
Thank you so much for all your knowledge, skills and expertise.
It was so refreshing to find someone who is up for a good challenge and is not afraid to try something new and daring!
It would not be possible without you Spider.
Thank you!
Aw! Thank you Michael!
You were a joy to work with. *beam*
So… Are these sizes going up on the store soon?
I have been doing some insane things where I am doing most of a pattern in 11g, but then replacing highlight rings with a loop of 22g byz (which works out similar enough)
I would love to have a try at this for something a few gauges smaller, as 11g is just a bit unwieldy.
I won’t be “formally” adding 24ga and 26ga sizes to the site – at least not for a while. But I’d be happy to make them for you. Send me an email. 🙂
(And definitely send pictures of what you’re making. It sounds fabulous!)