Description
This 8½” bracelet project appeared on page 38 of the January 2011 issue of Art Jewelry Magazine.
I’m also offering 19 inch necklace kits, which are made with the same technique, but use eleven flowers instead of four.
The large rings in this design are tricky to close cleanly with normal pliers. I encourage you to get two pair of duckbill pliers. Approach straight from the sides of the ring to give those bills their best grip. I use these crazy pliers on anything heavier than 14ga.
The bracelet shown in the magazine uses sterling silver and niobium rings, but there are two other combinations that I liked well enough to make into kits. The copper/brass kit uses a bronze clasp that’s an excellent match for the warm golden color of my jewelry brass rings. The silver/copper kit uses a shibuichi clasp. Shibuichi is an ancient Japanese alloy containing varying proportions of copper and silver. This particular version is 80% copper and 20% silver.
If you don’t like any of the pre-picked color combinations, you can choose your own. The skeleton kit contains only the silver rings and the toggle clasp. You’ll need to purchase your niobium separately. I sell niobium in single color batches which are perfect for this project, and also mixes, which can be trickier to use but offer greater creative freedom.
If you’re using a skeleton kit, the niobium size you want is 9:18nb – and you don’t need very much. One ounce total (half an ounce each of two different colors) is enough to make the 19″ necklace, and half an ounce total (a quarter ounce each of two colors) is enough for the bracelet.
