Member of The Silvermiths’ Guild of Canterbury in the 1990s.
These rings are all made using different silversmithing techniques. The one in the back left has a paua inset and the one on the far right is not joined at the back, to give it flexibility for the size of finger it can be worn on. The heavey-looking ring in the front right, with a design representing trailing vines, is made using the process called lost wax casting, an ancient process, the oldest known examples of this technique being approximately 6,500 years old!
Chain making is another ancient craft, the earliest chain necklaces having been found in ancient Babylonia among jewellery dating back to 2500 BC. The heavy bracelet in the middle, made with thick wire, is a Byzantine chain which has a rope-like texture and organic textural design. The chain is a four in one chain meaning that each link passes through four others. It was hard to work with this heavy wire, so the piece ended up being a bracelet rather then a necklace. In comparison, the delicate necklace, made with fine silver, is a double loop chain, made by stretching rings into ovals, then bending them back on themselves and then linking the loops together. It took me ages to make this chain as it’s a delicate process joining fine wire into circles to start with.
I designed this necklace after the torque style of jewellery, made by the cultures of the European Iron Age from around the 8th century BC to the 3rd century AD. A torque, or torc, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. It is a very simple torque, with just two strands twisted loosley together, compared to the beautifully elaborate ones of ancient times. It is an elegant and stylish piece of jewellery, which can be worn as informally or formally as you like.
Both of these sets of earrings are made with patinated metal. The brass ones on the left were submerged in a container of large sawdust pieces which had been soaked in household ammonia. They remind me of the yellow gorse flowers that cover the hills in spring. I don’t remember how I patinated the copper ones on the right but it may have been a mixture of ammonia and salt.
The koru, one of my favourite symbols, has a copper base with a silver overlay.
Another koru design – this time a silver ring with a copper koru decoration. A wide ring such as this can be uncomfortable for some people, and this ring has a gap at the back to counteract this.
A silver ring with runic writing overlay. The writing is the name of one of my sons.
A pair of earrings where I used a process called patination on the surface of an alloy of silver and copper to achieve a distinctive look. Silver and copper have different melting points and as the alloy is carefully heated this difference in melting points causes the surface to develop a wavy texture with ridges and valleys.
A fun piece of a happy angel with long copper-coloured curls, copper wings and a twisted silver halo.
© Ali Brown 2025