Elena Adams Designs – News

When I first learned how to make full Persian chain maille, I could not get over how flexible it was. The chain can easily make tight coils, and it feel spectacularly fluid. Of course my first response to learning a new weave is seeing how tiny or delicate I can get away with designing in, when it comes to ring choices. The rings I finally chose for this project were 22g, which is extremely difficult to work with. With such fine wire, it’s very easy to bend the rings out of shape when opening and closing them.

My husband and I still argue over who came up with the idea for this necklace. Since the chain is so rope-like we started talking about how neat it would be to tie a knot in chain. I often bounce design ideas off him and he’s always excellent with honest feedback on my creations. I’d made a small stretch of it which we were playing with and he (alright, maybe I concede) suggested that knotting gold and silver together would look particularly special. A square knot seemed like the most elegant way of doing it, with either side easily distinguishable.

Until then I hadn’t worked in gold-filled rings much at all. I have always preferred the look of silver, but the concept of weaving the two together was very exciting. It turns out that 22 gauge rings with a large inner diameter basically do not exist, so buying them was out of the question. I set about making rings in silver and gold.

Lots of wire was bought and coiled over steel mandrels and, not having an electric saw, they were then hand cut with a jeweler’s saw blade. Needless to say, I threw out plenty!

While this necklace was in its early stages, we set off for Australia for a family holiday. I usually take at least one project when I travel and chain maille makes a  great traveling hobby since it requires just two pairs of pliers and the rings. I know this necklace was going to be a huge undertaking so it made perfect sense to pack all the rings and take it with me. The only down side is that I don’t like to pack my expensive, ergonomic pliers since things have a habit of walking out of checked baggage. So yes, I did the whole thing on my back-up pliers – a glorious $5 per pair set that seem designed to cause carpal tunnel syndrome.

Once I had enough of each chain (the holiday long come and gone)  I found a large, rectangular toggle clasp with two rings on either side. Using this I was able to knot the chains, then link the ends so that they had a connector ring each. The sizing worked out really well; a pure stroke of luck, so that there is very little gap between the strands. I then tweaked the lengths so that they matched and so that the knot would hang neatly.

I didn’t like the way the knot loosened when not being worn, so once the pieces were all in place I used tiny silver rings to bind some of the jump rings within the knot to other sections of the knot. The rings are just large enough to fit over two pieces of 22g wire, so they are tiny enough that they are almost invisible.

I didn’t keep track of how many hours went into this necklace. A very rough estimate would probably be over 30 hours, but short of making it again, I couldn’t really say. I love this necklace so much. It’s the kind of piece that I would be slightly happy never to sell so I could keep it and look at it now and then, but perhaps one day it will find the right home.

Take a closer look at the Sterling Silver and Gold-Filled Persian Knot Necklace.

Tags: chain maille, chainmail, designing jewelry, how to make jewelry, jewelry, making jewelry, necklaces