I want to share with you how I made this beautiful ring for a lovely customer of mine

Rose Gold Ring

The criteria for this ring is very important to the lady who commissioned it, it incorporates a family wedding ring, and hearts and filigree were the main features to be designed into it as they played a very important role in her wedding. This ring is to be worn on the otherside of her lovely heart shaped diamond engagement ring.

So I will take you on a journey with text and pictures as to how I came about the finished piece which has been handmade in my Yorkshire jewellery workshop.

So we start with the diamond engagement ring and family wedding ring …….

engagement ring and family ring

Then the wedding ring on its own before any work has been carried out on it…….

wedding ring

The ring had to be shaped so that it fits around the top part of the diamond heart, this is the first step to make sure it fits snug before any decoration is added and also that it is the correct size………

cut/shaped ring

The point is then soldered and hammered so that it is round. Now for the interesting part. Using a small sheet of rose gold and some rose gold wire……

rose gold bullion

I drew four heart shapes on the sheet – four as this was the design we agreed and four hearts are significant to represent each member of the family. I then hand pierced the hearts out of the sheet with a small hand saw, then began filing them to give them some dimension and shape, you can see in the picture below three shaped hearts and one as it was cut out……

cut hearts

The next stage once all the hearts were shaped was to solder them onto the shaped wedding band, carefully so they would meet in the middle of the diamond heart. This was then repeated at the other side of the ring opposite.

hearts on ring

Now for the ‘swirly’ filigree sections, I had to make four pieces to meet up with the hearts, I filed the ends of the wire to a point then shaped them arond my pliers to make a twirly/swirly pattern when I was happy that they were matching and the right size to fit exactly inbetween the hearts I soldered them onto the ring also….

all soldered on

All that was left to do then was sand and then polish the ring to make it all shiney and new….

finished ring

 

finished ring

 

Then the final image is how it looks above the heart diamond engagement ring.

the two rings together

 

So the result was one very happy customer and myself feel very pleased with it too and it was a pleasure to make.

Nikki Barrett NB Jewellery specialises in remaking, recycling or upcycling jewellery as well as new commissions, wedding rings, engagement rings and she also carries a stock of handmade silver jewellery for purchase. All from her own workshop on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

Please contact Nikki at NB Jewellery for any enquiries

One of the good sides to this job is being asked to ‘RECYCLE’ pieces of jewellery.

Customers who have pieces of jewellery they no longer wear or have been given or in some cases their tastes/trends have changed and even though it may have sentimental value they would never part with the piece but also know they would never wear it again.

This is where Nikki at NB Jewellery comes in – I sit with the client and see what is available to work with and what they would really like.

I was approached to re-design two pieces of jewellery, one was a 9ct white gold bangle and the other was a 7-stone Diamond Cluster Ring. The customer wanted another ring to wear but with a much more modern on trend design.

This is a picture (below) of the Diamond cluster ring before I broke it down…….

Traditional Diamond Cluster Ring

We worked together with some different design idea’s and finally decided on a ‘Bubble’ Style ring considering we had seven diamonds to play with.

I then set to work in my purpose built Jewellery Workshop which is just on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. I first melted down the hollow 9ct white gold bangle, then began shaping the metal with my rolling mill, and making the tubing for the settings.

After contructing the ring, I gave it a polish before rub-setting the diamonds, then after a final polish the ring was completed with a layer of Rhodium to give it the white bright finish.

The result is below plus one very happy customer!

Diamond Bubble Ring

3-Stone Diamond Ring

My Name is Nikki and I am a Goldsmith/Jeweller I set up my own business NB Jewellery having worked in the jewellery trade for 20 years.

I was asked to design and make a Diamond Engagement Ring, after a few idea’s and rough sketches and drawings I came up with this design and it was approved by my lovely customers.

I started by ordering in the raw materials, starting with the three diamonds, which weighed 0.25ct in total from my Diamond merchants. Then I ordered calibrated settings and a bar of white gold which would be the shank.

Materials for Engagement Ring

I then set to work in my rural jewellery workshop – which is on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, (and  in January is very cold) so once the heat had kicked in I sat down at my bench and began to construct the setting, which meant extending a few claws.

Setting in construction

Next was to cut the shank to the correct length, thankfully I have a very old graph which I was given when I served my apprenticeship, then to create the curved bit of the shank I tapered each end, as shown below, along with a match which is there to show perspective.

Setting and cut shank

Once I had shaped the curved part of the shank so both sides where the same I bent the shank round and soldered it to form a complete ring. I then went back to the setting and made a base bezel which is what the main shank will attach to.

Shank & Setting

I sawed open the shank at the point where I had joined it and then soldered it onto the base of the setting, once I was happy that it was correct and straight I pickled it to clean off all the borax.

Filing and sanding the complete mount was the next stage, tidying up and preparing for polishing, I always polish any mount at this stage as it makes the final finishing easier.

Polishing the inside of the ring

I start off by polishing the inside of the ring then the outer.

Polishing the Ring

With a quick clean in the Ultrasonic I began the task of diamond setting.

Setting the Diamonds

Then with one final polish and rhodium plating the ring was completed and I had one very happy customer!

Finished Ring

I would just like to say a Massive thank you to my lovely man who very patiently took the photographs of each stage of the making of this ring – Thank You Richard – Saxon Images

Well its not long until our thoughts turn to romance ……

heart

So how about treating that special person in your life to something as long lasting as your love…….

Nikki has collected a few idea’s to help you along the way :-

Silver Heart Earrings

These are part of the Heart Full of Love Collection available in the shop  at www.nbjewellery

Silver Heart Pendant

The pendant and the earrings are made from sterling silver which have been oxidised to enhance the heart

Sliver Heart Necklace

I love this necklace its an oxidised dome sprinkled with various sized hearts and a really cute little heart hanging at the bottom, the pendant is on a black silk cord.

Silver Bead Bracelets

These Bracelets are Really popular, they are pretty and practical made from sterling silver 3mm beads with a silver heart charm attached.

Silver Bead Bracelet

All of these pieces of jewellery are made by Nikki of NB Jewellery in her jewellery workshop on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

Please contact me for any orders and Happy Romancing

www.nbjewellery.com

I have been busy designing new stock pieces again and just Love these colourful pretty bracelets!

They bring a touch of cheer to this grey cold start to the year and put me in the mood for spring and summer.

They are 10mm Malaysian Jade, beads which I believe have been dyed to enhance the colours, I have then added two 6mm sterling silver beads and a very pretty sterling silver Daisy charm, they are threaded on elastic for ease.

Here are the colours close up

Turquoise -

Turquoise Jade Daisy Bracelet

This is a soft blue not too artificial.

the next is the Fushia – a vivid pink very striking

fushia jade daisy bracelet

And finally the Lilac -

lilac jade daisy bracelet

The bracelets are all 18.5cm long and can be shortened or lengthened to order.

I will endevour to get these into my shop soon but in the meantime if you would like to treat yourself or a loved one just drop me an email.

Well New Year and new designs being produced by NB Jewellery so here are a couple of new prototypes I have created and have already had orders for!

These silver bracelets are made from 4mm sterling silver beads with 2 rings inbetween then alternating with genuine Swarovski Crystals.

Three Silver Swarovski bead bracelets

I got my lovely Fiance Richard who just happens to be a pro photographer of Saxon Images to take the pictures for me, and I am really pleased with the results!

I have done at this stage three colour ways, but new colours can always be customised if required.

There is the Aqua bracelet (below)

Aqua Bracelet

I love these colours they always remind me of the days when I was at sea, and we would dock in the azure sea’s )

The next colour way is the Pink which also has a smokey grey crystal with it which I think adds a touch of class to the look of the bracelet

Pink Bracelet

And finally the Black colour way, this is always of course a classic choice and is consistant in matching any outfit. This colour way graduates from black to clear crystal with the lovely smokey grey again.

Black Bracelet

All the bracelets are 18.5cm long and have a ring and bar clasp in sterling silver. The cost of the bracelet is £45.00

I intend as soon as I can to get these up and in my online shop but until then if you would like one just email me with an order and I can send you a paypal  invoice for payment. )

I know this isn’t jewellery But I wanted to share this one with you. I took a day out of my Jewellery Workshop to make these…..

Its my niece’s 6th birthday this week and she is Hello Kitty crazy! So as a surprise I have decided to make her some Cake pops.

Hello Kitty Cake Pop

I came across cake pops on the internet, it seems to be the latest thing? And being creative was itching to have a go I have patiently waited until Charlottes birthday and here are the results ….

I will show you from start to finish

Firstly I baked a victoria sponge tray bake ( Mary Berry recipe) and used approx half of it

sponge cake

Then I crumbled the cake half into my mixing bowl

crumbled cake

Then instead of buying ‘frosting’ I decided to make an alternative – so I made traditional butter icing and added this to the crumbled cake to bind it together

butter icing in the crumble

then after that I had to start and bind the crumble and butter icing together and form the kitty head shape, I decided also to make the shape of the ears using the cake mixture instead of putting chocolate drops which is how I have seen some methods

head shapes

then the next stage is to make sure the lolly stick are secure, so I melted some of the white chocolate and dipped the stick in before inserting it into the head shape, after that I put the heads and sticks in the freezer for approx 20/30mins to harden up

sticks in head with chocolate

Then I tempered the white chocolate, and began dipping the heads into the melted white chocolate, leaving it to drip then gently tapping any extra chocolate off before standing them upright in polystyrene to dry and set. I actually left them overnight as it was evening when I did and was getting tired.

White chocolate heads

Then the next stage was decorating the faces, I used little heart sprinkles for the bow and some very small coloured sugar coated drops abit like m&m’s but smaller for the nose and then I used coloured icing paste to for painting the eyes and whiskers

decorations

I started with the nose and bow attaching them with very small dots of melted chocolate applied with a cocktail stick and tweezers

bows & noses

I laid them flat so that nothing slipped off while the chocolate was setting then painted on the eyes and whiskers which was quite tricky as you need a steady hand and very fine brush, I bought an edible black pen but it didn’t work on chocolate it must just be for icing.

so here are the finished Kitty’s hope you like them and it may inspire you to try them yourself

MEOW xxx

Hello Kitty Cake Pops

A big apology for not keeping up with my regular blogs.

I will now (one of my New Years resolutions) try to keep regular with news for you.

The reason for my lack of blogs has been down to – not a brilliant year for health, but now after a major operation at the very end of November I am ready to get back up and running and I am already planning a few idea’s for 2012.

So will be filling you in with them as and when they happen.

So watch this space………..  )

The start of 2012 see’s the Launch of NB Jewellery’s Ginger Angel Jewellery Parties.

This is an ideal solution when you have exhausted all avenues for the birthday girl. Ginger Angel Jewellery parties will come to your own venue and entertain the children by teaching them new skills and working with them to create their very own piece of Jewellery!

You will get your own personal Ginger Angel invitations so you can invite all your friends, for the perfect childrens party.

They then can choose from hundreds of beads to make their own jewellery.

For more information please check out the Ginger Angel page on the main NB Jewellery website

Its been nearly two years since I had my initial idea…………..

Support design

I wanted to write to you to tell you about a range of silver jewellery I have designed and made for Macmillan cancer. I have waited until now to share the news as from the end of last week I am now officially on the main Macmillan website in their ‘shop’.

http://shop.macmillan.org.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/Macmillan/MCSNBJEWEL/83861

And its come at a great time too as Macmillan is celebrating 100 years this year!

I took a break some years ago from the workbench and was lucky enough to work on four cruise ships as their jewellery manager, great as I got paid to travel the world, I had an amazing time onboard the ships and would highly recomend it to anyone!

While I was at sea my mother was diagnosed with cancer of the uterus, she went through radiotherapy and had a hysterectomy – and I am pleased to say she has now recovered, we are very blessed. I also have now had two narrow escapes of pre-cancerous cells on my cervix and only through regular checking have been able to eliminate it.

When I got home I felt like I wanted to give something back, so I got my thinking cap on and decided to create a piece of jewellery to sell for charity, but, I wanted a significant donation, not just a small percentage.

It didn’t take me long to decide on which charity, Macmillan are amazing, they support every aspect of this horror of a disease, from medical, emotional and financial.

I needed to keep the design simple so I could re-produce it easily as I intended that each piece should be handmade.

I also wanted the design to portray what Macmillan are about, they are a massive support network, so this was important I got this across in the design. After lots of sketches and ideas (even through the night I was sketching when I woke with ideas in those early hours). I came up with the drawing above, which to me is somone hugging, holding and supporting. I then wanted to incorporate the Macmillan ‘Green’ so I have used a Green Onyx bead in the centre.

My initial idea was to produce a pendant…..

Macmillan Support Pendant £25

But then I realised that I was limiting the chance of donations for Macmillan, and of course its not only women who suffer from cancer, or relatives, so I introduced some more pieces…..

Macmillan Support Earrings £40

Macmillan Support Lapel Pin £25

Macmillan Support Cufflinks £50

Every piece is completly handmade in silver and for every item sold £10 (inc VAT) is donated to Macmillan cancer.

So if you feel you would like to ‘Support’ Macmillan please click on the link below to purchase, spread the word and tell your friends and relatives. Thank You for your support!

http://nbjewellery.com/index.php/macmillan-collection