New Chain Maille Bracelet

This week our designer Anne has kindly written about her new chain maille creation:


"Hi everyone. This week I am going to write about chain maille jewellery. Shortly after I started making jewellery I saw some chain maille and instantly I was hooked. Unlike other jewellery making which needs a never ending list of equipment, all chain maille needs is a good pair of pliers and a lot of patience. We already have a tutorial about byzantine and shortly I will be adding the free download for making the European 4 in 1 which is a well known style of chain maille. The picture below is of a new bracelet I have designed using the 4 in 1 style with a combination of sterling silver and gold fill jump rings.



 We already sell a 4 in 1 bracelet which is one of our popular lines. The latest piece is made of sterling silver with gold fill and needs about 200 silver jump rings, 50 gold fill rings and a ring and toggle clasp.  It looks better if the bracelet is worn quite snugly on the wrist. Unlike the byzantine which is versatile enough to make bracelets, necklaces and earrings, the European 4 - 1 lends itself to bracelets although I am designing a graduated necklace at the moment. The bracelet and necklace should be available on the Hanfords website in about 3 weeks. I hope you like it."

Would you like to be a Hanfords of London Party Planner?

I've been told this week that our sales department is looking for Party Planners to arrange private jewellery parties across Europe and in the USA. It is a great way to earn some extra cash whilst having a fun eveing with friends and sampling our lovely range of pieces. To find out more please e-mail enquiries@hanfordsoflondon.com


Design Department News

Our design department is madly busy at the moment putting the finishing touches to the new spring range in time for the photography sessions in a fortnight's time. I'll put some pictures of the designs on here next week so check back soon for a sneak preview. We are really excited about some of the new pieces and the direction in which they are taking the company. They sould be on the handmade jewellery website around the end of March with an official launch taking place on March 18th.

Don't forget our 10% discount code is still available to use until the end of January. Visit our handmade jewellery website and simply enter 012011 into the coupon code box to enjoy the discount.

10% OFF HANFORDS OF LONDON JEWELLERY

The discount code below will get you 10% off all of the Hanfords of London Jewellery Range. The pieces at Hanfords make ideal gifts for yourself or someone special and are unlike pieces found anywhere else. They can all be found at http://www.hanfordsoflondon.com/. Simply enter the code below during checkout and get 10% off your order!

012011

The code is only valid until 31st January 2011 so don't delay. Happy Shopping!!

New Free Byzantine Chain Maille Tutorial

As part of my work for Hanfords I write free jewellery making tutorials for the Hanfords online jewellery school. Even though this latest tutorial was actually written by Anne Hanford-Dodgson, our resident chain maille fanatic, I thought I'd write about it here as it is a great tutorial for those wanting to learn a classical chain maille technique. What's more it is something that can be tried without spending a lot of money on specialist tools and equipment and you'll end up with a beautiful piece of jewellery at the end, something like the pieces below.

The tutorial is easy to follow and has pictures to guide you through every step. Anne has done a great job in making what can be a tricky weave to learn easy to pick up in simple steps and has even shown how it can be modified to produce a necklace, earrings or a bracelet.

If you would like to download the tutorial for free, or any of our other tutorials then simply visit the Free Jewellery Tutorials page of our website.

New Jewellery Collection in the Making

This is the beginning of a new collection I am thinking of bringing into the Hanfords range. It is made primarily from a material called Argentium Silver, which differs from Sterling Silver in that it does not tarnish over time and will not need polishing nearly as often. The other great benefit to using Argentium is that it will fuse to itself and create a very strong join, whereas with Sterling you have to use solder which creates a lot more work when finishing the piece. There will soon be a Free Jewellery Tutorial on the Hanfords website covering fusing argentium so keep checking it for details.
Although Argentiurm was invented in the UK about 10 years ago it is only recently that British Designers have begun to use it in their pieces, whereas designers in the US where much quicker to pick up on its benefits.
The double layered heart shapes are a good example of the benefits of fusing. They are simply fused together using a small blow torch and leave a clean line between the two hearts without the need for any filing at all.

The toggle clasp in the necklace has been made simply by cutting the circle shape from a piece of silver sheet and textured using a round-headed hammer. The toggle itself is a thick piece of round silver wire, hammered in the same way, and rounded at the ends.
Like I said, I am thinking of incorporating this collection into the Hanfords range once a couple more pieces have been added to it and they have been properly finished to produce a mirror shine (the ones above unfortunately hadn't been finished in time for this blog but the picture gives you an idea). Any feedback or ideas you have would be much appreciated so feel free to contact me at michael@hanfordsoflondon.com

A Happy New Year!

Hello everybody and a happy New Year,

My name is Michael Dennison and I am the Jewellery Design Director for Hanfords of London. From now on I will be writing a weekly blog about all the goings on in the Hanfords Handmade Jewellery Design Department. This will include all of our new releases, new styles and techniques we are working on, as well as all the special events the company as a whole is taking part in.
This is a very exciting time for Hanfords with the company continuing to grow all the time. We are constantly adding to our Handmade Jewellery Collection and our Online Jewellery School is recruiting new members daily. We are also looking forward to Spring Fair International at Birmingham NEC in February and International Jewellery London at Earls Court in November, as well as having our pieces exhibited at galleries and craft fairs across the country.
We will also be opening a new workshop in the Midlands in 2011 which will give us much more capacity and flexibility when it comes to filling orders and we are looking forward to many new colleagues joining us. I have also been informed that we will have NO VAT INCREASE for the New Year which shows our commitment to keeping our pieces affordable and fits in with our 'Beautiful Pieces for Everybody' philosophy.
I hope that you will follow our progress this year and look forward to hearing your ideas, comments and suggestions.

Once again have a great New Year,

Michael.