Recycled silver wedding rings

Recycled silver wedding rings

It finally happened! After much searching I found the US bullion dealer Hoover and Strong, whose Harmony metals range includes 100% recycled silver! Just the small matter of putting up with extraordinarily good customer service, swift DHL delivery and general fantasticness and friendliness that the Americans seem so good at, and my first order of recycled silver lay on my workbench.

The silver arrived!

It was no different to work than non-recycled silver, and the section was particularly nice, having a slightly different profile to my usual bullion. The rings looked lovely once they were made, hand forged using simple tools and elbow grease, and having the trademark Glasswing Jewellery hammered texture and warm soft polish.

My customers were over the moon with their rings, and by the look of the fabulous photos of their big day, with each other and the way the whole thing went.

The bride looked lovely, and she wore a pair of Glasswing stacker sea glass earrings.

Glasswing sterling silver stacker sea glass earrings with pale blue recycled beads

I was honoured to have made their wedding rings for them, and to be able to offer them environmentally responsible jewellery in line with their desire to have an eco wedding extraordinaire! Being keen photographers, they were both particularly pleased to know that as a lot of recycled silver comes from the photographic industry, that the metal in their rings may have once been involved in the production of photographic images - from who knows where?

My first recycled silver order!

Evening sun over the bay

Wow, has it been that long? With summer weddings, spring sunshine and Mother's Day, work has been hectic, and blogging seems to have taken a back seat . It's a cruel irony that the return of the summer sun has heralded an upturn in jewellery orders for me, so instead of basking in the rays, I'm nose to the anvil, in my thankfully cool, but rather shady subterranean workshop. But I'm not complaining, not one bit of it...what an honour to be doing what I love as my living.....

Green sea glass hoop earrings

So anyway, what's been going on? The latest and most exciting development is a move to start using recycled silver in my designs. One of my lovley customers is planning a summer wedding with the fabulous remit of having the smallest carbon footprint possible - an eco-wedding with all the trimmings....using vintage charity shop bought, re-donateable crockery (with a price tag of a mere hundred pounds or so...compared with hiring boring old wedding crocks at way above that...)... to sourcing local beef from the farm down the road....and trying to source vintage wedding clobber...and of course, ordering bespoke, locally hand-made wedding rings of 100% recycled silver, from Glasswing Jewellery.

Cube sea glass earrings

I have offered recycled silver jewellery for a while now, on the Glasswing website tentatively I have to say. The will has very much been there, as the mining of precious materials for the manufacture of jewellery, certainly leaves a lot to be desired....what industry doesn't in this day and age? I would eventually like to turn over completely to recycled metals, to fit comfortably with my policy of sourcing recycled/fair trade and ethically produced beads and materials wherever possible. Glasswing Jewellery strives to be an ethical and environmentally responsible company as far as possible. The main component of my work, is sea glass, - beautiful, magical, tumbled glass from the ocean - the product of yesteryear's litterbugs essentially! It's hand picked, local, resourceful and fun.

Satin finish 8mm band

Frankly though, I had little idea where to source 100% recycled precious metals, particularly in all the shapes and sizes I'd need .

So anyway, nothing ventured.... I figured once an order came in I would have no choice but to find some, and quick! It did - a set of recycled silver wedding rings by July? The hunt was on and my mission began, to fulfil my customers brief, and to learn a lot more about these issues in the process.

First stop - my usual bullion dealer, but I drew a blank there... although of course all milled silver contains a certain percentage of recycled material from the scrap returned by jewellers and collectors alike, they were unable to say how much (I guess it fluctuates), and certainly didn't know where to suggest I look for a reliable source of 100% recycled silver.

Deep oxidised heavy sterling silver ring set (6mm and 10mm)

Thankfully, there is a growing awareness and concern amongst a small number of metal smiths, jewellers, suppliers and consumers worldwide, striving to establish a more equitable and sustainable supply chain of everything jewellery related - gems, beads, tools, metals and findings for our industry.

I have to say though, there is a serious lack of resources and information, particularly in the UK. There are no companies here (at least none that I have found) supplying 100% recycled silver stock for example. My hunt will continue, and I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Rings for summer weddings

4mm hammered sterling silver band, left work oxidised and lightly brushed.

I am honoured when customers come to Glasswing for their wedding rings. I love to think that the rings I make, often as a pair, will be so significant, so lasting and precious. I have met some wonderful people too, through making those special rings.

Special order

Satin finish sterling silver wedding ring set.
4mm D-section band, and a 6mm D section band.

Around and Around

Forged wrapped vine earrings.

I absolutely love the wrought iron look of these.

I forged the wrapping wire really flat and soldered it to the hoops,
then wound it round fairly randomly, listening to the Rolling stones
in my workshop....Around and Around....

Deep red copper patina czech beads, and recycled turquoise glass beads hang
in the centre of oval hoops on big roomy earwires.

I've left the heat patina on the sterling silver, as it's a delicate
oxidisation, (rather than a chemical oxidisation), and
then tumble polished them for hours for a deep shine.

Signs of (summer?) life

Stamped sterling silver ring pendant with freshwater pearl

Coming up from the workshop last week, after much activity (including installing proper spotlights - Hooray!) down there, I was greeted by weather that looks suspiciously spring like. Since then we've even ventured down to the beach WITH WETSUITS a couple of times, and with the kids back in their favourite rockpools we have been able to sit back for a minute or two and reflect on the glory and the promise of Cornwall in the sunshine.

This week though with Mother's Day fast approaching, there have been lots of orders to complete so I've been back in the workshop again. The orders are bound for Mum's all over the world, including two in New York. I love thinking about my jewellery being made by me here in Penzance, and then being worn by lovely customers in far flung places.


This influx of orders, and the onset of spring has left my blog (and website ) decidedly neglected, so here's just a quick update on new work and special orders.

New year, new directions.

January has been marked by a definite creative flurry in my seaside basement workshop. The arrival of my long coveted and awaited new stainless steel shot (tiny stainless spaceships, sausages and ballbearings) heralded a new era of professional finishing to Glasswing work too, as now I can polish pieces to perfection in little more than 6 hours of tumbling.

The wonderful feedback that's been coming in from my Christmas customers has really given the staff team around here (me) a big boost, so it's been a bit of an exciting time.

I'm obsessed with these stackable, personalis-able rings at the moment, which can be worn in any combination imaginable, stamped with sentiments, dates, names or left plain in glorious forged sterling silver. I love the soft right angled edges created by the forging of round wire, and the way the rings look stacked together. You can hide your messages, or display them.... and these messages can be added to as time and events move on...a wedding, the birth of a child, a 21st birthday... the possibilities are endless, and the result is a gorgeous and unique collection of very personal jewellery.

Montol Winter Warmer

This for me is the ultimate of my pictures of Penzance's Montol festival RIVERS OF FIRE LANTERN PROCESSIONS on the evening of Saturday 20th December this year. Once the beacon at the Lescudjack Hill fort was lit, it was immediately transformed into a light show of sparks and strong flames urged on by a frisky breeze. Only the bravest stood firm (not me!) whilst the sparks flew into the crowds, with the heat on their faces waiting for the carols to begin. The many different handmade lanterns were amazing, with a few of them just too beautiful to last, and erupting into flames because of their elaborate (but not very safe!) design.

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