Viking knit in gold?

To All ~ I have a customer who would like a 20 inch viking knit chain
in gold, approx 3mm thick. I have made many viking knit necklace and
bracelets and have experimented a lot with different gauges. I
normally use 24g fine silver, round wire but have made necklaces with
30g and they almost turn into a solid ‘cable’. What is the best gauge
in gold and the best karat? I was thinking 26g 18K Gold? I don’t want
this necklace to be an experiment for obvious cost factors so if
anyone has any in-sight please give me any advise possible.

Thanks so much :wink: joy kruse
www.wildprairiesilver.com

Joy -

I did such a chain about five years ago; 18kt, 26g…I think it took
about 50ft. I did a 2-up or ‘double knit’ on five ribs, and I think
the dowel was 3/8" or 1/4". Turned out very nicely. I finished it
wilh 5mm OD tube end caps using 20g jumprings as the connections to a
16g s-hook clasp.

I hope they are paying you well. I priced mine a year and a half
ago, compared to one in a retail catalouge, and it was over $5k.

best regards,
Kelley

Kelley ~ thanks this is just the info I was looking for and I was
planning on doing a double knit because it looks so much
better…was considering price of 5k$. The man purchasing it won’t
mind but I will have a better estimate for him now that I have the
info you gave me. Thanks so much! :wink:

joy kruse
wildprairiesilver.com

Joy - I’ve made several Viking chains in gold. While the gold is
expensive, the resulting chains are a thing of beauty. My favorite
one is a double Viking knit in 22K done in 27 gauge. I’ve done them
in 18K but it just isn’t as nice to work. If you are going to put in
the work, do the 27 gauge 22k double. Gold is so soft and nice to
work, and the result is spectacular.

To figure how much material you need. Make a couple of inches in
fine silver in the gauge you select. Weigh the 2 inches. Then do the
conversion to gold weight in the karat you select, and then order it
or plan to draw a lot of wire. Michael David Spurlin has made his
reputation with single Viking knit chains - and they are beautiful. I
remember that most of them are 18K.

When you change wire gauge, you need to also modify the size of the
needle or pick to get proportionally sized loops. Again, prior to
working gold, do the model in fine silver.

The 22K chain that I still have weighs about 43 grams and is 22
inches long.

And remember, you can charge more for your labor when working in
gold.

Judy Hoch

To Judy - Thank you. I will go to the highest karat recommended.
It’s worth it for the correct results.

Sincerely
joy kruse
www.wildprairiesilver.com