Many people will be familiar with the old watch strap which looks
like it is woven from metal.
In fact it is assembled from alternating clockwise and
anti-clockwise oval spiral links, which interlink with each other,
much like curled fingers interpenetrating, and are then held
together by a pin through the overlaps.
This results in a flexible flat strap which looks like it has
overlapping chevrons running throughout.
Sometimes it is called a mesh bracelet, or even a ‘Tiffany’ style,
alth= ough that seems much finer.
Can anyone help me with instructions on the mechanics of how this
mesh bracelet is made?
In particular, about five years ago I sighted instructions for a
necklace in this technique in a then-recently published book of
jewellery projects, but foolishly I didn’t buy the book straight
away, and now I can’t recall the title…
Cheers,
Phill in Tasmania
When you make your windings use TWO wires so that once separated you
have a space between the coils equal to a the diameter of the wire,
how convenient, since you’ll need to insert the counterwound coils.
Hello Phillip, Mostly, mesh watch bands are machine made. They are
time consuming to make by hand but not, I suppose, all that
difficult. Make a row of jump rings, lets say .5 mm round wire around
a 1 mm mandrel. Make the row 15mm long and don’t cut the rings apart.
Stretch this row of loops out until it is 30 mm long. You will need
about 25 of these rows for every inch of mesh required. If you are
still interested, lay 2 of the rows together and when they are
interlocking. push a .4 of a mm wire up the entire length. Add
another spiral to 1 side of these two and another thin wire to lock
it to one of the two you just joined. Add another and another and so
on. When the piece is to length, solder each thin wire to a spiral.
Don’t use flux because you don’t want the solder to travel too far.
These things take so long to make that some sort of therapy will
probably be required, but good luck. Tom Arnold. E-mail me if you
want to pursue this.
Hi Phil
I have made this watch band, and I wear it everyday! I couldn’t bear
to sell it because of the long work involved, and it is also
mesmerizing to touch ; I love the flexibility in the piece. Yes, it’s
a lot of work, but what great practice at precision soldering on
silver! I have a slideshow on my website of the process of making
this and the final product. I followed the instructions found in
“Professional Goldsmithing”, by Alan Revere. Very well illustrated
and explanations are clear. Page 121- Mesh Chain. I did not add the
silver caps on the sides of my piece… I admit, I was tired of
working on it by then.
You can see it on my website lauraguptilljewelry.com under “In The
Studio”.
ps… no “therapy” needed… it IS therapy!
have fun,
Laura