Hi Reader!

A Jewellery-Making Journey in Memory of a Beloved Dog

I wanted to share the making of a charm bracelet for a dear friend. This was a little memento — her dog Mica had passed away recently, and we’d been talking through some ideas. I knew I wanted to make something from scratch. This wasn’t just a gift — it needed to come from the heart.

Starting From Scratch

A fellow jewellery-making friend had made a chain using a tutorial from Cookson Gold, so I decided to start there. As much as I love the creative process, sometimes it’s a relief to follow a recipe and just get cracking! I ordered the silver, plus an extra 25% for good measure. I’ve learnt that when you’re trying something new, spares are essential.

Jump Rings & (Im)Perfection

When you look at a jump ring closely, you realise how tricky it is to get the ends to meet neatly. It took a lot of time to sand and file all those tiny rings so that, when brought together, the join had just the right amount of tension. Without a clean fit, solder won’t flow properly.

Tempted to cheat, I tried adding a bit more solder to “fill the gap.” Of course, all I got was meltage (buffoon!). On the bright side, I now have a charming little pile of silver granules for another project — a happy byproduct of my impatience.

Pickling, Soldering & Some Trial and Error

Not knowing how clean the silver was, I dipped the jump rings into pickle for a minute (in a plastic tea strainer, I’m not completely daft), gave them a rinse, and lined up five along my charcoal block. I still use old-school borax with hard solder.

The solder had to be snipped as small as possible, so I ran it through the rolling mill to thin it down. Solder paste might have been easier, but I can’t stand the fumes — they make me cough!

Tape Textures & Hammered Joy

The tutorial recommends tape to hold the rings in place while flattening, to avoid the dreaded ring ping across the room. It worked, but the fine silver picked up every bit of texture from the tape. A great technique if you want texture… not so great if you’re aiming for smooth(ish).

Then I had a flash of inspiration: I flipped over one of my battered steel blocks and found a pristine surface hiding underneith. I grabbed my best chasing hammer (tiny bit dinged, but ok) and started flattening the 6mm links.

Too much fun. I got carried away. Some links were over-flattened and became too chunky to fit with the smaller 4mm jump rings. I could’ve rethought the design… but I had spares, so I just started again.

The Learning Curve

Soldering and flattening the large links took about three hours. Now that I know what I’m doing, I reckon I could get that down to 90 minutes or even less. (And yes — I’m already thinking of trying it in gold. Watch this space!)

Heat, Tweezers, and a 100% Success Rate

To join the flattened links, I used a third-hand tweezer to hold each piece while I soldered. I stuck with hard solder, though medium or easy would have worked at this point. I did lose a few more to meltage — until I realised I wasn’t heating the tweezers enough.

Once I started pre-warming them, everything clicked. My little butane torch was perfect for this job — lucky, as it’s the only one I own!

The Final Details: A Tribute in Silver

The finished bracelet includes three meaningful charms. One is a rainbow moonstone, bezel-set in silver, with a tiny amount of Mica’s fur beneath — visible through the transparent gemstone. The others? A delicate silver pawprint, and a tiny ‘M’ initial.

My Motto: Perfectionism is the Enemy of Creativity

This bracelet took a bloody long time — even by my “Willett: brain of a goldfish” standards! But honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing.

The best part of making jewellery isn’t always the end result. It’s the joy of creating in the moment, learning as you go, and pouring your energy into something meaningful. This piece was a labour of love, and a privilege to make — a small, silver tribute to a beloved friend and her wonderful dog.

The evidence:

I am now taking commissions for memento jewellery, so if you have an idea that you would like to discuss, please get in touch xxx

Thanks again for being lovely
​Nic x ✨Your jewellery-making pal & creative companion✨

​www.instagram.com/nicwillett​

​Unsubscribe · Preferences​