[Jewelry making - Article 01352] - Re: [Orchid] Chain mail - to solder or not to solder?

[Trevor F]

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>     As a person who doesn't make chain mail, but likes it a whole
>     bunch... I would say SOLDER THOSE RINGS! 

    Hear, hear!  I'm surprised no one has made a bigger deal of the
    aesthetic difference between soldered and un-soldered links. 

    Years ago I bought my "significant other" a sterling byzantine chain
    bracelet for our anniversary.  She loved the chain but hated that it
    would snag some of her clothes or even her hair on a bad day.  I
    examined the chain closely and the workmanship in it was fine, it's
    just that the links where twisted closed and left that way.  She
    eventually stopped wearing it much to our mutual disappointment. 

    A few years later when our finances had improved somewhat I wandered
    into a fairly high-endish artisan jewellery shop in Chicago and saw a
    very similar bracelet to the now abandoned one. Just out of curiosity
    I took a close look at it and was delighted to see that each and
    every link had been fused shut. I looked at the price tag and was
    rather less delighted since it was many times higher than what I'd
    paid for the other bracelet even though the two were virtually
    identical. I knew enough about jewellery by then to know that the
    price tag reflected the labours involved not the metal it contained.
    Nevertheless I left the shop without the bracelet thinking myself a
    frugal shopper and, as it happened, I ended up stopping nearby for
    dinner. 

    Of course I couldn't get that new bracelet out of my head. I loved
    that the maker had taken the time to do the job right but, no, best
    not to dwell on it too much. When I finished what turned out to be an
    unusually satisfying dinner I went for a stroll in the evening rain
    and, of course, found myself standing in front of that same shop and
    in a window display was that same bracelet. I stood there in the
    evening rain thinking about it for a few more minutes before I walked
    into the shop and pulled out my wallet. 

    That was over a decade ago. Since then my SO and I have parted ways
    but I know for a fact she still wears that second bracelet. I'm not
    sure why but I've always found that particular purchase deeply
    satisfying and many times I have silently saluted the efforts of the
    maker and their willingness to charge accordingly. 

Cheers,
Trevor F.
with snow in the geraniums in The City of Light

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