Weaving Gold
Months in the making - we are finally sharing the story of this very special 14k gold bracelet:
We released our Ireland collection late last year. The keystone of that collection was a limited series of woven bracelets. Woven metal - a longtime dream of mine - is a skill I learned under the two men who have written the textbooks on metalsmithing (literally). The curving wires, intricately braided together, created a texture that couldn’t help but call to mind the old-world Celtic patterns that are so indicative of Ireland.Â
When I was finalizing the designs of the collection, I must have mentioned 100 times how much I wanted to make one in gold. Although the world around us continues to twist and change at a pace that is hard to keep up with, one thing that has been steady through the last couple of years is rising metal prices. This time last year, Jerrica and I were having meetings about gold cresting above $2000/oz. This year, we are having those same meetings, but gold has crested above $3000/oz. As we were launching the Ireland collection, we decided to hold on creating these pieces in gold without specific customer requests, too much of a risk. Then, as luck would have it, one of LHMS’s special friends and favorite clients reached out after the collection launch, asking for two bracelets to be made. She loved the collection, but she wanted gold… one, a Christmas present, the other to be made this spring.Â
As you can imagine, I was ecstatic. I selfishly couldn’t wait to hold one of these in the buttery glory of yellow gold. That feeling lasted as I planned the piece and ordered the supplies…but as Christmas grew closer, I began to get nervous. I was doom-forecasting every error I might make, every little thing that might go wrong. I had worked myself into fit over it, so nervous I had to call in my good friend, on-again-off-again bench jeweler, and studio carpenter, Wayne…Wayne-of-All-Trades, if you will. Jerrica calls him our MVP.Â
The weaving was old hat by this point, but when I got to the end caps, I had to stop. The stress of it nearly overwhelmed me.Â
To create the end cap, I cut the frayed ends, or "waste" from the woven bar, off. Then, I melt those ends at a precise temperature, pouring it into an ingot form to cool, then steadily drawing down the ingot into wire that I can flatten into a sheet. This keeps us from creating excess "waste" — integral to sustainable projects, in more ways than one.
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But that wasn't the hard part.
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When you attach the end caps to these bracelets, there is just a little bit of solder that is needed. However, you have to heat the entire bracelet up to a certain temperature in order for it to accept the solder.  You run the risk of melting some of the wire as you're getting the solder to flow to attach these two pieces. It is an extremely delicate dance of having the temperature at the exact correct point between the cap and this large bracelet without damaging any of the 10 wires in the bracelet. Gold is temperamental that way, or maybe it’s just that my familiarity with silver is greater, and the stakes are much lower. If I accidentally melt silver, it’s more of an affront to my pride than my bottom line. Gold is not that way.Â
It was extremely important to get it right, and I only had one shot. It took two days of pacing and planning to even begin to attempt it. My stomach was in knots.
These bracelets are truly hand made - we pour the ingot, roll it out by hand, and then form it into the perfect end cap for each one-of-a-kind weave.Â
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I finally worked up the courage to do it, after cursing and pacing and a nearly sleepless night. I had to do it, I had promised it for Christmas and besides that being an important business expectation to uphold, it was also for a friend, a special gift for her daughter who I know and care about. I had to do it, but I don’t think I breathed a full breath until the moment it was done.Â
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A few days after Christmas, I received this message:
whew 🖤
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sterling silver options still available: Kinmare, Belfast, Kinsale, Killorglin, GalwayÂ
