How our jewellery is made

There are different ways of approaching the making of jewellery, depending on the goldsmith skills and the affinity with the process. 

Jewellery, for example, can be made with a pre-made mould, where you inject wax to create a mock-up, and eventually, that same wax piece will become the final jewellery made out of metal. This method is very handy when you need to make several pieces of jewellery from the same model, saving you time and creating consistency in the final outcome.

The other way of making jewellery is working directly with the metal itself, shaping it one piece at a time. This is what I personally prefer as a way of making my jewellery. I find that there is an intimacy in the singular process of making one piece of jewellery every time a customer places an order. I especially like and appreciate the fact that every piece is different and unique, relying on the behavior of the metal itself. 

From a design perspective and conceptually speaking, I always approach jewellery making by using a piece of metal that starts with a symmetrical shape, and by applying different forces, the piece will transform and change, ultimately becoming something unique, asymmetrical, and “imperfect”.

 At the moment in the Love, Nena jewellery collection there are three different series: Hammered, Pressed, and Shaped. The names are descriptive of the way the metal is transformed. 

The Hammered series starts with a rectangular symmetrical shape, and the metal is transformed by hammering it. The hammering is not random, but depending on the force and the intensity of the movement, the metal will become wider or thinner in certain areas. Additionally, I need to be careful not to hammer the metal in extremes since this might weaken the metal.

The Pressed series starts with a circular symmetrical shape, and the metal is transformed by pressing it through a two metal wheel compressing device. Depending on the strength of the compressing and the position, the metal becomes asymmetrical in all its circumference and therefore is not circular anymore.

The Shaped series starts with a symmetrical sheet of metal, and the metal is transformed by pulling it through a circular mould. This creates a bend on the sheet that results in an organic shape with asymmetrical characteristics.

After the initial metal is transformed according to the series it belongs to, and the base is created, it’s time to give it the shape of the piece of jewellery it will become: a ring, an earring, or a necklace. This is a process that needs to be very precise, especially with rings, since every micro millimeter counts in order to make sure the sizing is correct. 

In the process of giving the piece of jewellery its final correct and beautiful shape, it is very crucial to file and sandpaper the metal. This will set the edges to the point where the metal is smooth to the skin and the touch. This process takes time and patience.

The soldering process of jewellery making is my favorite of all. Maybe it’s because it involves fire, or because the more I do it, the more I understand how to improve it. It’s a constant learning process that never ends. The perfect position of the jewellery pieces, the perfect quantity of solder, the perfect heat direction and amount, makes the perfect solder joint. 

Once the final shape of the jewellery is complete, there comes the part where the metal needs to become shiny and flawlessly finished. This is achieved by polishing the metal with various specific compounds and different wheels in order to achieve the perfect final appearance.

The steps I just described are somehow generalized and shortened in its main purpose, but if you are reading this and have no experience with the process of jewellery making, hopefully it gives you an idea of all the steps that are required in order to make a piece of Love, Nena jewellery. There are many other things that you can do in order to treat the metal and shape it, and many steps in between and tools that you can use. For example, there should be a whole other chapter on how to set stones with jewellery, but that’s another blog post for the future :)

If you have any questions and want to know more about how our Love, Nena jewellery is made, feel free to send us an email. Also if you want to know how to make jewellery yourself, you can get in touch with us and we’ll try to point you in the right direction so you can get started.

Love, 

Nena