A9 Necklace with Handmade Chain

Fire Necklace by Julia Rai

Submitted to the Registry evaluators - September 2012

I’m not bad at soldering, I just find it boring to solder multiple links in a chain! I like the metal clay elements in this necklace. They are carved into solid pieces of clay and I love carving so they were great to make. I used ceramic paint to add colour after firing as well as liver of sulphur.

I had higher hopes for this necklace but here are the scores.

Craftsmanship of Links – 3 out of 4
Craftsmanship of Clay – 3 out of 3
Integration – 1 out of 3

7 out of 10, just scraped through.

This was one of the first projects were the evaluators gave fuller, more helpful comments. Here’s what they said…

“Most of the chain links are well soldered. A few seams are visible.”

“The hook clasp works well when opening the chain but is a bit difficult to find when trying to close it. A little longer extension at the end of it would help alleviate this problem, if even an 1/8″ or 3/16″ longer. Or if there were a small ball to hook the links over.”

“The chain by itself is nice, and the metal clay pieces by themselves are interesting, but when put together they seem rather ordinary and safe.”

“It’s a design that has been used a lot.” I’m assuming they mean the combination of chain and elements, erm, isn’t that what the project asks for?

“The smaller metal clay elements would work better if they were beads. these particular pieces turn when worn so they should be finished all the way round.”

“The chain might have been seen as more than just a way to connect the metal clay elements. Through forging, bending or making them an unusual shape you might have stretched this design further.”

“The small elements turn – they could have been 2-sided. (Which would solve it.)”

“The colour of the links doesn’t match the metal clay colour.”

“The necklace hangs well on the body.”

Here is the project description from the Masters Registry website:-

​A9 Necklace with Handmade Chain

Make a necklace of metal clay elements joined with constructed sterling chain. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the ability to fabricate a chain in sterling silver using conventional techniques and to integrate that with panels, plaques, beads or other components made of metal clay. This should be a wearable necklace at least 16 inches long.

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