Year 10 Product Design students visited the silver-smithing studios at The Glamorous Owl in Newcastle. Each of them had the opportunity to create a personalised Sterling silver dress ring for a finger of their own choice and specific surface decoration.
Surface options were herringbone, super-shiny or disco, the latter being the most popular. The process began with a straight piece of eco-sterling silver being manipulated by hand round the mandrel to create a horseshoe. This was then gently hammered and naturally annealed to create a perfect joint. The whole ring and solder were assembled on a heat resistant block and heated to around 600°C to allow the solder to flow through the joint.
Next step was the pickle bath for a super soak and cleanse. The final stages involved smoothing the surfaces with wet and dry paper- the smoothest grade being 1200grit.
The final and eureka moment for many of the girls was the final polish which made the ring look brand new. All the pupils achieved outstanding final pieces and they were immensely proud their products that they had created.