Click on this link to see the photo gallery of this range of jewellery;

www.flickr.com/photos/fluxplay/sets/72157623438843722/

 

No two pieces of jewellery are ever exactly the same. Designs vary according to the materials available to me. Below are some commonly asked questions about my jewelelry.

Q. What is the coloured part made of? Do you make the printed steel parts?

 

A.It is what we normally refer to as 'tin', such as the metal of a biscuit tin, though these days, the metal is steel with coatings of either tin, rubbery or plasticized paint. I do not print the colours or designs. This material is reclaimed from items such as biscuit tins, and I open it out and cut small, unrecognisable sections from the material. I then have special equipment which I have made to create the variety of convex and concave shapes you see. These are finally sawn out. The packaging is left over after I have eaten the contents, or are given/sold to me by people or I have found them in charity-shops, websites and jumble sales.

Q. If it is steel then will the jewellery rust if I wear it in the rain?

A. No. Unless you left your jewellery sitting in water all the time it wont rust.

Q. Will my jewellery get scratched when I wear it?

A. Like any jewellery, that depends on you. All neck-wear and earrings will not be scratched through normal wear. Rings and cufflinks are pressed into concave forms instead of convex (bulging outwards) forms, so that their surfaces do not scrape against other surfaces in normal day-to-day wear. Bangles and bracelets may become scratched if scraped against harsh surfaces. Any fine scratching will impart a 'vintage' appearance to the piece. Some of the jewellery is made from vintage tin and is already scratched or ditressed with age, these pieces are clearly featured for their aged qualities.

Q. How will I know that the ring will fit me?

A. The bands of the rings have a special, springy spiral design, which can be pulled open a bit or squeezed tighter to fit your chosen finger. The band is riveted onto the back of the ring as well as silver-solderd into place, so that it is very strong and will not snap off. However, you should do this only after you have received the ring to fit the finger of your choice and not keep changing it all the time for other fingers or to lend to other wearers, as the silver band will eventually become too hard to manipulate withougt damaging it. For commissions you can of course have the ring made into your size as a standard closed band.

Q. I would like my piece of jewellery altered, is this ok?

A. Generally, no. This is because once the tin packaging is 'set' into the silver (just like a stone is set into jewellery), it cannot be removed without damaging it. It cannot be left in place during alterations which require heating from soldering, as the material will of course be damaged.  

Q. I have got a really nice Italian chocolate tin which I got for my birthday. Can you make me a pendant from part of it if I tell you what I want?

A. Yes but, only if you let me have one of the chocolates...only kidding! As long as the tin is a modern tin, then this is fine. If the tin is a genuine vintage tin, then the screen-printed design on the tin is generally not 'elastic' enough to cope with the process required to form it into a shape.

Q. What is the embossed back of each piece of jewellery like?

A. All other metal is silver, copper, gilding metal or brass as stated. The backs are flat, with a star-pattern texture....as below;....or some other complementing texture