How to Make Jewelry

v <**X *%i K o *>* °*V \^ IT «5* • *o «T? ft ^^m^ _ »£ *.,** :». \/'*<>' :^'. *, .vfiKflk\ ' v '"« .^ -v; ^--r ^^'*0' ^ * F^ 0° ^5^>^ v^Pv* v*^v* %* * o 0' ^oV° How to Make Jewelry By GEORGE S. OVERTON PRACTICAL INSTRUC- TIONS FROM A PRAC- TICAL MANUFACTUR- ING JEWELER Being Articles Reprinted from The Manufacturing Jeweler." « • 9 9 * Providence, R. I. WALTER B. FROST £&. COMPANY 42 Weybosset Street 1914 .Oss Copyright by Walter B. Frost 1914 ..' f OCT I0I9I4 ©CI.A379955 (, TABLE OF CONTENTS. How to Make jewelry. CHAPTER PAGE I. Designing of Jewelry i II. Hints on Melting 6 III. The Alloying of Gold 10 IV. Formulas for Alloys and Solders 14 V. Getting out Plating Stock 19 VI. Wire Drawing and Working 24 VII. Making of Solders 26 VIII. Solder and the Quality Stamp 30 IX. The Soldering of Parts 34 X. Tips on Soldering and Stone Setting 38 XL Repairing Stone Set Work . 42 XII. Gilding with Electric Current 46 XIII. Red Gilding 52 XIV. Resists for Two-Color Work 56 XV. Acid Coloring 59 XVI. Precautions in the Coloring Room 64 XVII. Silver and Its Alloys for Jewelry Work. 68 XVIII. Solutions for Silver Plating 73 XIX. Black and Gray Finishes on Silver 78 XX. Gun Metal Finish 83 XXI. Silver as a Base for Black Enamel 86 XXII. Enameling of Jewelry 91 XXIII. Enameling of Jewelry (Continued) 95 XXIV. The Melting of Platinum 99 in XXV. Working Platinum. 103 IV TABLE OF CONTENTS. How to Make Jewelry— Continued. CHAPTER PAGE XXVI. Working in Platinum (Continued), (illustrated) 1 08 XXVII. Recovery of Gold and Silver from Scrap. 113 XXVIII. Refining Polishing Sweeps 119 XXIX. Filtration of Washings (illustrated) 122 XXX. Testing for Pure Gold 125 XXXI. Keeping Track of Gold. ... .128 XXXII. Figuring Shop Costs 131 XXXIII. Reducing Labor Costs 135 XXXIV. Time and Labor Savers 138 XXXV. Some Shop Problems 141 XXXVI. The Buying of Stones 144 XXXVII. Making Pearl Jewelry (illustrated) 147 XXXVIII. Drilling Pearls for Stringing (illustrated). 1 53 XXXIX. Ring Making (illustrated) 159 XL. Sizing and Soldering of Rings (illustrated) . 1 64 XLI. Chain Making (illustrated) 167 XLII. Making Flower Work (illustrated) 171 XLIII. Making a Line of Pins 176 XLIV. Horseshoe Jewelry, (illustrated) 181 XLV. The Maltese Cross inEmblems(illustrated).i87 XLVI. Some Attractive Novelties (illustrated) ... 190 XLVII. Making Eyeglass Frames (illustrated) . 194 XLVIII. Hints on Soldering 198 XLIX. Polishing and Burnishing. 216 Appendix. Practical Hints for Working Jewelers. .202 Index to Topics 220 PREFACE. O IN publishing a weekly trade paper, a host of material comes to the editor's desk, and his success as the director of the publication lies chiefly in winnowing the wheat from the chaff. The great task of an editor of a jewelry trade paper is to secure accurate technical articles which do not show on their face the traces of being copied from old and perhaps obsolete works. In the course of a long apprenticeship at the editor's desk in the office of The Manufacturing Jeweler, I have learned that the men who have the technical knowledge either will not impart it to the world, or else they lack the proper powers of expression. This is the general rule, but once in a while there is an exception. The present volume is a case in point. When the first few of these articles were offered to The Manufacturing Jeweler for weekly publication, I did not realize their true value, and did not expect the series to be prolonged. Gradually, however, I saw that a master of jewelry technique was divulging infor- mation of incalculable value, both to the beginner and to the experienced jeweler. My own views were soon re- inforced by emphatic protests against continuing the articles from one of the largest manufacturers of gold jewelry, on the plea that Mr. Overton was giving away trade secrets. Threats of legal action were also made. vi PREFACE. Mr. Overton's experience has been chiefly as foreman and superintendent of gold shops, and therefore this book deals largely with the making of jewelry from the precious metals. As the book developed, however, sup- plementary instructions relative to making work in rolled plate were inserted. Real jewelry is, of course, made of the precious metals, and if one is fully competent to make such jewelry, the knowledge of how to make goods in brass or rolled plate can be acquired very easily. In preparing Mr. Overton's articles for publication in book form, they have been carefully edited, rearranged in suitable order, and one entirely new chapter added. An elaborate cross index has been made and inserted in the closing pages of the book. We have had many requests for the articles in per- manent form, and believe that this book will soon come to be regarded as a standard. There is no other work, either in England or America, which deals with the sub- ject of jewelry-making in so complete, detailed and in- forming a manner. WALTER B. FROST. Providence, R. I., September, 1914. HOW TO MAKE JEWELRY CHAPTER I. DESIGNING. New Designs Needed Every Day—A Large Demand for Com- petent Designers—Material Necessary for Work—How to Make Tracings — Colors that Go with Different Stones—How to Get Ideas for New Designs. THE manufacture of jewelry has now reached a stage where new and original ideas in novelties are being constantly demanded and expected. New adaptations of conventional designs, flowers, horseshoes, in combination with some fancy ornament, etc., will, if strikingly original, always find a market. As a conse- quence there is a large field for designers, and within the last fifteen years a host of young men and women, learn- ing of the large salaries paid to some designers, have acquired a little ''taste" and the rudiments of drawing, and, armed with a few samples of their "art," are boldly seek- ing positions as designers of jewelry, usually expecting unreasonable salaries. And like the graduate from a three months' course at the business college—-"there is nothing to it." The best designers, in nearly every instance, are those recruited from the ranks, who have served their time as jewelers, and who have a natural bent for sketching. The apprenticeship at the bench has taught them the practical side, at the same time familiarizing them with detail, knowledge of construction, etc., so they may later be in a position to explain, or to superintend, the carrying out of their own ideas. The writer has been in contact with, and has employed, designers who could draw and paint beautifully, and who could successfully carry out ideas HOW TO MAKE JEWELRY. furnished them. On the other hand, commission them to make an original design, limited to so many stones, etc., and to be a certain size, and they were lost, having no practical knowledge of thickness, setting or construction. It is safe to assume that these same young people would not seek jobs as designers of elevators, dynamos, or bat- tleships, and yet they are as well fitted for these voca- tions. An attractive design can be sometimes altered and made practical by the workman ; this, however, is a poor haphazard business, as you never know just what you are going to get. In this connection I am reminded of a story told by an old-time, but well known manufacturer of fine jewelry. The customer was describing to the salesman in the store a brooch she had in mind and "wished to have made. Glancing into the showcase she pointed to a brooch and said, "Something like that," and mentioned a few changes. Later, the wholesale man called, and the salesman gave him the order, describing what the customer wanted, as he remembered it. The wholesale man returned to the office, handed along the order to the office order man, who sent it to the factory superintendent ; he selected a workman, and giving him the instructions with his interpretation of same, the pin in the natural course of events was finished and sent to the store. When the lady was shown the pin she ex- claimed, "I ordered a brooch, not a jew's-harp!" Have a sketch exactly as you want the finished article to be furnished the workman, and he will have no ex- cuse to offer. Make practical designs. A brooch should be drawn with plenty of strength and enough surface to hide the joint and catch. A pendant can be much more delicately drawn. Always make the sketch so that no extra scroll has to be "plastered" on afterwards. There are very pretty delicate little effects in* jewelry in the stores, lots of them impractical. The sale of such is restricted while the substantial, commonsense article sells over and over again. ; HOW TO MAKE JEWELRY There are numbers of boys and men working in jewelry factories who very likely have a latent ability for designing, and are hesitating because they don't know just how to go at it. To these the writer gives here a few tips, gathered during some twenty-five years of experience in large jewelry factories, several of which as designer and superintendent. Get a cheap pad and pencil and a catalogue of jewelry designs, start copying them. Always draw a line up and a line across at right angles ; this gets a center and helps in the correct spacing, etc. Don't use the rubber too much ; start fresh drawing ; ideas will suggest themselves as you go along. Take a sunburst, see if you cannot make the scrolls run a little different, or try to draw a little or- namentation in a pearl crescent ; attend drawing school learn to model (although not absolutely necessary) ; try to be original, and always practical.

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