To Design Superb Jewelry Takes Guts, Smarts, and Passion!

Come with me for a short and surprising trip into the secrets of fashion jewelry design.

I chose a Kenneth Jay Lane charm bracelet for our first field trip into the wilds of jewelry design because it uses chain and charms, two of the simplest design elements available. And doesn’t everyone own a charm bracelet? It was my first piece of real jewelry as a child.

Kenny’s charm bracelet is a typical outstanding design with lots of moxie and durability. Charm bracelets get a lot of wear! See more information about this bracelet HERE. Price $169.99, and it’s in stock for immediate delivery.

Step One

Your beautiful KJL ring or bracelet everyone admires started life as a sketch or idea–the first step in the design process. Who knows where Mr. Lane gets his ideas? His creative genius is forever productive! All of KJL’s jewelry requires some degree of hand-fashioning. Some of his pieces are made entirely by hand.

Something of the artist is always left in the piece. A machine-made piece has no soul to it. A well-executed, hand-made piece has the soul of the artist in it.

The next step, choosing the materials for the design

This KJL charm bracelet has 5 lines of gold-plated chain which makes it original from the get-go. The design of the chain seems unique to KJL. It is a link chain (the simplest pattern) with a wrapped piece connecting the links. This addition to the simple circular links makes this chain dramatic and interesting. I have not seen this chain pattern anywhere else.

Chain comes in hundreds of different shapes, patterns, and sizes. There is foxtail, snake, herringbone, rolo, figaro, cable, box, wave, filigree, and more, and sterling, karat gold, steel, aluminum, and plated base metal. How many items made from chain do you have in your jewelry box? And while you’re looking, why not spend a few minutes to untangle them.

Chain is made from wire, which is perhaps the least expensive component in the designer’s toolkit. Many designers make their own chain by shaping wire into links. Medieval armor was made from chains, and was called maille. (If you are interested in exploring maille further, take a look here. Many men are making chain maille armor.)

KJL has his chain manufactured from base metal (a soft metal made from copper, iron, aluminum, and other metals but not lead) and then he has it plated.

KJL’s plating is among the finest in the world. The metals in KJL designs will never stain your skin and they remain bright and rich looking for years.

The chain is obviously the most important element of this bracelet. Once he designed the chain, KJL turned his attention to the charms.

Adding the Charms

Metal charms are a very popular design element that jewelers use frequently. Like chain, charms come in endless shapes, motifs, and colors of gold, silver, copper, and plated types.

The greater the detail of the charm, the higher the quality. Note the generous amount of detail on this coin, in the facial features, hair, and helmet.

The coin-themed charms in this bracelet were stamped on one side from a sheet of metal (thus called “stampings”), just like you use a cookie cutter to cut dough, and were then plated. KJL used an antique Roman or Celtic motif of a helmeted soldier in profile, and there are 2 different sizes of charm. KJL made 3 different patterns for the stampings, one for each size, and added as much detail as possible for such a tiny surface area.

An artisan attached the charms with jump rings, in a random arrangment. At this stage of the design, there are 5 bracelet-length pieces of chain with 2 or 3 charms attached at intervals. The strands must be linked together, which is done by attaching them to a larger metal circle. Here is a weak point in the design, for if a chain link breaks, the bracelet will fail. This won’t happen as a result of metal fatigue, but if one of the links becomes snagged or caught somehow, yanking on it might break a link. You should always test jewelry made from chain for weak points before you buy. (You don’t have to worry about that in this bracelet.)

Finishing

The last element, the clasp, is very important. This bracelet calls for a gutsy clasp to hold all 5 strands securely yet allow for freedom of movement. KJL designed a large toggle clasp, which is a circle with a bar that fits through and closes tightly. Toggle clasps are great because they are easy to open and close yet are very secure.

The KJL signature tag also gets attached.

If you have any questions, let me know. Next time, earrings!