Bridal Jewellery

[Russ Nobbs]

I'm sure Polly and others will have other ideas but I wanted to jump in and ask about your tiaras.

Many of the crystal clips and tiaras we see in the USA are made with Swarovski rhinestone "chain" soldered into a specific shape. I'm thinking of the classic prom or festival queen tiara.  These are soldered together with soft (tin) solder and then plated for a uniform gold or silver color.
That is outside the range of "assembled" jewellery that most of our customers produce because of the soldering and plating.  We DO carry the rhinestone chain by the foot on page 190 of our catalog.  Is this the kind of thing you are wanting to produce?

--Russ

[marym]

Hi Nerissa,

Thought I'd toss my two cents in to the mix. '> We recently held a "Your Design Here" contest for our customers, with one entry taking home first place in our Glass category.  Your post caught my eye because our contest winner won with some beautiful beaded tiaras.  These are very pretty and looked very fun.  Take a peek...

http://www.rings-things.com/contest/index.html

[Nerissa Whelan]

Hi there.  I am interested in setting up a small business in Cairns, Australia that sells custom made jewellery.  I already sell small neckalces, earrings etc but have been trying to learn how to make large crystal chokers and bracelets and hair accessories such as crystal clips and tiaras.  If anyone would be able to help me in my endeavours, such as instructions/ideas etc I would appreciate it very,very much.  (Australians aren't very helpful in things like this).  

Thanks alot

[Polly]

Here are a few non-solder crystal jewelry ideas.

We have a project on-line for an easy linked Swarovski crystal, filigree charm, and Czech firepolish bead  necklace:
http://www.rings-things.com/Projects/68002-25.htm, and another one for a linked Swarovski crystal flower charm necklace:
http://www.rings-things.com/Projects/68002-27.htm

Crystal "links" and crystal flower charms are on page 190 of our on-line catalog. Just use jump rings to connect them to each other, or to chain and other findings.

For a simple matching crystal hair adornment, the crystal flower charm fits perfectly on our #30-822-1 Bobby Pin with 10mm flat pad for gluing.

Also, Supplemax, a clear non-stretchy plastic cord is great for making "illusion" necklaces with crystal beads and pearls.  You usually make 3 or more strands, and it gives the illusion that the crystals and pearls are floating around the wearer's neck or wrist (a nice effect for brides).  For some more information, see page 18 of our on-line catalog.

Are these ideas in the right direction?  Or are there any specific design ideas you want to create, that I haven't covered?

[Metalman]

Nerissa,
If you have some clay background, you might find the Art Clay Silver a viable material for little wedding remembrance pins and other jewelry.  There's lots of info on the Art Clay section of the Rings and Things forum