It’s not very often we are asked to make jewellery for the men of the world, some see it impractical, some think it too ‘feminine’ and some just never think of it!

However, I was given a lovely job this week to make a bangle for a man to match his wedding ring-what a lovely sentiment. I love making bangles, I’m not sure why, something about shaping the metal must be quite therapeutic!

So to start with, I’ve got literally 3 strips of gold which I’ve formed to the correct measurements, 2 9ct yellow and 9ct white for the middle. It’s going to be an open cuff rather than a closed bangle so I have be careful on how I make this.

Annealing the Gold

First, I have to join the 3 strips separately and turn them into round bangles, which requires a lot of hammering on the mandrel (my arm ached at the end of it!)

Once joined into 3 separate bangles I shape them with the file before to oh-so-carefully

3 Round Bangles

 soldering them together to create one. This is much more difficult than it sounds, and requires patience and precision to line them up exactly, and run the solder without knocking them!

After that tricky task I open the back of the bangle to turn it into an open cuff, and gently bend it with my fingers to make it oval and all ready for the final clean up and polish! Polishing it my favourite bit, the metal go from dull to high shine, even if it does burn my fingers!

It’s a very understated piece of jewellery and nothing too ‘in your face’ which I think is great for a man, unless of course they love the full bling look and I know a few that do, definitely not a bad thing!

What’s your thoughts on gentleman’s jewellery? Personally, I don’t think there’s enough around!