Lot of hard work, but here it is...

I have been working this week on my new website.

A slightly easier format for me to update and add new products. Whilst I loved my old website, it was a beast to try and update.

So hopefully this new site will be easier to navigate, feel free to drop me a message to tell me what you think.

Always trying to evolve my website, so your feedback will be read with much interest.

www.chris-parry.co.uk

Gosh, a long time with no blog...

Here is a recent commission of a local couple.

A 6mm pearl set atop a 9k white gold ring ,set with 19 x 2mm diamonds.

The design was sketched out by the young man and I had great fun in turning it into reality

..and the winner is.....

I had a wee competition, a give away of a fingerprint plectrum.

To find the random winner, I asked on a forum for someone to pick a number at random

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?page=1&thread_id=6575592

The number was 7, so the winner is Jax from the comment section, being the 7th comment.

Congratulations Jax. thanks to everyone for entering.

Win your own fingerprint plectrum.......

Win your own sterling silver fingerprint plectrum.

This is a free to enter competition, and all you have to do is leave a message here on this blog entry, telling me why you would find this the perfect gift.

The winner will be picked at random on July 10th 2010, 17.00 GMT.

I will then require your fingerprint via e-mail or through the post and I will engrave it and a name onto one of my handmade sterling silver plectrums and send it to you , wherever you are in the world.

Couldn't be more simple, good luck.

Angel wings in sterling silver.

I was asked by a lovely lady to make a pair of Angel wings in stelring silver to serve as a pendant in memory of her mother.

This was a delightful commission to create and I do hope that this bespoke design brings much comfort.

Fingerprint keyfob.

Joanne came into my shop and ordered this funky present for her hubby. A set of sterling silver discs, with her kids fingerprints on. Each fob is hallmarked and on the reverse side carrys the childs name and date fo birth.

This was great fun to make and great fun to get the kids to sit still to take their prints. In truth, they were all as good as gold, probably trying to work out why this strange man was taking their prints!

Fingerprint jewellery is certainly very popular at the moment. Personally I don't use precious metal clay (PMC) for this task as it is too soft. The fine silver that is produced is not suitable to the wear and tear that these items get and you would soon have the fingerprint disappear.

I recently had someone come into my shop with some PMC cuff links they had bought elsewhere and the prints had all but gone.

Part TWO. Hand engraving a wax seal (coat of arms or family crest)

So the shield was engraved to a nice depth and an impression was taken to ensure it all looked OK.

This particular design, has a horizontal bar, which was engraved in and the depth checked with the plasticene.























Next to bew engraved was the three diamond shapes. Again, the plasticene is used to check the impression.























I missed aphoto, but you can see that I have now engraved a helmet from a suit of armour.

I use the plasticene by pressing it onto the surface of the metal. This leaves behind a film of grease onto the metal. You can now draw in pencil onto the grease and it leaves a nice crisp pencil outline. Once I am happy with the scroll, I then engrave the pattern on one side.













































I then mirror the scroll pattern onto the other side and engrave that as well. Once I am happy that all the elements work, it is then ready to be burnished, polished and mounted onto a handle.
























Here is the finished piece, mounted onto a handmade teak handle. I can hand engrave your own coat of arms or crest to make your own unique gift. Click here for details.