A new necklace in the Crescent Maille shop: the Silver Dodecahedron. It’s a 12-sided sphere, made of over 100 5mm sterling silver rings, and is 1/2-inch in diameter. It is suspended from a fine pelline chain.

Dodecahedron, Silver

Dodecahedron, Silver

July 17 is the One Year Etsy-versary of Crescent Maille (cMaille). To celebrate, all month long buyers will receive a sample of Byzantine, by Etsy seller TeaNoir — “a green tea inspired by the exotic elegance of cMaille’s beautiful Byzantine chains, perfumed with vanilla and bergamot and gently spiced with ginger and cardamom.” The 1-ounce gift pack will ship directly from Tea Noir.

Byzantine is based on a tea that I custom ordered from Tea Noir. Inspired by the ingredients I requested, they sculpted with pinches of this and dashes of that until it evolved into a wonderful green tea blend, a chai even. It’s great iced! Byzantine will be available in Tea Noir’s shop soon.

In addition, on August 1st, one July customer, selected completely at random, will win an extra special gift — the choice of one of these necklaces: the Mobius Charm, the Mobius-7, or the Spiral necklace.

In an earlier post, there’s a photograph of this project in progress. This custom order was for a wedding anniversary. Coordinating bracelets for the two of them were a gift from him to her. For him: the Jens Pind. For her: the Byzantine Bar.

The Jens Pind:

The Byzantine Bar:

The two bracelets together:

As usual, more photos in the gallery.

The first is the Dark Spiral necklace, a variant on the Captured Spiral necklace. This is a limited edition piece; it ships immediately, but will be made only in limited quantities.

The next is the Dodecahedron. I made it first in brass, but I will be offering it shortly in sterling silver. It, too, is a limited edition piece.

(The Urchins [below] are a variation on the Dodecahedron, which is actually a 12-sided sphere.)

The most recent new piece is the Celestial Chain bracelet, made of four sizes of rings — it is an original design.

This, too, a limited edition. Click on the photos for larger views, see more photos in the gallery, and as always, they’re available, for the time being, anyway, in the shop.

20 gauge brass rings, oxidized after weaving.

20 gauge rings. 5/8-inch wide and 3/8-inch high. (See post below for photo comparison of 3 sizes.)

]]> http://cmaille.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/urchin-03-the-smallest-chain-maille-sculpture-so-far/feed/ cmaille Urchin 03 Urchin 03 http://cmaille.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/urchin-02/ http://cmaille.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/urchin-02/#comments Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:57:03 +0000 cmaille http://cmaille.wordpress.com/?p=243

Another Urchin — no. 02.

23 of the 78 rings are sterling silver, forming a flower-like pattern on top of the brass. This urchin is 1 inch in diameter and 3/4-inch tall, and made from 16 gauge rings. More photos in the gallery; it is for sale in the shop.

Click on any photo to see a larger view.

Crescent Maille’s first chain maille sculpture: Urchin. “Urchin 01″ is formed from the 10-in-3 variant of the Japanese chain maille weave using 78 brass rings (18 gauge). The urchin is based on the dodecahedron, or 12-sided sphere, but the 12th side is left off to form the opening of the urchin’s shell. 3/4-inch in diameter and 1/2-inch tall, it sits absolutely flat when the open side is facing down; because of the sides, it sits stable at pretty much any angle. More photos in the gallery; and it is for sale in the shop.

Crescent Maille will gladly work with you to negotiate and create a custom piece of jewelry. Below is a photograph of a work in progress: a Byzantine Bar bracelet made with gold fill rings. Gold fill rings aren’t kept in stock, and except for here and there in Limited Edition pieces, gold fill jewelry is not available in the shop. However, almost anything available can be made in gold fill (yellow or rose) — or 18K gold (in a variety of tones such as yellow, red, green, pink, and white).

Another type of custom order is for something offered in the shop, but made with larger/thicker rings. For example, the European 4-in-1 bracelet for sale in the shop is made of 19 gauge rings that are 5mm across; the bracelet is just about 1/2-inch wide. What if you want a 1-1/2 inch wide bracelet made with (much) thicker 15 gauge rings — a much more masculine piece? Almost anything in the shop can be made with larger rings.

Just contact Crescent Maille with your ideas.

Two more necklaces are available for sale in the shop. These, as well as the Striped Spiral (below) and the Daisy Chain (farther below), are all Limited Edition pieces. Most everything in the Crescent Maille shop is available all the time. Limited Editions, once sold, may or may not be made available again.

Many of these necklaces arise from experiments with oxidation.

3 Ring Necklace:

Square Knot Necklace:

As always, more photos are in the gallery.