All chainmail is made from rings. Rings can be of many different materials. But few pieces of jewelry will be made only of rings, thus I usually incorporate beads or pendant in most of my jewelry. So what exactly are these materials, and what are their properties? This page is here to help you find out.
Aluminium
is a fairly common material for costume chainmail (meaning one you wear to
look good, not defend yourself from swords, or dragons). The
most common aluminium used in chainmail will usually produce a black layer
of oxide over time. The aluminium I use for my jewelry does not.
Note: When using aluminium, one should always ensure that the temper is suitable to the application. Dead soft aluminium has been sold in kits for armor... If you can bend a rings with your finger, don't use it for armor. Such rings are useful to create ring sculptures.
Aluminium can be anodized to bold bright colors. It is one of my
favorite chainmail jewelry material. Anodized aluminium is not produced
like other anodized metals. While metals like niobium and titanium are anodized
by applying a strong voltage to the metal (the thickness of the oxide layer
giving a wide range of colors), anodized aluminium must first be subjected
to a similar process (which produce a colorless oxide layer) and then dyed
to color the oxide layer.
A
strong metal, I use it to create golden jewelry. Brass oxidize slightly over
time, but since the rings
I use are solid brass, the pieces can be cleaned to bring out the original
shine.
A
strong metal, it is often used as trimming in chainmail armors. Bronze turns
darker with time.
I use stainless steel mostly for extension chains. Stainless steel,
is, well, stainless, so it won't rust. And its very strong.
This is what I use to add some stretch to certain pieces.
Niobium can be anodized to a wide selection of color and is hypoallergenic.
Many commercial findings are made of nickel. Some of them are gold or silver plated.
Most of the pendants I use are pewter pendant.
Copper wire, covered with a layer of colored plastic is available in tons of different colors, and is very useful to create wire components. I use a lot of silvered copper wire, which consist of a copper wire plated in silver, then covered in a plastic layer. This gives very bright colors.
I use only
Swarovski Austrian crystals in my jewelry. It is renowned for it shine and
the quality of its cut. Crystal is basically glass with a
lot of lead in it. Crystal is unsuitable for young children who might put
them in their mouth.
I sometimes used
frosted glass beads. Only frosted glass looks like frosted glass.
Freshwater pearls are a beautiful material. For the moment, I only carry those of the "peacock" variety,
which are dark opalescent pearls.
These are
dyed stone beads. They have very vibrant colors.
These deserves a category all to themselves. Semi-precious stones offer a lot of variety. One thing to remember: this is a natural product. There will be variation from lot to lot, and even from bead to bead.
A purple stone. It
is the birthday stone for February.
A pale green stone.
Available in red and orange.
The one I have is obviously dyed in some way.
A deep red stone. It is
the birthday stone for January.
A silvery stone.
A white stone with black
veins.
A green stone with white veins.
A green stone with
opalescent spots.
A blue stone with
veins of white, gold and black.
A dark green stone (much darker than jade or aventurine).
A black stone.
White transparent opalescent
stone.
A pale pink stone.
A deep red stone. While
garnet is translucent, red marble is not.
A pink stone, sometimes
with black/brown veins.
A dark stone with white
and red spots.
Guess what
color that is. This is not real turquoise. It is actually howlite dyed in turquoise.