posted 01-17-2015 01:53 PM            

Spoon rings have been around for a billion years, of course, and I guess I don't mind so much when they're made from stamped 20th century spoons. But lately I've been seeing lovely old sugar tongs bent into bangles, often with their spoon ends hammered flat.

I just saw a pair of cast-arm tongs hallmarked 1777 that looks to have been in perfect condition before the vandal "improved" it.

posted 11-30-2015 05:38 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Lin56 in Reply to a post on making antique tongs into a bracelet. :
I am new and not allowed to post into that forum.

The question was asked, (in "Upcycling") "how were the tongs formed into a bracelet without cracking?".

I am a jeweler. To reform the tongs the criminal would only have to heat them up to a dull red glow with a torch. Quench, and it would be annealed, which just means the bonds between silver molecules are loosened. It can then be bent. Subsequent anneallings are done when the material becomes work-hardened, which happens after it is manipulated or hammered more than a certain amount. 3 anneallings would probably be necessary to reform tongs into a bracelet.

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posted 02-03-2016 10:20 PM            

I found an old Jensen Blossom salt spoon that had been drilled through the bowl to accommodate a jump ring (the bowl also housed a hideous glued-in glass bauble). It was then suspended from a ghastly strand of multicolored wood and glass beads.

Probably the most egregious example I've seen was an Art Smith pin that had been mangled, drilled, and glued onto another awful necklace. It was beyond salvage.

Up-cycling/re-purposing isn't a new thing--for example in the Victorian period, Georgian watch cock covers--which were beautifully pierced and engraved--were up-cycled into jewelry such as necklaces, brooches, and earrings.