Antique .925 Sterling Silver Spoon Ring

A while back I became mildly obsessed with the idea of creating an antique spoon ring- I love the idea of them, the story of how they originally came to be and just generally how lovely they are.  So I started collecting supplies and scouring the internet for tutorials and eventually, bam! With a little help from my husband I managed to create one of my own.

The story behind spoon rings:  They originated in 17th Century England. The idea is that servants were not able to afford proper wedding rings so they would abscond with a spoon from their masters house and have that made into rings for their wedding.  Also there was a Welsh tradition in the 15th century of giving "love spoons."  A suitor would either make himself or commission someone to carve a spoon to give to the gal he intended to court, supposedly this is why antique silver spoons are so romantic and ornate looking.  Spoon rings still represent the meaning of love and commitment they once did.   <3

The technique behind making spoon rings is fairly simple- that being said, I was warned by some of my fellow metalworking friends that just because the technique seems simple....they are not super easy to  make.  Those friends were correct.  I'm super happy with how this ring turned out but if I hadn't been warned and didn't have the proper tools, I would have failed and been upset.  I also read a few tutorials that claimed you didn't HAVE to have a butane torch.  Lies.  In order to get the spoon soft enough to hammer into a ring shape you must anneal with a torch.  I had to re anneal several times in fact.  If anyone has any questions on making spoon rings I'm happy to answer any questions- just drop me a line.  Here are some photos of the finished ring and even a few "in progress/tool photos" I snapped.  Hope any readers out there enjoy this post or at least find it helpful!

The pattern on this spoon ring goes all the way around, I love the flowery Art Nouveau era look to it!

 Here is the almost finished ring- this was directly after being annealed one last time and hammered to be a perfect size 8 1/2.  It's white due to the intense heat of the butane torch- the white comes off with a polishing clothing or dremel wheel polisher.  (The latter works the best!)

Butane torch and pickle pot (pickle is a solution in which to dip the material after annealing to cool and remove flame damage from the torch. You can purchase the pickle or make it at home.)

A smattering of tools.  Including my new table vise!  A huge help with this project.

And here is the spoon before being cut with my hacksaw. A .925 Sterling spoon is required for this project- silver plated will not do!

Husband JimmyB decided to anneal and hammer the discarded spoon bowl.  I suspect he just wanted to play with fire and bang on stuff.  Can't blame him!

Fresh out of the pickle pot!  That is JimmyB's hand- he helped fill my butane torch since I had no clue how and occasionally submerged the hot, hot ring in the pickle after I annealed. It's fun to watch it sizzle!

Side view! This ring is very sturdy, it is not adjustable. 

Another sample of tools- the forks in this photo turned out to be waaay to thick and also I discovered they were silver plated and not .925.  I need a larger set of files since I am now addicted to making these gorgeous rings.