METHOD OF FORMING A JEWELRY CHAIN AND CHAIN FORMED THEREFROM
A method of forming a decorative chain includes joining a first and second material in a layered relationship, each material having a different appearance, and forming such joined material into a spiral. A core is introduced into the spiral and then the core plus spiral are shaped into a desired configuration. Thereafter a portion of the first material along the outer surface is removed to reveal or expose a portion of the sub-layer of second material along the outer surface.
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The present invention relates to a method of forming a jewelry chain generally, and more particularly to a method of forming a reversible “Avolto” chain.
BACKGROUND“Avolto” is traditionally understood as a jewelry style that uses a wire to form a chain into a round shape. Typically a strip of one color metal made from a wire is rolled into a strip and this strip is wrapped on a mandrel to make a spiral. An internal section made from cloth, metal or the like is then introduced along a central axis of the spiral. Then, to obtain an “Avolto” product, a pressure operation is applied so the spiral wraps the cloth or central section and compacts one over another. This operation typically defines two sides of the same color which may be equal or different in surface configuration but opposite relative to each other. Then, to make a “reversible” Avolto, the traditional way is to “paint” one side using a galvanic process that plates another color metal onto one side of the chain so that one side is formed from the original metal and the other side is formed from the plated metal.
However, one disadvantage of the traditional “reversible” Avolto is that the integrity of the plating of the additional color can degrade over time, whereby the plated material loses its color and/or adhesion to the original chain material. Another disadvantage is that the galvanic process itself requires additional processing, energy and time, and is thereby more costly to produce. Accordingly, there is a need for a better way to make a reversible Avolto without the stated disadvantages.
SUMMARYA method of forming a decorative chain includes joining a first and second material in a layered relationship, each material having a different appearance, and forming such joined material into a spiral. A core is introduced into the spiral and then the core plus spiral are shaped into a desired configuration. Thereafter a portion of the first material along the outer surface is removed to reveal or expose a portion of the sub-layer of second material along the outer surface. In one embodiment, the first and second materials are different sheets of material that are joined in a soldering operation or the like to form a joined strip of composite material, which joined strip is then wrapped around a mandrel or support into a spiral.
This disclosure describes the best mode or modes of practicing the invention as presently contemplated. This description is not intended to be understood in a limiting sense, but provides an example of the invention presented solely for illustrative purposes by reference to the accompanying drawings to advise one of ordinary skill in the art of the advantages and construction of the invention. In the various views of the drawings, like reference characters designate like or similar parts.
One embodiment of the method starts with
Returning to
After the spiral 600 is formed, the spiral 600 is removed from the mandrel or support 575 and a third material 700 is introduced into the spiral along the central axis of the spiral 600 as shown in
Then, to obtain an “Avolto” product, a pressure operation is performed so that spiral 600 wraps the core section 700 and both the spiral 600 and core 700 are compacted one over another as shown in
The shaped product 900 resulting from the process shown in
While
According to the above mentioned process, and due to a large increase in the value of gold for example, the reversible Avolto chains may be manufactured using, for example, gold with silver combination for having the most accessible price, as compared with others manufactured only with gold, and to create a product that can be worn in a reversible fashion and with a variety of different clothing combinations.
It should be appreciated that the processing machines 1300, 1400, etc., represent one embodiment of machines typically used to automatically create jewelry chains from chain links that are cut from strips or the like. Thus, a variety of different types of jewelry chains from a variety of different types of links can be formed using the methods described herein, such as, for example, box chain, ball chain, Forzatina chain, rope chain, and others. Furthermore, it also possible to form jewelry chains from varieties of different links, or from pre-formed links formed by means other than as described herein, as the case may be. Thus, the links and chains shown and described herein are not intended to be limiting in any fashion.
While the present invention has been described at some length and with some particularity with respect to the several described embodiments, it is not intended that it should be limited to any such particulars or embodiments or any particular embodiment, but it is to be construed with references to the appended claims so as to provide the broadest possible interpretation of such claims in view of the prior art and, therefore, to effectively encompass the intended scope of the invention. Furthermore, the foregoing describes the invention in terms of embodiments foreseen by the inventor for which an enabling description was available, notwithstanding that insubstantial modifications of the invention, not presently foreseen, may nonetheless represent equivalents thereto.
Claims
1. A method of forming a jewelry chain comprising:
- a) providing a first material and a second material;
- b) joining the first and second materials in a layered relationship to form a joined material so that the first material is on top of or exterior to the second material;
- c) processing the joined material to a predetermined dimension;
- d) wrapping the joined material around a support to form a spiral of joined material with the second material being adjacent the support, the spiral having a central axis;
- e) removing the spiral from the support and inserting a core of third material along the central axis of the spiral;
- f) shaping the spiral around the core to formed a shaped material with an interior including the core and an exterior, the second material being adjacent the core within the interior; and
- g) removing a portion of the first material to expose the second material along the exterior.
2. The method of claim 1, the first and second materials each having a different appearance.
3. The method of claim 2, at least one of the first and second materials comprising a precious metal.
4. The method of claim 3, each of the first and second materials comprising a different precious metal.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first and second materials comprise different colors.
6. The method of claim 1, the processing further comprising reducing the thickness and extending the length of the joined material.
7. The method of claim 6, the processing further comprising simultaneously cutting the joined material into a plurality of separate strips of joined material.
8. The method of claim 1, the core being formed from a precious metal.
9. The method of claim 1, the shaping further comprising compressing the spiral between a first shaping element having a first profile and a second shaping element having a second profile.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first and second profiles are the same.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the first and second profiles are different.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one profile is rounded and one profile is not rounded.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the first material is removed by polishing, grinding, cutting, burnishing, faceting or a combination of the same.
14. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing an entirety of the first material from one side of the shaped material so that the exterior of the shaped material has a first side formed from the first material and a second side formed from the second material.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first and second sides are on opposite sides of the shaped material.
16. A decorative chain comprising:
- a) a first and second material joined together in a layered relationship and formed into a spiral having a central axis, an interior and an exterior;
- b) an outer surface of the exterior further comprising the first material, the second material forming a sub-layer to the first material; and
- c) a third material disposed along the central axis of the spiral to form a core of the chain;
- d) wherein a portion of the first material is removed from the outer surface to expose a portion of the sub-layer of second material along the outer surface.
17. The decorative chain of claim 16, the first and second materials each having a different appearance.
18. The decorative chain of claim 16, the chain further comprising a first side and a second side, the first side comprising the first material and the second side comprising the sub-layer of second material.
19. The decorative chain of claim 16, wherein the second material is positioned adjacent the core.
20. A method of forming a jewelry chain comprising:
- a) providing a strip of first material and a strip of second material;
- b) joining the first and second materials to formed a joined strip comprising the first material on one side of the joined strip and the second material on an opposite side of the joined strip;
- c) creating chain links from the joined strip and joining the chain links together to form a string of links having an exterior; and
- d) removing a portion of the first material from the exterior of the string of links to expose the second material to form a jewelry chain.
21. The method of claim 20, further comprising, prior to removing, wrapping the string of links around a support.
22. The method of claim 20, wherein the jewelry chain comprises a box chain, ball chain, Forzatina chain, or rope chain.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 25, 2008
Publication Date: Oct 1, 2009
Applicant: ARIN S.A. (Lima)
Inventor: Angel Ramon Solanilla (Lima)
Application Number: 12/054,793
International Classification: B21L 17/00 (20060101); A44C 11/00 (20060101);