Materials4 min
How to tell real silver from everything else
Four tests you can do in a shop, in under a minute, without any equipment.
LACONIC
Light enough
to forget.
Wax cord and one piece of solid silver, knotted by hand. Made in Alexandria, a few at a time.
Philosophy
The name is the brief.
We make very few things. A length of wax cord, one piece of solid silver, knotted by hand. Nothing is plated. Nothing is there to be noticed. The name means saying more with less, which turned out to be a useful constraint to work under.
Craftsmanship
Two materials. Neither one hidden.
Downtown Alexandria. Six benches, four pairs of hands, and no machine that can feel a knot.
01
The cord
Braided wax polyester, bought by the spool from a braider who has spent sixty years making sailing line. We chose it for the reasons they did. It holds a knot under load, it does not stretch, and the wax keeps water out instead of drinking it in.
02
The silver
One piece per bracelet, formed by hand from 925 sterling. Small enough to sit lightly. Solid all the way through, so there is no plating to wear thin at the edges after a season.
03
The knot
Four wraps around the standing cord, drawn down and set. Tight enough to hold where you leave it, loose enough to move when you ask it to. A machine cannot feel that tension. A person can.
04
Finishing
The silver is polished and marked, then seated on the cord last, so the mark only ever goes into something already finished. The cord ends are sealed with heat. That is why they do not fray.
Journal
Notes from the bench
@laconic