Fork Bracelets: The Story Behind a Custom Order

Examples of bracelets I've made from antique forks

A couple weeks ago I received one of the more interesting jewelry inquiries I've gotten over the years and couldn't wait to share more of the full story with you all now that everything's come full circle. After seeing the bracelets I make from antique forks, a woman got in touch with me to see if I could custom make one from a fork she already had on hand.

She had one her grandmother had given her with her name on the handle and was hoping I might be able to work with it in order to make it into a fork bracelet. Her grandmother had come across the fork at a thrift store and it had already been pretty badly warped along the base and marked up across the 4 tines.

Those of you that know me, know I immediately fell in love with this story and wanted to take on the challenge of transforming the mangled fork into something wearable for this customer.

Tim's been reorganizing the garage after bringing a big truck-full of heirloom and studio furniture here from my mom's house on the river, so we'd been in the process of setting up my metal bench during this time. The studio setup had been down at the river for almost 10 years, and now that Tim's working primarily from home, we thought there would be more time to use it here in Richmond. This custom request was such a timely kick in the pants to get everything set up and working.

A few days after our initial conversation about the fork, it arrived in the mail and looked like this:

Over the weekend I took the fork out to the studio, put on my trusty safety glasses and fired up the old jewelry torch to see if we could make the magic happen with this fork.

After a few healthy firings, and lots of hammering and twisting, we were beginning to get somewhere.

This fork was really substantial and really such a nice heirloom piece. It can be so special to come across something like this with an initial or monogram, much less an entire name that's the right fit.

I didn't want to diminish any of the silver plating further so wasn't able to completely smooth out the original markings across the tines of the fork, but overall I think the end result turned out pretty well:

In the end, the customer was really happy with the overall transformation and I felt a real sense of pride in being able to help further the life and story of this fun little piece.

I hadn't done much custom work on fork bracelets before, and this was a really fun experience. They make a fun gift and always generate some conversation when I wear mine. If you know of anyone looking to repair or transform a fork of their own, feel free to send them our way!

Discover More:

See the full collection of fork bracelets here