Why I made a fish hook in solid silver
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The Stade is the shingle beach at the east end of Hastings where the fishing boats come in. It is the largest beach-launched fishing fleet in Europe. The boats go out at night and come back in the morning, and they are pulled up the shingle on winches because there is no harbour. The gear that comes off them is working gear - thick rope, tar, hooks and line. Loads of texture and shapes.
I have walked past it for years. The aesthetic has always been there in the background: black and rust and bone, things built to take weather, nothing decorative about any of it. When I started thinking about a coastal collection I did not want to make an anchor. Anchors are everywhere. I wanted something that came from the Stade itself.
The object
A fish hook is already a good shape. The curve, the barb, the eye at the top. It is functional geometry, and it has not changed much in a very long time because it was perfected from the off! What I made is a fish hook scaled up to wear as a bracelet centrepiece. The barb is flattened so it sits clean against the wrist and the eye connects to a silver ring.
It is solid silver throughout. Not plated. Most hook bracelets on the market are cast in volume, finished to look like silver, and made of something else underneath. I don't see the point in that. If I am going to make a piece of jewellery it should be made of what it looks like it is made of.
The cord
The bracelet comes with black paracord, which is the same material used in parachute suspension lines and survival kit. It's strong and doesn't rot. That contrast is the piece: a hallmarked silver hook on functional cord, exactly like something you would find in a tackle box if the fisherman happened to be a silversmith.
You tie it to your own wrist with a cinch knot, or whatever knot you like. It takes a minute or two and is fun to put it together. The Hook page has a video that can guide you through that.
The making
The hook is cast from my original handmade hook in small batches, then cleaned up and filed at the bench. The barb took quite a bit of time to get right, because it has to read as a hook without being sharp enough to catch on anything. The ring is fabricated separately and the two connect through the cord.
It then goes to the London Assay Office before it comes back to me for finishing. The hallmark is struck into the metal. It is not engraved or printed and is physically impressed into the surface by the same office that has been marking London silver since the 1300s.
The first run
I am making twenty of these to begin with, and when they sell, I may make some more, or not. Let's see how it goes.
Each one comes with a length of spare cord and a second colour of your choice.
If you want one from the first run, join the list. No payment now.