S925 Silver Openwork Leaf Open Ring

Leaves are an old subject in jewellery. The Western Art Nouveau movement took them as far as they go, coiling the curves of stem and vein one around another. In Chinese traditional pattern the leaf is mostly a supporting player — scrolling lotus, cut sprays — the leaf holding up the flower and unable to stand alone. This piece takes the leaf out on its own as the subject, which is the Western approach. The veins gather from the stem towards the tip, the midrib straight, the side veins slanting. Made too realistically a leaf looks like a specimen; pulled back a little, it looks like jewellery.

Piercing is sawing first, filing after. The leaf's flesh is cut away from a sheet of silver, leaving the midrib and a few side veins; more is removed than kept, so the finished piece is light and also fragile. The side veins must be even in width — thick looks clumsy, thin breaks. Sawing starts with a small drilled hole, the saw blade threaded through, then the cut follows the drawn line. Saw edges are filed round and then polished; anywhere the polisher cannot reach stays black, which is tolerable on the back but means reworking on the front. Polishing a thin sheet is the hard part — press and it bends.

The opening is left on the stem side, tucked into the line of the stem so it does not show unless you look. The size adjusts, so even a finger with thick joints will go in — the most solid advantage of an open ring. The drawback is strength: the pierced area deforms under pressure, so do not use it to pry anything hard, and when taking it off hold the stem rather than the leaf. The two ends of the opening are filed to round tips, which do not catch clothing. The two sides of the opening are asymmetric, one wider than the other, deliberately.

Either hand. On the index finger it looks brisk, on the ring finger delicate, on the middle finger steadiest. It layers well with a thin band, with a little space between the two rather than pressed together. Fingers swell in summer, and the allowance at the opening is exactly for that. Worn on the index finger with the leaf towards the back of the hand, you see it whenever you raise your hand. When layering, keep the leaf tip away from another ring's stone.

The pierced areas collect dirt; hand wash and hand cream lodge in the gaps between the veins. Brush lightly with a soft brush and a little neutral detergent, rinse, and press dry with a cloth — not kitchen paper, whose fibres catch on the pierced corners. If the dirt in the gaps has hardened into lumps, soften it first, then brush; do not dig at it.