Sterling Silver 7mm Solid Oval Bangle

A solid bangle is a single closed form with no clasp and no join to work loose. This one is oval in plan rather than circular — shaped to the cross-section of the wrist rather than to a drawing compass.

The wrist is an oval, not a circle. A bangle shaped to match it sits still instead of rotating, which keeps the widest part of the band on top where it is seen, and stops a heavy bangle sliding down over the hand when the arm hangs.

This one is sterling silver, 7 mm in section and solid throughout — not hollow-formed. Section is what keeps a bangle round: a thin bangle goes oval the first time it is knocked, and once oval it never passes over the hand the same way again.

Choosing a size. Sizes here are inside diameters in millimetres. To find yours, tuck your thumb into your palm as though putting the bangle on, measure around the widest part of the closed hand with a tape or a strip of paper, and divide that circumference by 3.14. A 60 mm bangle needs a hand circumference of about 188 mm to pass over. Round up rather than down — a solid bangle cannot be opened to get it on.

Specification

• Metal: sterling silver (925)
• Width: 7 mm
• Construction: Solid, closed — no hinge or clasp
• Section: Oval in plan
• Finish: Polished
• Sizes: 60mm, 64mm, 67mm, 70mm inside diameter
• Sold as: Single bangle

Sterling silver is 925 parts per thousand fine silver, the balance copper. The copper is what makes it workable — fine silver on its own is too soft to hold a form — and it is also why sterling tarnishes: the copper reacts with sulphur in the air. Tarnish is a surface film, not corrosion. It polishes off with a silver cloth and the metal beneath is unchanged.

Servicing. A solid bangle of this section can be gently re-rounded by a jeweller if it is knocked out of true, which is not possible with a hollow one. Store silver closed — a box or a zip bag — when it is not being worn. Tarnish is driven by air rather than by wear, so the pieces that sit in the open are the ones that darken first.