Knitted wire, also termed wire knitting or Viking knit in one of its more popular contemporary variants, is a textile-style metalworking technique in which fine precious or base-metal wire is interlooped on itself by hand or machine to produce a flexible tubular or flat structure. The technique has roots in early mediaeval Scandinavia, from which the modern revival took its name, and has been used in modern jewellery for chains, bracelet bodies, ring shanks and decorative bezels. It is one of several wirework families that include also chain-mail, kumihimo with wire, French knitting, crocheted wire and braided wire.

Method

In its hand form, the maker uses a small dowel as a working mandrel and forms a starting petal of wire loops at one end. Successive rows of loops are pulled through the previous row using a tapestry needle or fine hook, building up a tubular structure that grows downward along the mandrel. As the work proceeds, the tube is periodically drawn through a wooden draw plate of decreasing aperture sizes to compress and regularise the loops, which simultaneously work-hardens the wire and produces the characteristic close, herringbone-like surface of the finished piece. Machine knitting on industrial circular knitters of the type used for fine textile mesh produces a similar result at scale and is the basis of the commercial knitted-wire mesh used in industrial filtration as well as in jewellery.

Materials and gauge

Hand-knitted wire is most commonly worked in fine silver, sterling silver, 18-carat or 14-carat gold, or copper. Wire gauge runs from 28 to 32 American Wire Gauge for fine work, with 26 to 28 for heavier bracelet-weight chains. Argentium silver, a germanium-modified alloy, is increasingly favoured for hand wire knitting because of its tarnish resistance and its work-hardening behaviour, both of which suit the repeated draw-down step. Gold-filled wire is used as an economical substitute for solid 14-carat gold in larger pieces.

Use in jewellery

The principal applications of knitted wire in modern jewellery are flexible tubular chains, often left as plain rope or finished with cones and end-caps to terminate; supple bracelets and necklaces in which a knitted-wire body is gem-set with end pieces and a central focal stone; and decorative ring shanks, where a length of fine knitted wire is set inside an open gallery to provide visual texture against a polished metal frame. The technique is also used for sculptural and statement neckpieces in studio jewellery, where the textile-like drape of the work is its principal visual character.

Care

Knitted-wire jewellery requires careful cleaning, since the textured surface readily traps soap residue, perfume and skin oils. Steam cleaning is preferred over ultrasonic, which can cause individual loops to deform or unravel at stress points. Fine-silver and sterling-silver knitted pieces tarnish rapidly along the interior of the loops where polishing cloths cannot reach, which is the principal argument for Argentium when long-term presentation is important.