Jewellery Enamel

Jewellery enamel by Milton Bridge

Milton Bridge has produced jewellery enamel since our opening in 1982. Originally producing two ranges of enamel, our portfolio has increased over the years.

From the early 2000’s we began producing enamels for a world-wide brand producer of decorating colours, acting as a toll manufacturer for approximately 10 years.

We subsequently took ownership of that brand in November 2011. We also created a small range of lead free colours, which were developed further in the early 2000’s. In total, we manufacture approximately 500 different colours, probably the largest range of commercially available enamels in the world.

All of our enamels are produced at our factory in Stoke – on – Trent. During the past few years we have invested heavily in upgrading all of our production equipment. We have installed state of the art burner and control systems to our kilns, upgraded all of our grinding mills to a new polymer material and upgraded our sieving and ancillary equipment.

We are constantly striving to improve quality and have also made several changes to our production processes, sometimes just for specific items.

Images courtesy of Ruth Ball | www.ruthball.weebly.com

Jewellery Enamel Range

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Another long established range with origins dating back to Blythe Colours, which was established in the early 20th Century.

This range has predominantly been supplied to industry as previous owners supplied minimum units sizes of 5Kg. Milton Bridge has manufactured this range since 2003, initially as a toll manufacturer before taking ownership in November 2010. Since then we have removed the 5Kg minimum unit size and opened the range up to distributors.

However the range is still relatively unknown to craft enamellers.

Image courtesy of W H Darby Ltd | www.whdarby.co.uk

263 Series Products

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This range of jewellery enamel has origins going back to CB Latham and before that Wengers Ltd.

Wengers were first established in Stoke-on-Trent in 1870 and whilst we are not certain when Wengers began to produce enamels for metal application, it is possible that some of our current recipes were created over 100 years ago.

These enamels are highly durable and generally consistent across each range of opaque and transparent colours.

They have been manufactured by Milton Bridge since 1982. A small range of Milton Bridge jewellery enamels are manufactured without lead. These are Ideal for the Education and Hobby environment.

Milton Bridge Jewellery Enamel

This range of enamel has origins dating back to the late 19th Century. An extremely durable range of enamel, this range has proved popular with both manufacturers and jewellery artists alike.

The range consists of 61 transparent and 48 opaque colours that are complimented by distinctive ranges of 21 pastel and 11 opalescent shades.

Images courtesy of Dilys Fisher | www.rosymdesign.com

Milton Bridge & Lead Free Products

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Schauer is an old Austrian brand dating back to 1874. These enamels are manufactured in a unique way which allows for more scope in producing colour variances.

This does mean that the properties of this range can vary from colour to colour. They can also be manipulated in the firing process by over and under firing.

They are considered less durable and consistent than the Milton Bridge and 263 Series and are generally recommended for jewellery and artistic application.That said some colours are used in high volumes in the manufacturing industry.

Images courtesy of Ruth Ball | www.ruthball.weebly.com

Schauer Jewellery Enamel Products

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Milton Bridge supply a range of decorating media designed to create unusual finishing touches to your enamelling work.

Floral wafers can be adhered to an enamelled surface or placed on to an un-fired piece to produce a lovely mini flower decoration. Enamel chips and lumps can be used to create unique and interesting designs either on top of a base colour or directly on to the surface.

We also have a range of enamel threads which similarly can enhance the decoration of an enamelled piece.

Image courtesy of Dilys Fisher | www.rosymdesign.com

Decorating Media Products

Enamel pens on metal

Pre mixed and ready to go, Milton Bridge Metal Enamel Pens are perfect for adding detail to your project.

They can be applied directly on to the metal and are suspended in a medium which allows for smooth flow from the pen which will not dry out in the bottle. The liquid enamel can also be used in airbrushing. Recommended firing temperature 800ºC - 820ºC.

Metal Enamel Pens

Enamel Flux

Enamel flux is transparent enamel which is used in various ways. Most commonly flux is used as an undercoat before using coloured enamel.

Flux can also be used as a topcoat to create better clarity of colours and also to seal the work. Clear flux can also be used to ‘glue’ cloisonné wires in place.

Although some fluxes will work across the various ranges, we recommend you use fluxes from the same range of colours that you are working with.

Image courtesy of Pat Johnson | www.patjohnsonenamels.co.uk

Milton Bridge Fluxes
T200 is a base flux; recommended firing temp is 820°C
6426 is a hard base flux @ 840°C
T232 is a base flux for silver @ 780°C. Can also be used as a finishing flux
T600 is a low temp super soft flux @ 560°C. Can be used to “seal” the enamel
T700 is a stiff flux that is generally used as a base flux for fine detail work as the colours do not run
LF98 is more finely ground and similar to T700 in liquid form
T244 is a blue flux that can give more clarity to colours when used as a finishing flux

263 Series Fluxes
C1 –Gold Flux, enhances gold containing enamels such as rubies, 720 ºC - 760ºC
C2 – is a bright, clear yellow that mellows on repeated firings. Although it is classed as low firing, C2 can withstand extremely high temperatures 720 - 760ºC
C10 – Medium Base Flux 760 ºC - 800ºC

Schauer Fluxes
1W – Yellow Flux 700 ºC - 730 ºC
2A – Blue Flux 770 ºC - 820 ºC
1380 – Colourless Medium Flux 730 ºC - 770 ºC
100 – Colourless Medium Flux 730 ºC - 770 ºC
175 – Colourless Hard Flux 770 ºC - 820 ºC
1012 – Colourless Medium Flux 730 ºC - 770 ºC
6023 – Colourless Hard Flux 770 ºC - 820 ºC

Lead Free Fluxes
8100 - Normal Flux
8101 - Hard Flux
8102 - Silver Flux

 

Steel Tile

Pre-enamelled steel tiles are a perfect media for both powder and liquid enamels.

Our range of pre-enamelled steel tiles are available in groundcoat or with white enamel on one side. The total thickness is only 0.8mm which means they have low expansion and are lightweight. Suitable for both liquid and powder enamels, they are also popular for firing decals. We have a range of various different shapes and sizes available.

Steel Tiles