Famous Jewelry Collections: THE BEADING GEM'S JOURNAL

Sunday, May 20, 2012

THE BEADING GEM'S JOURNAL

Posted: 20 May 2012 04:00 AM PDT

Enamel jewelry and art go back thousands of years. These were and still are created in many different parts of the world. Perhaps the best known form for modern jewelry makers are cloisonne beads from China. But you can also make your own.

This technique uses a kiln to fire crushed or powdered colored glass (enamel) onto metal. The heat melts the glass and fuses it to the metal. The results can be incredibly beautiful. The above drop dead gorgeous design is called Dawn Dragonfly by Marianne Hunter (Photographer : Hap Sakwa).

The Victoria and Albert Museum of Design (London, UK) has a wonderful video which shows how Jane Short created the enamelled brooch below. She uses two other styles of enamelling. The top intricate half of the design uses the champlevé technique where the glass fills the hollows or "cells" in the metal. (This is different from cloisonne work which uses wire frames). The bottom half deploys the basse-taille technique where the engraved metal is covered over with transparent enamel

Enamelled brooch by Jane Short

Close up of brooch showing the basse-taille work

Yet another technique is plique-a-jour - French for "glimpse of day". It's basically equivalent to stained glass where the enamel is suspended between wires. This is the most difficult of all the enamel techniques. The translucent effect is stunning. Art Nouveau artists like René Lalique and Louis Comfort Tiffany used this technique to design some of their masterpieces.

Below is the 1900 Lalique anemone brooch which fetched nearly $150,000 at a Sotheby's auction last year. It was created with gold and enamel plique-a-jour.

Picture Source

Jewelry Making Daily's free eBook How to Enamel Jewelry is also another excellent resource to find out more about how enameled jewelry is made. You do have to register with them (free) to get the download. The dragonfly and star designs shown above and below are by featured artists from this ebook.