Enamel and color
Enamels, patinas, gilding, electroplating and everything that colors metal.
15 entries
Techniques
Cloisonné: enamel in cells
Cloisonné divides the design into cells with metal wires and fills them with enamel; a Byzantine, Chinese and Japanese technique for jewelry and vessels.
Techniques
Damascening
Damascening inlays gold and silver wires into steel with fine grooves; a tradition of Toledo and the Islamic world for jewelry, weapons and objects.
Techniques
Electroplating: gold, silver and rhodium baths
Electroplating coats a piece with a thin layer of another metal by electrolysis: gold, silver and rhodium baths; steps, thicknesses and care.
Materials
Enamel
Vitreous enamel is powdered glass fused onto metal at high temperature; it gives intense, lasting colors in techniques such as cloisonné.
Techniques
Enameling: techniques and process
Enameling fuses powdered glass onto metal; techniques (cloisonné, champlevé, basse-taille, plique-à-jour, painted) and steps to enamel a piece.
Techniques
Etching and photo-etching
Etching corrodes metal with acid or electricity in the unprotected areas to create designs and relief; photo-etching uses a photosensitive film.
Techniques
Gilding: fire, leaf and electrogilding
Ways to gild a metal: fire gilding with mercury (historic and toxic), gold leaf, electrogilding and depletion gilding.
Jeweler's dictionary
Jewelry finishes glossary: polish, satin, patina…
Surface finishes explained: roughing, sanding, polishing, buffing, satin, matte, brushed, textured, patina and mirror polish.
Jeweler's dictionary
Jewelry workshop chemistry: pickle, flux, patinas and what not to mix
The chemicals of a jewelry workshop (pickle, flux, liver of sulfur, degreasers, plating baths) and which products must never be mixed.
Techniques
Keum-boo: gold foil on silver
Keum-boo, a Korean technique, joins 24-karat gold foil to fine silver with heat and pressure, without solder, for a gold-on-silver finish.
Techniques
Mokume-gane: wood-grain metal
Mokume-gane fuses layers of different metals with heat and pressure and works them to draw wood-like grain; a Japanese technique of the 17th century.
Techniques
Niello: the black that makes the engraving stand out
Niello fills an engraving with a black mix of metallic sulfides melted in; it gives strong contrast on silver and has been used since Roman times.
Techniques
Plique-à-jour: enamel without a backing
Plique-à-jour is translucent enamel in cells with no base, letting light pass like a miniature stained-glass window; typical of Art Nouveau jewelry.
Design
The color of metals
What color is each metal in jewelry: yellow, white and rose gold, silver, platinum, copper, brass, steel and titanium. Color chart and quick answers.
Design
The coloring of metals
How metal is given color in jewelry: anodizing, patinas, PVD, enameling, heat treatments and electroplating, with their processes.