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The Making of a Masterpiece VI (Part 2)

Ancient Technique of Sand Casting:

Truly handmade jewelry is made in the ancient manner using the metal itself.

Modern commercial and some so-called handmade pieces are actually carved in wax and then cast using the cire perdue or lost wax process. The more ancient method is sand casting. The approach is similar, a model is made and it is impressed into a crucible. In each case the molten gold is poured into a vacancy. Once a mold is made, lost wax can be used to produce multiples.

The total time required for Michael Corneau to produce the Peacock Pendent was 212 hours. This did not count, of course, the time spent developing the concept, discussion and selection of gemstones.

Sand casting the peacock’s body: Molten gold is poured into the depression made by removing the model from the sand.

Setting the gems: Once the feathers have been dapped out and soldered together and the cast body has been finished and soldered to the tail, gem setting can begin, the method is known as thread and bead setting.Peacock Pendant: Micro view, all gems set.

The Making of a Masterpiece VI (part 1)

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22k/18k hand fabricated Peacock Pendant. The piece is accented with two black opals from the Moonshine Field at Lightning Ridge as well as rubies, sapphires, natural Mississippi pearls and spessartite garnets. Designed and handmade by R. W. Wise, Goldsmiths, Michael Corneau, designer/craftsman.

by Richard W. Wise, G.G., A.S.G.

What is art and is the work of the goldsmith an art at all or merely a craft? This is an ancient debate. Some would argue that the use of precious materials, as opposed to more mundane materials, such as paint and canvas disqualifies the metalsmith and his product from the status and stature of the fine artist. Jewelry is all about the materials, gold, platinum, gemstones, design being viewed as a secondary concern. The objective of the goldsmith, is to decorate the body and decoration is not art.

That the piece pictured left is decorative cannot be denied. Its inspiration hails from the Art Nouveau Movement (1900-1910), with a design iconography that evolved out of the Arts & Crafts Movement, which paradoxically stressed the use of simple non-ostentatious materials and hand craftsmanship. Like Arts & Crafts jewelry, Art Nouveau jewelry utilized naturalistic design, but whereas Arts & Crafts practitioners emphasized the use of unusual and relatively mundane non-precious materials, Art Nouveau eschewed the ideological and abandoned the mundane but retained the emphasis on the naturalistic embracing a a more feminine, sensuous vocabulary partially through the use of precious materials.

It is no mistake that the Art Nouveau Period parallels what has become known as The Gilded Age—neither saw anything wrong for sumptuous decoration for its own sake. Plato reduced art to beauty. Is decoration art or is it something else, I guess you will have to decide.

As is often the case, we began with a client, a magnificent pair of black opals and an idea. We worked with the client over several months. The following images illustrate far better than any words the development of the concept.

Birth of A Concept:

The concept began with a pair of black opals the two peacocks, a perennial part of the Art Nouveau design lexicon. The peacock has been used as a symbol from the time of the ancient Greeks. However, in this case, it seemed particularly useful as a naturalistic excuse to show off the the bird’s plumage using a rainbow of colored gemstones.

Second Preliminary sketch.

Completed sketch

Accenting Color

Finding accents for gem opal is always a challenge. Very few gemstones find a simpatico with opal. In this case; ruby and blue sapphire worked very well, picking up the corresponding hues in the opals, but when it came to the orange tones in the opal, orange sapphire and diamond simply did not work. The only gemstone that the opal would accept was spessartite garnet. Here is the preliminary

layout: In the next post, I’ll share some more images including the steps involved in the hand manufacture of this beautiful pendant. Stay tuned…

News From Our Workshop

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Handmade Originals

By Richard W. Wise, G.G.

Well, we are home and back in the saddle again. I am sure that you are all heartily sick of images of us having fun in the sun but, Rio, St. Helena’s, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and Kenya: what a great trip.

One good reason to come home, a chance to see two beautiful new creations from the workbench of Laurie Donovan. These handmade original rings are made using a technique we call “floral appliqué”.

The Inspiration:

The design inspiration is drawn from Ukiyo-e or Japanese woodblock printing. The Ukiyo-e style began to influence Western art shortly after the island empire was pried open by Commodore Perry in 1855. In Japan, Ukiyo-e was originally a cheap reproducible art form aimed at the masses, so cheap that these prints originally found their way to Europe, stuffed into crates, as packing material. It wasn’t long before the Ukiyo-e style began to have a strong impact on Western art, inspiring the Art Nouveau movement along with such disparate souls as Gaugan, Van Gogh and Frank Lloyd Wright. (image right: 19th Century Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock print with stylized leaves)

Ring #1,The Design:

Ukiyo-e provides an excellent point of departure for the Spectrum Award winning artist to demonstrate her lyrical mastery of line. In her experienced hand the jeweler’s saw becomes as versatile as an artist’s pencil. (image left: Ms. Donavan cuts individual petals from gold sheet with jeweler’s saw) The choice of colored golds, in this case yellow and white, provide a subtle counterpoint. The shank of the ring is in 18k white with a sanded finish. This finish adds depth and allows the polished yellow leaves to standout sufficiently to echo and complement the vivid scintillation of the Fancy Vivid Yellow and colorless (D-VS2) diamonds.

The Gems:

Exceptionally brilliant, these Fancy yellows have a slight orangy secondary hue (FVoY). Vivid Yellows will almost always read as either slightly orange or slightly greenish. The orange secondary hue is much to be desired because it adds a sense of sunny warmth. (pictured right, original parcel of FVoY from which these stones were taken)

Ring #2, Design & Gems:

Ms Donovan constructed the second floral appliqué ring of green gold with rose colored appliquéd flower petals. Again the artist draws inspiration from the highly stylized Ukiyo-e designs. Each individual rose gold petal
is unique and beautifully frames the diamond to complete the blossom. These two colored golds are sufficiently exotic to stand up against the combined scintillation of three ideal cut round (D Vs2) diamonds. The green gold is cool, the rose warm. Note the artist has pierced the center section of the design to open it up and give it a lighter feeling. The green gold shank has been sand finished to maximize the contrast and bring out the color of the delicate rose colored petals.

Custom Design; From Concept to Completion:

We have specialized in custom design since our company was formed in 1978. We stand ready to work with you.

Rings in the floral appliqué style can also be made with other gemstones (yours or ours) by custom order. We have been working with contented clients for 28 years. Prices start at about $2,000.00 for a ring in 18k and vary depending upon the complexity of the design. As always the pieces are designed around and for the stones and we create several life-size sketches from which to choose your own unique design. If the first sketches don’t please you we will do more. There is never an extra charge for our creative services.

Visit our online gallery; www.rwwise.com. and send us an email richard@rwwise.com or call us toll free at 800.773.0249 (413.637.1589 in Berkshire County, or outside the U.S.).

Hours; Dead of winter: Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10-5 (EST). Leave a message and we will call you back.

Interested in reading more about real life adventures in the gem trade? Follow me on gem buying adventures in the exotic entrepots of Burma and East Africa. Visit the gem fields of Austrailia and Brazil. 120 photographs including some of the world’s most famous gems. Consider my book: Secrets Of The Gem Trade, The Connoisseur’s Guide To Precious Gemstones.

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Charles Lewton-Brain, Orchid

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