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.
by Richard W. Wise, G.G., A.S.G. ©2012 all rights reserved.