Jewellery has been an important part of our culture and society for a very long time. Some people wear jewellery items to enhance their beauty while certain jewellery items are associated with the status symbol of a person in society. Over the years, several jewellery designs have been introduced in the market, some of which are still popular while some have faded away with time. Even though jewellery has been a part of our day to day lives, very few know about the actual process of jewellery making. The process of fabrication of jewellery is an extensive process which can only be done by experts and skilled individuals. It takes a lot of effort to give the jewellery items the shape and designs to make it look attractive. Our goldsmiths work hard and work carefully to produce each individual piece of jewellery. Here is a sneak peak into the process of jewellery making.
A bracelet sketch is first produced by the designer who designs the jewellery. This sketch must take into consideration the proportion of all parts of the jewellery including the metal and stone. A jewellery model made of wax is produced by the artisans based on the sketch. This model is made a little bigger in size to compensate for the shrinkage that takes place during fabrication. This model is then encased in an investment material and is subjected to wax burnout after the material has set. The resultant mould is filled with silver to produce a shrunken version of the wax model. A rubber mould is then created using silver model and hot wax is injected into the mould to get a wax model that is exactly the size and shape of the jewellery that has been designed. This model is again encased in an investment material where the wax is burnt out and replaced by melted gold or other metal of choice. This is how each part of the jewellery, be it a diamond bracelet or wedding rings hatton garden, are made.
Alternatively, the goldsmiths may also heat up the metal and then work on it using different tools to shape them by a method called die striking.
After all the parts of the diamond bracelet are obtained, they are carefully soldered to each other using a metal which has a lower melting point than the jewellery metals. Then the gems are inserted into the bracelet by skilled craftsmen who must very carefully adjust the setting to accommodate the gem securely and squarely in an even plane so as to get a uniform look. If the bracelet has prong setting then the craftsman has to insert the gem into the setting and bend the prongs to secure the stone like it is done for Hatton Garden Engagement Rings. Bezel setting and semi bezel settings are more complicated to work with. After the stones have been set, the piece of jewellery is lightly polished with jeweller’s rouge and cotton by hand so as to make it sparkle and shine.