In fact, we are not unfamiliar with the concept of jewelry, which is nothing more than some expensive necklaces, rings, earrings and other such things belong to jewelry, and a large part of the population has purchased jewelry. But if you want to speak from a professional point of view is, with gold, silver and precious stones and other materials made of, and has a great value of craft products or we wear jewelry, and some very high value of the collection.
In fact, jewelry can not only represent a person’s identity or status, we can also see from the history of the development of jewelry and design style of a region, a country or even the human aesthetic pursuit of how to evolve. Even you can also from a person wearing jewelry on his character, aesthetic and some other personal qualities. So, would you be interested in the process of making those radiant jewelry pieces? Let’s talk about the process of making jewelry today.
Materials such as gemstones and gold and silver don’t really look like much until they are transformed into valuable and beautiful jewelry, and there is no way you can even associate their original shape with the finished product. In general, the process of making jewelry involves eight steps: designing the jewelry pattern, wax engraving, wax pouring, hand molding, gemstone setting, stone setting, polishing, and quality control.
Step 1: Style Design
Designing sparkling jewelry is not something that can be done in a single breath, but requires the jewelry designer to design the jewelry according to the customer’s needs, style and preferences. This process can take as little as a few days or as much as a few months. This is because it is not impossible to start all over again whenever the customer is not satisfied. But most people nowadays can’t get in touch with private customized jewelry, so a lot of the style of the jewelry is actually the jewelry brand or the jewelry designer’s own style, such as high-end luxury, and then simple atmosphere, which are all considered to be some of the style classifications.
Step 2: Wax engraving
Once the overall style of the jewelry is designed, the drawings need to be handed over to the jewelry craftsman for jewelry making. Carving the wax plate is the most demanding step in the jewelry making process, as the wax plate determines the shape of the jewelry to be made. The design of the wax plate has to be smooth and free of marks, otherwise the surface of the metal after being molded will be uneven, which will affect the aesthetics of the piece. However, nowadays, with the advancement of technology, there are many people who use CAD software to make the molding. The picture drawn in this way, the smoothness of the wax plate it produces is very high.
Step 3: Inverted Mold
If the jewelry is made in bulk, the jeweler will take the wax plate made in the previous step and make it into a silver plate and then make a gelatin film. However, in the case of customized jewelry, it is necessary to make a reverse mould. However, this step is actually quite complex, as it serves the subsequent shaping of the jewelry. In general, the molding process can be divided into five steps.
1. The making of the wax tree: the so-called wax tree is actually a lot of wax rings put onto a wax rod, which is named wax tree because it is shaped like a big tree.
2. Pouring of plaster: A stainless steel bucket is placed around the periphery of the wax tree and the plaster is poured into the gap between the bucket and the wax tree. At this time, the plaster liquid should be vacuumed, this step is to prevent air bubbles in the subsequent production of the mold. Finally, you can wait for the plaster liquid to be molded.
3. Gypsum baking: After resting, the gypsum has to be baked at high temperature in order to have a more stable form.
4. Metal casting: In this step, you need to melt the metal used at high temperature, and then pour it into the plaster mold made in the previous step.
5. Plaster mold cleaning: After the plaster shrinks, the metal solution inside is almost formed. At this time, you only need to wash off the plaster that is stuck next to the metal parts.
Step 4: Hand Forming
The surface of the molded metal will have some flaws or imperfections. At this point, the craftsman uses specialized engraving tools to rough up the surface of the metal in preparation for sanding and polishing.
Step 5: Selecting the stones
This step is essential if the piece is to be set with precious stones. Generally speaking, the quality of a stone is controlled by a number of human factors. The color and size of the stone, as well as the cutting process, have a great deal to do with the finish of the subsequent piece. Some tools such as a jewelry engraving machine and a microscope are required here.
Step 6: Setting the Gemstone
The setting of the gemstone is generally hand-carved by the jewelry artisan. The time taken for this step also depends on the complexity of the piece. If the diamonds are very small and numerous, then the time consumed in between is also more.
Step 7: Polishing
Polishing the metal is essential to make the jewelry shine.
Step 8: Quality Check
In fact, by the seventh step, the work is more than 90% complete. However, a final quality check of the finished piece is essential. If you find any problems, you can immediately make changes to minimize unnecessary losses.