Metalsmith Newsletter

Dear metalsmithing friends,

I hope all is well with you and that you're having a great time being creative in your studio.

I came across a Sotheby's listing of two 17th century spectacles, expected to fetch several million dollars.

These spectacles are a fine and very rare example of the mastery of the Mughal Empire's jewelry artisans craftsmanship. The metal frames date back to the 19th century.

What is so unique about the spectacles, is the immense skill it took to cleave and polish the diamond lenses and the emerald lenses from the original gems weighing over 200 carats. The two diamond lenses now have a combined weight of about 25 carats.

Imagine having to carefully polish 3mm thick emerald slices. I shudder......
The lenses are beveled with facets polished on the bevel, similar to that of a gemstone girdle.

This excellent video shows the polished and the faceted edge of the lenses and the fine craftsmanship, up close.

Credit - Sotheby's

I can highly recommend the Detailed Catalogue Notes on the Sotheby's Auction Listing, which makes for fascinating reading about the technical analysis and history on these Mughal spectacles.

A hallmark of classic jewelry is the the use of many accent gemstones set in individually crafted collets.

That inspired me to make a flower basket brooch, which encompasses several techniques, such as soldering domed shapes together, brooch catch and hinge making and then the making of different collets for all the gemstone shapes.

Metalsmith Newsletter - Classics - Flower Basket Brooch Tutorial

In keeping with the classic theme, I have added several new collet making tutorials.

Collets are an important foundation of jewelry designs. Various collets are available from your jewelry supply house, but I always encourage metalsmither's to at least learn the basics of collet making.

This classic six prong collet is a good baseline to start making your own collets. This free tutorial is available on my website.