Posts Tagged ‘lampwork beads’

Lampwork Beads

Cloisonne is an enameling technique used for jewelry making. Artists take a piece of metal, usually copper although bronze and silver are used as well, and then create separate areas called cloisons with thin metal wire. The small wire filigree cloisons are soldered to the base metal. They are then filled with enamel and the subjected to extreme heat to adhere the metal permanently to the enamel. The final product is polished smooth, creating a beautiful, shiny, multi-colored effect. Creating cloisonnA jewelry takes steady hands and close attention to detail. The thin metal wire is used to made intricate designs and the enamel is carefully concocted with a mortar and pestle: fine powders are ground and purified to create vibrant colors to be place in the intricate wire designs. The enamel is poured into the cloisons with small droppers or tiny brushes.

Cloisonne was first employed as an artistic process in ancient Egypt. The first examples of cloisonnA were made from bronze and glass. These products date back to as late as 1800 BC. The Chinese used Cloisonne prolifically to embellish weapons, vases, and dishes. They often used gemstones like turquoise and jade as glazes to fill the cloisons. The height of cloissone production occurred during the Ming dynasty in the 15th century.

Today, jewelers employ cloisonnA to create beautiful pieces of jewelry. Cloisonne beads form vivid bracelets and necklaces. Cloisanne pendants make for eye-catching pieces. You can find cloisonnA in cuff bracelets, earrings, barrettes, broaches, and pins. The process of cloisonnA calls for each piece to be completely unique, each with an individual design and color scheme.