Discover the art of goldsmithing

When you see a piece of jewelry and are enchanted by all its beauty, you rarely think about its creation process. There are several stages developed until the professionals responsible for its execution finish the piece. Design, cutting of precious stones, setting, polishing, etc., are just some of them. In today's post, you will learn about the art of goldsmithing, one of the steps in the production of the most beautiful jewels. Keep following!

Meet the goldsmith: the artist of precious metals

Olavo Bilac, one of the most significant Brazilian poets of the Parnassian period, in his poem “Profissão de Fé”, already said “envy the listeners” while writing, because he would like to achieve, with his work, the same perfection with which this professional carried out his activities. Well, with this representative reference, Bilac already gives us a precise idea of ​​goldsmith work.

Despite the name that designates this profession alluding to gold, the goldsmith also works with another precious metal, which is silver. Recognized since approximately 2.500 BC, goldsmithing is the art of producing refined jewels and ornaments with a great deal of detail.

Understand how a precious metal is transformed in jewelry

To begin with, the work of goldsmithing, the goldsmith buys raw materials from companies that mine and purify precious metals. Gold bars, when in their pure state, receive the inscription 999,9, which refers to their purity. In the market, it is known as 24k gold, but because it is very soft, it needs to be transformed by adding an alloy (made with copper and silver) into 18k gold so that it can be manipulated to make jewelry.

Then the gold nuggets are melted and condensed into a block. From there, the professional begins to model the piece, just as a sculptor does with marble. Dedication, patience, manual skills and artistic talent are required to produce the most beautiful jewelry.

Learn more about gold

Gold, the main raw material for goldsmithing, has played a prominent role throughout the history of civilization. Found on all continents, even in small quantities, it is chemically inactive, that is, it does not react to water, air or any corrosive substance. One of its most striking characteristics is that it can be fused with other metals and refined again, without losing any of its characteristics.

Quality

As previously mentioned, for a goldsmith to be able to handle it, an alloy is added to it, which may vary in proportion, composed of other metals such as silver, copper, zinc and palladium. And it is this proportion that will determine the gold content in a jewel. It is worth mentioning that, although there are pieces made with 10 and 14k gold, the best quality produced in Brazilian pieces is 18k, which corresponds to 75% of the yellow metal and 25% of others. Therefore, whenever you go to buy a piece of jewelry, pay attention to this detail and buy only the pieces that are developed with 18k gold.

Another interesting point to note is that yellow gold can be colored. Added to it a certain amount of other metals, we have, for example, white gold (75% yellow gold + 25% palladium).

So, did you ever imagine that so many details were necessary in the art of jewellery? If you still have any questions, write to us in the comments!

Take the opportunity to download one of our e-books with exclusive tips!