James Meyer Company Jewelry (Process)

The physical realization of a piece of jewelry is much like other pursuits…one has an idea, a vision, or perhaps a sketch of what is to be…then the question arises, how to bring it about? Like they say, dreams are cheap. Often, while thinking about a certain piece, or how to deal with a set of stones, I make sketches to “try out” different possible approaches. This process is in itself very liberating, because the drawing or watercolor can happen so easily and quickly. Then, when I have an idea of how to proceed, I have two possible routes to take to translate it into the actual metal. One is the “direct metal” method; the other is the “lost wax” process.

Melting metal and pouring it into a prepared mold is almost as old as metalworking itself, about 3000 years. When I work the wax, I form it and model it with my fingers somewhat like working clay…the wax has a wonderful flexibility and delicacy very different from the resistant metal. When the wax “model” is finished, it is enveloped in a plaster mold; then the model is “burned out” in a kiln, leaving a cavity where the wax used to be. (Hence the term “lost wax”; the art was never forgotten, but the model is destroyed in the process). Then, the molten metal (18k gold in my case) is poured into the mold, and an amazingly faithful and detailed gold replacement results. Then the casting must be finished with abrasives and gravers… other forged metal pieces may be added, such as bezels to hold the stones, or different metal colors and types.

Lost Wax Process		Casting Work

Working metal directly is as old as the hills…ancient artisans formed pieces of gold and silver and pounded it into shape to almost magical effects. And, part of the wonder of these early efforts was the “noble” quality of the material itself…metals like gold and silver which apparently resist the depredations of time.

The most remarkable thing about practicing the art of jewelry is the simplicity of it all… one works with one’s whole body, particularly the hands and eyes, to bring about the finished piece. Bits of metal can be cut, hammered, and formed, gold soldered, engraved and finished in a continuous process, pretty much as jewelers have done for hundreds of years. However, “simple” is by no means “easy” – and I suppose it is that challenge which creates an always-disappearing horizon of skill for the craftsman.