Week 3
End of the leaf project:
Last week I finished the whole structure of the leaf project. Now I had to complete the last step which consists in giving it an organic texture using engraving.
Having started engraving courses last week, I was introduced to the task and now was able to apply it directly to a real piece. The first task was to stick the piece to a wooden stick with some red wax on top of it. That allows us to hold the piece steadily as well as move its position easily when needed. (See leaf picture 1)

I started by giving an even texture to the whole piece using the “rigatto” technique. It consists in creating thin pointy lines all over the piece. The idea is to shake the engraving left to right with a slight move of the wrist, while following a straight line. I covered the first half of the leaf going from the bottom to the top, and from to bottom for the second half of the leaf. Once the whole surface covered, I repeated the process on the opposite direction to over cross the first engraving. The result gives a shiny aspect that looks almost like tiny stones are set on the surface of the piece. (See leaf pictures 2&3)

I then continued by drawing main lines on the piece with a black pen to reproduce the natural lines of a leaf. This was the trickier part. The idea was to engrave on the top of the precedingly created pattern and reproduce the lines that I drew with the pen. The difficult part was not to let the first pattern led the engraver to a different direction than the one needed. After a few mistakes and fails, I came out with a satisfying result with the support of the teacher. I took the piece out of the stick and let it a few hours in alcohol to get rid of the wax and clean the space between the engraving patterns. Last step was to put it in the ultrasonic for a final cleaning. (See leaf pictures 4&5)

Beginning of ring project
We are starting a new project which is a large ring that will include engraving and stone setting. I started by melting silver scraps, clean the silver and shape into one silver sheet 1.5mm thick and about 8mm long, and a silver square wire of a 3mm width and 1.5mm thickness thanks to the rolling mill and the draw bench. (See ring picture 1)

I then cut the silver sheet at the right proportions and started hammering the inside to give it a curved shape. (See ring picture 2) The next step was to use the ring sizer to round it to the right finger size, mine is size S. After adapting it to my size and giving it a perfect round shape, I soldered the extremities together and cleaned this part with sandpaper and files. (See ring picture 3)

At the same time, I started doing the two side rings that will be soldered to the main part later. With half-round pliers, I gave it a perfect round shape of the same exact dimension. The came filing and sanding again. (See ring picture 4)

After the soldering I realised how large was the ring, so I decided to make it narrower. With a compass following the borders of the ring, I traced two lies on each side of the ring at 2mm of the border of the ring to maintain the even shape of the inside curve of the ring. Then following the lines, I cut off the excess of metal and cleaned the sides with sandpaper again. (See ring pictures 5&6)

This whole process took me longer than expected, I will carry it on next week.

Design course
We had our first design course today. As an introduction course, we talked a lot and drew only for an hour.

The teacher started by introducing herself and her background in jewellery. She showed us most of her design work which consists of 2D-3D drawings, colour pencil drawings, gouache paintings etc. She also detailed her journey in the industry and answered our questions about more specific topics of the industry. She also detailed how the lessons are going to be divided throughout the year. Furthermore, she let us think about some specific topics that she could prepare for future lessons that would attract us more specifically.

On the last hour, we created a technical drawing of a bow she had with her, to give us basic notions of what a technical drawing for a client should include. The main thing was to create a top view, a side view and a perspective view to give as much insight and understanding to the client asking for a piece. The important thing was to maintain the right proportions and dimensions for what we used milli metered paper. (See pictures design 1&2)