Being A Goldsmith for a Day

Today I found some spare time so I decided to regale you with a tale of my adventure as an inexperienced craftsman  Few months back I got the chance to try out one of my interests - and that is; dabbling with real jewellery. I like designing and jewellery appeals to all women so here I was - in the jewellery shop where I mostly buy my accessories. My accessories have dual purpose - one it is my fashion statement, complementing my dress and completing my look and second it is a good source of investment.

I think I went off the tangent, well anyways back to the tale. The goldsmith decided to supervise me on my interest. I was happy and gave my mom a smile while nodding yes to the goldsmith. Moving to the left room I saw that it was a workstation. My mom sat on the chair care-free to watch me dabble.

We began when I finalised my decision on creating a heavy and delicate piece; pardon me - I don't know the proper terms. In a box on the table there were some coins, rings, chains and various other things. Mr.Ann a.k.a goldsmith picked out few items from the box and told my to remove the beads/stones from it - telling me that the beads/stones in this are of no monetary value thay are added in place of real diamonds and other precious stones to add wait to the finished piece and make it look good and this trick is beneficial to all the goldsmith because in this way when they sell the product it costs more than the actual value and when they buy it back they minus the added wait so they are taking it for cheaper price. The ingenuity behind it is brilliant.

This pitcher bowl is then placed on heat and I watch it burn to red liquid. I think he knows I am not a tinker fairy so I am not proficient with hammers - he! he! he! From the various molds I choose the base, quickly pouring in the molten liquid - we closed the mold and with pair if tongs put it into water I think. I am immediately hit with a geaser/steam. Pulling my masked face away from it, we pulled out the now cooled mold.

Placing it back on the table, we opened it with a bit of difficult removed the base and dumped it back into that liquid. Taking it out and placing it on the rack to cool it down. We moved to selecting the fake stones. Upto this step it seems like baking. I liked the lilac colored stones but I was told that it does not go well with gold it is better with rose gold or platinum. Let me clarify we are dealing with 21K gold here - The higher the 'K' the more bendable it is and the lower the 'K' the easier it is for the color to fade. I don't know if you know this but I learned it today that despite being a metal it is non-magnetic.

I chose?? the fake ruby and pearls. The look in Mr. Ann's eyes told me all I need to know - he was doubtful that I could create a masterpiece with both stones together but I was confident in my desicion??? Putting the pearls and stones in place. I was thought how to use the tiny hammer to to join the chain either the base and the clasp. With hot gun - atleast I think that's what's it is called but anyways using it we combined everything creating a masterpiece. Applying the polish we moved to the final step of weighing. It weighed 26.86g. I can see Mr. Ann and mom impressed, taking a pic of it and thanking Mr. Ann I told him I would be back to try working with real stones next time.

I was happy I got to try out one of interests. Two days later when I was coming back with my brother after doing grocery I saw my masterpiece being on display. Mr. Ann's store's window display was showcasing my craft! My masterpiece! Showing it to my brother, I rushed back to tell my mom. I felt so proud.