Crafting Peruvian Jewelry: How Is It Made?
Most of you must have come across breathtaking necklaces, pendants, and bracelets crafted by skilled Peruvian artisans. But have you ever thought about how they are made? If yes, then this blog is for you.
The art of Peruvian jewelry making is a skill that’s been handed down from generation to generation. It takes a lot of time, patience, hard work, and effort. In fact, the entire process can be demarcated into three parts to explain what really goes into the making of a timeless piece. Read on to know more about them.
Step 1: Cutting glass / stone / seeds
Usually, Murano glass is used to make glass Peruvian jewelry, which is molded into shape using the “lampworking” method. The artisans use silica, which turns into liquid at extremely high temperatures. After the liquid cools down, it starts to attain a solid state. This is the time when artisans get to work quickly to mold it as per their designs. At this time, the artisan may also add elements such as sodium, or coloring substances.
Murano artisans have unique tools to carve glass into jewelry, such as borselle, pontello, tagianti, and so on. The borselle does the work of tongs and helps the artisan to mold the hot glass. Pontello, on the other hand, is an iron rod on which the artisan fixes the glass while putting in additional touches and tagianti is used to cut the glass.
Step 2: Carving the gemstones
Gemstones are sourced from world-famous Peruvian mines which are then cut into smaller pieces. Mostly, these are either cut into dome-shaped gemstones which are known as cabochons, or flat raw stones called facets. After the cutting process, grinding and polishing tools are used to enhance the sheen and look of the stone.
Step 3: Putting the entire piece together
When they have the glass and gemstones ready, Peruvian artisans get to work with Alpaca wire and special hand tools to finish the project. Usually, they fall back upon jewelry pliers to get the job done. They string everything together by looking at the design or completely from memory.
It is important to remember that artisans make these jewelry pieces entirely by hand, so each piece is unique in its own right. Every finished product stands as a testament to the Peruvian artisan’s creativity and impeccable craftsmanship. As an ode to their skills, we have a wide collection of unique Peruvian jewelry pieces on our website. These are ideal for gifting and are amazing keepsakes!