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Sophie Sampson
3rd September 2008 16:39

What tools do the goldsmiths actually use?

 

Working in an office alongside the goldsmiths can be fascinating. I'm not from a jewellery background, but having made my first ring as part of my induction I now love hanging over the side of their benches watching them at work. Some of their tools are familiar shapes from carpentry, only wonderfully tiny. Other things are completely unfamiliar

This made me realise we need something that shows what all the strange tools on the goldsmith's benches actually do - if you come to Halls Green during the week you can see them being used but on a Saturday up til now you could only wonder. I had great fun finding out what everything is called - because handmaking jewellery is such an old profession many of their tools have names that have been passed down through the generations, like a triblet (you can see Richard using one below - it resembles a ring sizer but it's much sturdier as rings are actually shaped on it).

Other lovely tool words are scorifier, flux and loupe (all illustrated below).

A scorifier is used for melting down gold on the bench - if you ask us to melt down your grandfather's ring to make into a new wedding ring the goldsmith will use one of these. The flux is used during soldering - it helps the solder flow along the metal, and a loupe is a tiny x10 magnifying glass - everyone in the jewellery trade uses them to examine gemstones and find flaws too tiny to be seen with the naked eye.

So if you come to our Halls Green showroom it's possible to find out about all these and more - during the week our goldsmiths are always happy to have a chat to you about what they are doing. On a Saturday there is now a labyrinthine diagram to help you spot all the different tools and know what they do.

Sophie Sampson
 

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  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, North Barn, Fairclough Hall Farm, Halls Green, Weston, Hertfordshire, SG4 7DP, England
    Phone: +44 (0)1462 790565 Fax: +44 (0)1462 790140 enquiries@hkjewellery.co.uk
  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, 6/7 Green Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 3JU, England.
    Phone: +44 (0)1223 461333 Fax: +44 (0)1223 365269 cambridge@hkjewellery.co.uk

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