Lately I’ve been thinking that there’s a fair bit of truth to the old proverb “if you live by the sword, you die by the sword.” You see, mokume gane is killing me. I might well be talking about a murderous anime character, but I’m actually referring to an ancient (and fiendishly difficult) technique developed by Japanese sword makers to impart dazzling wood grain patterns to the surfaces of their blades. Mildly insane goldsmiths – that would be me – have adopted this technique to create stunning works of jewellery. All it takes is endless hours of pounding and soldering layers of metal into billets which are then cut, twisted, filed, or otherwise tortured into exposing the beautiful patterns within.

Mokume gane is hard to learn: a few extra seconds of heat and you end up with a pile of lousy and expensive junk. It’s also taking a toll on my body, as the endless pounding of silver, copper, gold, or platinum sheets leaves my hands throbbing and my ears ringing.

Mokume gane is hard to master. But I’m harder.

Young Kyoung Ko

As a jeweller, you often don’t know what you’ll be doing that day or what job is going to come in.

Someone recently brought me this 15 year old Zuni bangle. It has tiny pieces of  turquoise epoxied in and after 15 years, the epoxy is breaking down and loosening up. Stones are already missing.

It’s not a difficult repair just tiny and time consuming. I have removed the turquoise and epoxy but seeing as    I’ve decided to reuse the tiny turquoise pieces attempting to get every bit of epoxy off  has been difficult. I couldn’t save all of it so I’ve had to find a perfect color match to add some more pieces.

Now I just need to decide on a durable epoxy and reset them….

Quincy @ Quincy Jewels & Design

Hi everyone! It’s my turn to blog for this week! I would like to keep you guys updated about what I have been doing recently. First of all, I want to show my student’s final projects from Introduction to Fabrication class.

Amanda always finds that the bangles she has bought never fit her quite right; therefore, she decided to make herself one. The plate riveted on top of the surface will be engraved with a special message.

Alynne made herself a ring which was inspired by her vintage jewellery. Even though the fabrication of the ring was a little complex for a beginner, Alynne certainly conquered the challenge!

Now, I will share some of the process of an upcoming piece I am making for a group show that our studio is making inspired by “Red.”  I finalized my ideas into three containers which are related childhood stories. I will use different media such as polymer clay, resin and objects to create the imaginary world that the stories gave us while we were children.
Tomorrow is Mother’s day! Has everyone decided what to do with your lovely mother? If you don’t want to do an ordinary event, our studio has mother’s day workshops: cuttle fish casting or bangle design! There are still spaces, but not too many left!! Hurry up!

Have a Good Weekend!
– ChiaChien-

Repairs can be the bane of every jewellers existence but sometimes they turn out so well that they are worth the effort. To many in the jeweller field repairs mean accept with caution and handle with extreme care. Items brought in for repair often have sentimental value and little else; yet they often end up being the hardest pieces to work on. You never know how they were made, what materials were used and what has already been done to them in the quest to fix the piece over and over.

Ok that is the downside of repairs but there is an upside. The ring below is a perfect example. It was a custom ball bearing ring in 14K yellow gold with a smokey quartz donut set on top and a diamond set into the top of the donut. Both myself and the customer were thrilled with the piece. Through an unfortunate accident the ring was dropped on a marble floor causing the smokey quartz donut to shatter. So the dilemma ensued what to do with this sad looking ring. After consultation we decided to remake the top with a neutral looking gemstone. I brought a few options to the table and my client chose white moonstone. Now that the ring is finished with the new stone, it is as if the piece has been given a new lease on life. Now I wait for it to leave my hands for her finger where it can be shown off and admired as a new piece, for the second time.

The moral of the story. Repairs don’t always have to be boring. Sometimes they breath new life into a piece and restore valauble memories to the owner.

Gillian

Well this is it, my last blog post. I have finished my co-op placement at Jewel Envy and tomorrow is my last day. Last week the studio took me out for Thai food for my goodbye dinner and after working at the studio for 6 months it is a little sad to say goodbye. I have gained so many valuable skills while at the studio and I am really grateful to have had this opportunity. Doing this co-op has made me realise just how much I love to make jewellery and it is definitely something that I want to pursue in the future. So where am I going from here? well in September I will attending the Ontario College of Art and Design and I will see where that takes me in the future. I know that all I have been taught here by all the designers at the studio will be a great help to me while at university, especially if I stick with my decision to study jewellery design. Well I guess this is goodbye. I want to thank everyone at the studio for all they have taught me, I promise to visit and keep in touch. Bye 🙂  

                                                                                                            -Laura

Hello,
My name is Kathryn Rebecca.
I recently had the pleasure of joining Jewel Envy Studio. I graduated from George Brown College in 2007 and have since been working in the industry.

I am so excited to finally be a part of a studio and creating items for my new collection.  This new collection is inspired by the beauty of Muskoka and the urban landscpape of Toronto. I have been working hard to complete the collection for fall 2010. This collection first began with the piece below. It was one of the last projects I did while studying at George Brown College.

I loved creating this piece which has inspired me to develop more pieces in the same type of style.

I look foward to sharing my progress with you!

*Kathryn

(i bet your singing the sympathy for the devil song..woo hoo, woo hoo)
(well, if you weren’t you are now! hehe)

Hi, my name is Sarah.I have recently moved back to Toronto after a five year hiatus. I discovered jewel envy studio while still in Ibiza, met with Gillian just three days after arriving and have been happily working away ever since.

I am currently developing my magic mushroom line (its really colourful and fun) as well as my chocolate chip cookie line.

You can check out my jewellery at www.sarahdegasperis.com
or at the jewel envy website.

ciaoooo