This article was first published in the November 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
The workbench is crammed with hundreds of instruments, including pairs of pliers and jars of acid for cleaning gold objects blackened by soldering flames. The Plasticine and wax stuck to the table's edge are used to make replicas of gems to be mounted on pieces of jewellery. "It's to understand the dimensions and make a collet [the socket where a stone is lodged] of the right size," explains master goldsmith Karen Avakian.
Bentley & Skinner's central London jewellery workshop is a lesson in accuracy. Three goldsmiths wearing 10x magnification goggles sift through a rack of small tools. "We adapt many of the tools ourselves, depending on what we need. For instance, when you bend these pliers to a certain angle, you get a very different function," explains Avakian. He is converting two Victorian silver brooches into earrings.
Founded in 1881 as Skinner & Co, the firm has earned a reputation as a centre for goldsmithing innovation. "We take commissions to make jewels and other objects," says B&S jeweller Ilias Kapsalis. "We manufactured Damien Hirst's skull [For The Love of God, 2007]." To make the piece -- a platinum skull encrusted with human teeth and 8,601 diamonds -- Avakian says he had to use a laser welding machine, because a regular solderer would not have provided great enough precision. A second-generation goldsmith, he explains that the laser is one of the few pieces of modern tech in the workroom.
"This workshop looks pretty much the way it would have looked 50 or 100 years ago: same tools, same methods," he says.
Tools
Goldsmithing tools resemble surgical instruments -- and share the need to achieve high levels of precision. "Once, I made a silver mermaid smaller than my thumbnail," Avakian says. "Etching the nipples was excruciating." Whether the purpose is gauging, dividing or polishing, each utensil has to couple strength with gentleness, to avoid breaking or deforming the delicate pieces. The iron head of the tiny hammer is coated in rubber. Another mallet's head is made from rolled pig skin: it is used with the graduated iron rod to beat rings into shape. "It's not soft, but it's light enough not to damage the jewel," Avakian explains.
Laser welding machine
This machine is used to unite tiny components, and fill dents on the surface of a piece of jewellery with quickly molten gold or silver. "You add some gold wire on top of the jewel, and it'll zap and solder them instantly," says Avakian. The beam of this machine can be narrowed down to a diameter of 0.2 millimetres.
Mill
These mills are used to transform molten metal -- or leftover scraps of solid gold and silver - into wire, which makes it easier to work with. "The mills are the first step in a long process," Avakian says. "Once you get the wire, you pass it through dies to give it a certain shape, or you use a vice to curl it into a ring."
Goldsmith's table
The workbench is crammed with hundreds of instruments, including pairs of pliers and jars of acid for cleaning gold objects blackened by soldering flames. The Plasticine and wax stuck to the table's edge are used to make replicas of gems to be mounted on pieces of jewellery. "It's to understand the dimensions and make a collet [the socket where a stone is lodged] of the right size," explains Avakian.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
