The Rich History of Jewelry Made With Mokume Gane
If you’ve ever chanced across Mokume Gane Rings and other jewelry, it likely wasn’t a picture easily forgotten about. This charming form of metalwork possesses an undulating, arresting presence that sets it apart from the classic looks of gold, silver and platinum.
To explore the beautiful work of a true Mokume artist, stop by www.ChrisPloof.com. Chris’ jewelry is popular for women and mens wedding rings and numerous other special occasions. Chris Ploof also creates jewelry with Damascus steel and meteorites. He’s truly from another universe.
Mokume gane is a form of mixed-metal laminate, where soft metallic elements and alloys combine to produce the unique look. When the metals are melted down, they create liquid phase diffusion bonds that will not completely melt. The eye-catching look of Mokume gane is produced when a skilled artist manipulates the material to create a final product. Because of the various ways to merge metals and the individual methods each artist uses, you can be confident that no two Mokume gane jewelry pieces are identical.
Mokume gane has been called kasumi-uchi, translating to “cloud metal” and itame-gane, translating to “wood-grain metal.” These translations are fitting, as the never-ending variations of Mokume gane are as varied as the clouds themselves.
The process came from in 17th century Japan. Mokume gane artists made their living creating lavish sword fittings for samurai, but when weaponry modernization reached Japan, these artists had to find a different way to utilize their capabilities. Their resolution was to create decorative pieces as a substitute. Over the years, gold, copper silver, shakudo, shibuichi, and kuromido were used, while modern Mokume gane methods employ such metals as titanium, platinum, iron, brass, bronze, sterling and nickel silver and assorted colors of karat gold.
The technique of Mokume gane is quite complicated, and only proficient artists can confidently ply the trade. Ordinarily the modern Mokume gane artist will use specialized equipment to laminate Mokume. After a process of heating and clamping layers of metals, a billet is created. A billet is simply a block of metal. This billet is then forged, rolled and otherwise manipulated to come up with the patterns.
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