Gem Gilding Technique (Fire Gilding Technique)

Native gold in quartz is found in the form of precipitates in veins in fractures or porosity of the crystal or in the form of rutilates within the gem. In nature, however, it is very rare to find gold deposited on the smooth surface of a gem.

Over the centuries, glass and gold have been a perfect match, both for the intrinsic ability of this metal to make everything more precious, and for the refinement of the decorations that can be obtained. Similarly, and to further embellish some of my gems, I studied an innovative technique that would allow me to reproduce the alternation of warm reflections of gold and the resonances of colors and precious metals.

The technique used, which is a third fire that allows the gold particles to anchor themselves to an extremely smooth surface, allows minimal margins of error in identifying the temperature and density of the liquid support. After numerous tests and attempts, I developed a gilding technique, precisely, that allowed me to apply a layer of gold on the surface of a natural gem that I called gem gilding technique

I was inspired to create these metallic light games by the third-fire decoration, a technique that has very ancient origins and is strongly linked to artistic ceramics, where the color or lustre is applied to an object that has already undergone a first firing of the support, or bisque, and a second firing of the enamel, which has thus vitrified. In particular, precious metals such as Gold and Platinum are fired at temperatures that are, respectively, lower than those used for the third-fire application of lustre on ceramics and porcelain and slightly higher than those used for glass.

In particular, I use a solution, with a gold concentration of 999.9‰, which has a brown color, spread and cooked at temperatures suitable for obtaining the gold effect: the effect is truly elegant.