[Jewelry making - Article 00116] - Re: [Orchid] Gesswein Colorit enameling unit

[Allan Heywood]

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>       Personally, I think that the public has moved way beyond
>     restricting  their definition of enamels all being vitreous. 

    OK Red, I take your point and will be more specific "the
    jewellery-buying public". 

>     The public is of the  belief that that they can have their cars
>     enameled for a couple/few hundred dollars. 

    The public believe many things - what they are given to understand
    is another thing. 25 years ago when I worked for Ford they used
    "acrylic enamels" on cars;  I made some pretty flash cufflinks on
    Henry's time using it. The qualifier was "acrylic". If the public
    ever thought about it (highly unlikely I admit) they had the
    information to deduce that the stuff on their cars was a plastic
    film. There was never any danger they would think it was glass that
    had been melted onto the car body. 

>     School ring manufacturers have been using plastics for years. 

    And selling it as what?  As far as I've been able to determine (and
    I'd welcome better information if anyone has it) the US auto industry
    advertising gurus began the practice of calling any shiny suface
    coating "enamel" in the 1920's.  The badge industry now sells via
    the WWW  "warm enamel", "cold enamel", "soft enamel"  as well as
    occasionally "hard enamel" (which may or may not be vitreous enamel),
    "baked enamel" which is generally plastic, "french enamel" (the mind
    boggles at that one!) and so on. 

>     Give it up now. 

    Just because a deceptive practise is widespread is no reason to roll
    over and cop it mate - although the use of plastics instead of
    vitreous enamel by unsuspecting or lazy manufacturers provides me
    with a small but useful proportion of my yearly income.   I get a
    couple of pieces of outrageously expensive jewellery every month to
    "re-enamel" from devasted Australians who've paid big bikkies in New
    York, London or Paris for what they assumed was vitreous enamelled
    pieces (generally cufflinks) for their loved one, and from which the
    "enamel" had fallen out. Not been knocked out but fallen out.  And it
    falls out because it shrinks on curing. 

    These aren't chain store items - two of them were US $ 750-800 pairs
    of cufflinks. 

>     If you are using vitreous enamels, you need to say it out loud and
>     allow for the general use of the word "enamel". The paint stores
>     sell plenty of it. 

    And the people who buy that paint are neither expecting, nor paying
    for, a tin of fused glass. 

    Historically, buyers/commissioners of enamelled jewellery,
    hollow-ware etc have expected that they would end up owning an item
    that had coloured glass fused to it via a complex chemical bond, and
    that the appearance of the item would with ordinary care last
    virtually unchanged for hundreds if not thousands of years. 

    Much beautiful work was done with resins during the 1970's and
    1980's.  Take a trip to one of the institutions that purchased some
    of these pieces and see how many you can find on display today.  Ask
    the curator why they are not on public view. If you get the chance,
    examine the work closely. 

>      During my first six years on the bench, I seem to have become
>     frozen  into certain ways of doing things. Many methods that I
>     found others  using or attempting, I thought "improper". Big
>     mistake. 

    Yep, it's something you've gotta watch out for alright -
    ossification that is. Red mate,  I use these and other resin systems
    daily in my work, which is the repair and restoration of (mainly)
    antique vitreous enamels.  But only if I can't pull the piece apart
    and rebuild it using vitreous enamel. And I always tell the client
    exactly what it is they are getting for their dollar, and how they
    can expect it to perform in their particular circumstances. 

    I don't think the use of these materials is at all improper - I've
    worked with 'em for 33+ years. What is improper/immoral/deceptive/ is
    to imply that they are something they ain't to a prospective client. 

    That's what this is all about. 

    cheers 

Al Heywood 

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