This opal was brought to our workshop with traditional craft or artisan design ideas for a bespoke pendant. The white opal was set into a gold mount to bring out the warm hues, and continued with gold granules. The base of the pendant was textured and then oxidised to give a blackened contrast between the metals. The play between colours, textures and design gives this piece its artisanal style.
Granulation, the technique behind this pendant’s gold beads, is one of the oldest goldsmithing methods still practised today: tiny beads of gold are fused to the surface using heat alone, with no solder, so each one holds by a bond formed directly with the base metal.
