Fusible Glass

Posted in art supplies on 10/09/2008 08:11 am by admin

Fusible Glass

Birmingham’s Famous Jewellery Quarter: London Badge and Button Designer Cufflinks

The Birmingham Jewellery Quarter is an historic industrial area of international importance located immediately to the north and north-west of Chamberlain Square in the centre of Birmingham. The area is notable for its dense mix of converted houses, factories and ancillary buildings dating from the late 18th century to the present day and largely associated with the production of jewellery and small metal wares. The significance of the Jewellery Quarter lies in its survival as an inner-city cluster of specialist industrial buildings, and also from its continuing role as the country's main centre for gold-jewellery production. The Quarter is also an important repository of traditional craft skills, industrial processes and historic tools and machinery.

Now occupying a space in the famous quarter is the London Badge and Button Company owned by Toye Group of companies. Lbb London has over 30 years of experience in design and development of fine silver-gilt and silver designer cufflinks for high fashion men's accessories retailers.

Toye, Kenning and Spencer are one of the oldest family run businesses in the world, having been established in England over 300 years ago by a family of Huguenot refugees the Toyés. Since 1685 members of the Toye family have been using their skills to create fine identity products for both the civil and military markets.

The company has excelled in the making and stamping of medals and insignia in the last 200 years, and they possess great expertise in the application of vitreous enamel and enamel painting for insignia, medal and jewellery production. Their craftsmen and women combine the traditional skills of working in precious and non-precious metals with today’s modern technology to produce a vast array of quality products.

The product range has expanded considerably over the years and now includes: medals, enamelled badges, civic & society’s regalia, ceremonial chains, traditional handcrafted enamels, corporate jewellery, awards, and trophies. The company also offers a free design service; designing and manufacturing products to customers’ exact requirements, and excels in one off bespoke products and small run production. They are also able to undertake the specialised service of renovation and refurbishment of presentation jewels and pendants of office.

KJD Jewellers is also part of the Toye family they manufacture hand crafted, very high quality vitreous enamel on precious metal designer cufflinks, to supply Jewellers and high end retail outlets throughout the world. Enamelling has its own unique history in Jewellery that stems back many hundreds of years. Here is a very brief, summarised history.

The word enamel comes from the High German word “smelzan” later becoming “esmail” in Old French. Hence the current usage of “smalto” in Italian, “email” in French and German and “enamel” in English.

It is thus defined as a vitreous, glass like coating fused on to a metallic base. In history, enamels were initially applied on firstly gold, then silver, copper, bronze and more latterly on iron and steel. The term is also used for the application of decorative fusible glass applied to glass objects.

The earliest known enamelled objects were made in Cyprus in around the 13th century BC during the Mycenae period. Six gold rings discovered in a Mycenae tomb at Kouklia were decorated with various vitreous coloured layers fused on to the gold.

Now in modern times enamels are used to decorate designer cufflinks of all shapes and sizes using traditional methods supported by modern technology, often combined with Swarovski Crystals, another favourite amongst jewellery designers.

About the Author

Purveyor of finely crafted Designer Silk Ties and colourful handmade silver designer cufflinks by, Ian Flaherty, Simon Carter, Lbb London, Veritas, Timothy Everest, Michelsons and Victoria Richards, Louis Feraud, Shane McCoubrey and Cressida Bell, plus Vivienne Westwood silk ties

How do you fuse using pure silver gilt?

I had wanted to use the sheet of gilt on top of black fusible glass. I think I must put another sheet of glass over the sheet. Is this correct? Or can the sheet of silver gilt be set on top of the black glass and no further glass needed? It looks like the sheet of silver gilt will just float away in the kiln. Help!

This is a tricky area, because you haven't given me enough information, but then again I am not sure of what to ask.

I would put the silver on the glass and then fire it in a kiln with a temperature of about 750 degree F. which near the melting point of common glass, and well below the melting temperature of silver. This will cause the glass to lightly melt and then attach or absorb the silver.

You may want to try a lower temperature for the glass, as that I do not know what the softening or melting point of your fusible glass is at this moment.

Fused objects made with Baoli glass (part 1)