The jewelry and daily necessities of the nobility are very exquisite, not only in the choice of materials, but also in the workmanship is extremely fine. This is especially reflected in the details, such as: there is a craft that has been used in daily necessities such as furniture, as well as jewelry called screws. It is a unique artistic treasure of China and loved by people around the world.
What is the screw process?
In fact, it is very easy to understand, screw tungsten refers to the use of snail shells and sea shells to make a depiction of the figure, flowers and birds, geometric figures or text and other thin pieces, and then embedded in the surface of the utensils according to the needs. This kind of inlaid decoration process can greatly enhance the beauty of the utensils, making the utensils more elegant and luxurious. And this natural plant color is very good-looking, pieced together has a very strong visual effect, so it is also widely used in jewelry, bringing vitality to ancient utensils and jewelry.
Since the screw process, the production of utensils and jewelry will be mixed with other inlays, in order to make the utensils and jewelry more expensive. For example, the addition of jadeite, ivory, colored stone, coral, etc., to form a colorful sense of color, and this inlay method has become the most luxurious process - "hundred treasure inlay".
The utensils used by the nobles were not just a single screw, but mostly the full tungsten technique of the hundred treasures, making its colors more magnificent and wonderfully elegant. Such superb craftsmanship also influenced later furniture production, so later Cantonese furniture used this unique process. It's just that compared to the luxury of ancient times, the current utensils are much more ordinary in terms of material, after all, those luxurious treasures are no longer used.
After the utensils decorated with screws, there is a colorful feeling, this gorgeous fantasy, brilliance can be appreciated, from the natural products of the colorful colors, stunning with a low-key sense of luxury. It looks like a reflective feeling, which will resemble the texture of the shellfish on the watch, which is a surprise.
The main materials used in the screw tungsten sheet are: abalone shells, pearl mussels, luminous salamander snails, white butterfly shells, mother-of-pearl shells, amber, tortoiseshells and other rich shellfish shells, and sometimes carving patterns on the shells. These are products of natural origin, so they can be preserved and deteriorated for a long time after processing.
There is a wide range of screws that can be used, and even Western-style fan handles can also use such techniques, which come from european screw fans in the 18th century, and also from China to influence the West.
In fact, the aesthetics of human beings are the same, and they all like to bring exquisite and beautiful things to life, not to mention that the aristocratic class wants these luxurious things that represent identity. The crafts made by the ancients with the screw process can be described as ingenious. At that time, the processing was purely handmade, so it was more difficult to make a decent craft, and items made with the screw process had always been more expensive.
From ancient times to the present, screws have been used in jewelry. It's just that the design is mainly simple, and the reason why it is not widely popular in China is because the material is not precious enough, and the Chinese people prefer expensive jewelry. Therefore, the use of screw technology was tried in valuable materials, so as to continue the ancient classic craftsmanship to the current jewelry.
Under the innovation of the craftsmen, the screw process combines gold jewelry with gold jewelry to make a new national style gold jewelry, so that the single color of gold has a new change, the layers are clear, and it is more meticulous.
The technique of screw is used to the extreme in big-name jewelry such as Van Cleef & Arpels and Bulgari. From a certain point of view, it is actually an evolutionary version of the screw, because it is also embedded in other materials according to the pattern with a thick female shell, which is completely consistent with the screw process. For example, Van Cleef & Arpels 2020 new gray shell, is the use of such technology, but the colorful aesthetic of the abalone shell is separated from the aesthetic needs of the current era, a single clover gray natural shellfish is more popular, the design is more advanced sense of explosion, the natural shellfish comes with a sense of rainbow, so that jewelry is more inclined to nature.
This one is a white mother-of-pearl butterfly pendant, and the simple design has a flexible beauty.
These jewelry designed with white shellfish as the main stone are from international brands, such jewelry with materials are not expensive, but the price of the jewelry made is very high, in addition to the unique design, the meticulous craftsmanship, is the premium of the brand. After all, everyone is buying for this brand, not to mention that there are so many celebrities planting grass, and it is even bigger to wear.
The traditional process of screw tin is relatively complex and time-consuming, and basically relies on manual production, so in this era of speed as the core, it has slowly sunk. Only a very small number of craftsmen still adhere to this traditional handicraft, in jewelry only continuous innovation, with ancient craftsmanship combined with the current design, to create jewelry in line with modern aesthetics can carry forward the traditional craft.
This article is from the original jewelry appraiser Yuanyuan, some of the pictures from the network, if there is infringement, please contact us to delete, thank you!