Each design has its own set of dies, whose creation is begun by hand-carving an original positive base-relief of the ring into solid steel. This original carving (called a "hub") is then hardened, and from it are derived all the dies and other tools that will be used to make the ring.

Beautiful jewelry can be made by casting, but one cannot then pierce the metal, as Van Craeynest does—it isn't strong enough, and it may be porous. Casting expands metal; die striking compresses it, increasing its density and strength and allowing the Van Craeynest artists to work more extensively with the metal to achieve much finer detail.

CARVING.
Carving creates a design by cutting or sculpting away metal. The result is a surface that shows deep contour and relief, very much like carving in wood. It's unlike wax carving, in that wax can be worked by cutting, softening or melting. Carving in gold, platinum or steel is an artistic skill requiring years of training, practice and patience. In Van Craeynest jewelry, carving is usually used in conjunction with hand engraving and chasing.

CHASING.
Chasing is a technique of modeling and moving gold and platinum, in the same way that clay is modeled. No metal is removed during chasing; rather, the craftsman uses a small chasing hammer and tiny hardened steel punches to squeeze, move, mold and shape the metal. The hammer handle is about the same length as a carpenter's hammer, but very thin...and the head is just three-quarters of an inch long. Steel chasing punches are about half the size of a pencil, and each artist owns about two hundred different ones.

Chasing is used in conjunction with carving to make patterns and deep texture in the metal. (Carving and chasing requires a very high level of skill, and an enormous amount of patience!)

HAND ENGRAVING.
Hand engraving is a surface technique similar to pen and ink drawing. It uses hardened and sharpened steel gravers to cut lines into gold or platinum; however, no depth of relief is achieved by this process. It is usually confined to letter work such as monograms, but delicate details and subtle shadings can also be achieved. As an example, the tiny veins in the flowers and leaves of Van Craeynest rings are hand engraved after the piece has been carved and chased.

PIERCING.
Piercing is the removal of metal by cutting it away with a hair-sized saw blade. It is done by drilling very tiny holes into an area of metal, threading the saw blade through the hole, connecting the saw frame and cutting out each section by hand. This requires a high level of expertise, and is remarkably focused work.

Many Van Craeynest designs require carving, chasing, hand engraving and piercing...and may take an individual craftsman a week or more to complete.

INDIVIDUALLY CREATED.
Each piece is unique: even the same design created by the same artist may differ in subtle ways. All Van Craeynest jewelry is hand made in their San Francisco workrooms, and even their seasoned professionals continue to train intensively in the old-world techniques used.