How jewellery is cast, and why no two pieces match

The Jewellery Editor set out how a cast piece is actually made in a feature by Åse Anderson on 12 October 2015, Something old, something new: the art of lost wax casting. The sequence is short and it has not changed. A design is sculpted from wax, by hand or from a rubber mould injected with melted wax. The wax model is embedded in a can of plaster and heated to high temperatures for several hours. The wax runs out and metal goes into the space it leaves. Then, once the plaster has been dissolved, the piece is polished and either rubbed or brushed to refine the texture.

I have made jewellery by hand in London for 22 years, from a Portobello Road stall to the counters at Liberty, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Harrods. What follows is the part nobody writes on a product page.

The wax is where the design actually happens

People assume a jeweller designs in metal. Almost nobody does. The thinking happens in wax, because wax forgives you. A line can be cut deeper, a side carved off and built back up, and the mistake costs a few pence. Make the same mistake in gold and you have ruined the metal and the morning.

Casting does not blur a design. It copies, faithfully, whatever was handed to it, including the fingerprint of the person who carved it.

One piece, or a run, and how to tell

There are two routes into that plaster can. A wax carved by hand is destroyed in the casting. It melts out and it is gone, so what comes back is the only one there will ever be. A rubber mould is the other route: a master is moulded, wax is injected into it, and the same shape can be made again next month. That is how a studio keeps a signature piece in production without a factory, and each one is still cast on its own and finished by a person at a bench.

Neither is a shortcut. The plaster is broken open to get the piece out every single time.

The texture is decided after the metal, not before

Anderson's last step is the one customers never think about. Polished, rubbed or brushed. One casting, three different pieces, and the difference is a file, a brush and a decision taken with the piece in somebody's hand.

The Sun Textured Earrings are the clearest example I sell. They measure 8cm, they are handmade in my London studio, and the texture across the rays is the point of them, because it breaks the light up instead of bouncing it back in one flat sheet. Sterling silver is £175, gold vermeil £195, and 14kt solid yellow or white gold £925. A polished version of the same casting would be a different earring.

Why handmade to order means a wait

My listings ask for up to 10 working days before dispatch, and this is why. The piece is not on a shelf. It is cast, cleaned up, finished and, if it is personalised, engraved, after you order it.

The Starburst Earrings are the smallest thing here that still goes through the whole process, at £30 in sterling silver and £60 in gold vermeil. For plainer everyday wear, the Heart-Led Necklace is £60 in sterling silver, £70 in vermeil and £425 in 14kt solid gold, with a heart 1.5cm across.

Weight is where casting shows its hand most honestly. The Bullring Bangle is £120 in sterling silver, £150 in vermeil and £1,400 in 14kt solid gold, because that version is 6.5g of actual gold rather than a plated surface.

Not everything is cast, either. The Elia Handmade Chain Necklace is built link by link, £250 in sterling silver, £280 in vermeil, £550 in 9kt solid gold and £1,350 in 14kt. It adjusts, so it wears as a choker or longer, and the Chain Guide shows where each length sits.

Your own gold, and the one piece that cannot be repeated

All of which is why an inherited piece is worth more remade than left in a drawer. Old gold melts. It goes into the same plaster can as new metal does and comes out as something you will actually wear. Stones come out of a worn setting, get checked, and go into a wax carved around them.

Carved around them. A wax cut for your grandmother's three stones fits those three stones and nothing else, and it melts out in the casting, so no rubber mould of it exists and none ever will. A remodelled piece is a one off by the mechanics of the process, not as a selling line. Second Life Jewellery is where that work is described properly: inherited rings, loose gemstones, old diamonds, broken chains and odd earrings, all remade by hand in my London studio. Send a photograph and I will tell you what it could become and what it would cost. The estimate is free and there is no obligation.

If what you have is broken beyond remaking, send it to be recycled instead. There is a free postage label and a £20 voucher at the end of it.

The second life is the real one.

The pieces above sit in the earrings collection and the solid gold collection, and if you are holding something inherited and wondering, start here. Anna Lou x.

Questions people ask

Is cast jewellery still handmade?

Yes, and the casting is the shortest part of it. A person carves or prepares the wax, a person breaks the plaster, and a person files, sets and finishes the piece afterwards. The finishing is where most of the hours go, which is why two pieces from one mould never match exactly.

How long does a handmade piece take to arrive?

Allow up to 10 working days before dispatch, because nothing is sitting in a box waiting. Engraving and personalisation happen in that window too. If you need something for a date, say so when you order and I will tell you honestly whether it can be done.

Can my old gold be melted down and used?

It can. Old gold is melted and recast, and stones are lifted out and reset into a wax carved to fit them. That is exactly what the heirloom remodelling service does, and sending a photograph for an estimate costs nothing.