Filigree jewelry is exquisite. Delicate and lacy in looks, the intricate metal work requires great skill on the part of the jewelry designer.  One such designer is Ukrainian metal smith and wire worker, Marta of LacyLoveStudio.

She often incorporates beautiful gemstones with her designs.

This technique is also known as filigrana or Russian filigree.  Filigree metal work is actually thousands of years old and didn't really originate in Russia. The jewelry technique was first attempted by the Ancient Egyptians when they used metal braids in their designs.

By the time of the Phoenicians (in modern day Cyprus and Sardinia), Greeks and Etruscans from the 6th to the 3rd century BC, filigree work became a popular art form. From there the craft spread to as far away as India. By the Middle Ages, filigree jewelry work could be found all over Europe.



What Marta does is to first create the wire frame which she then solders together. This is the beginning of her dragon wing pendant :

Dragon Wing Pendant Frame

Next, she painstakingly adds the twisted wire elements, one by one. All of these have to be precisely made because they are tension set into the frame. They stay put until she solders them in place.  Watch Marta's short video below to see a demo of her process. At the 2:45 min mark, she lifts up the frame and all the tension set details stay in place!!




This is the resulting gorgeous piece :
Completed Dragon Wing Filigree Pendant





Watch Victoria Lansford, a designer skilled in ancient metal work techniques, demonstrate the whole process :



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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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