Planet Earth, with the assistance of a molten core, has been producing ‘glass’ in the form of igneous rock since the beginning of time. Renata, with the assistance of an oxygen/propane torch has been producing glass in the form of contemporary glass jewellery since 2002. The scale is considerably different but the concept is the same.
- coloured glass rods are melted with a torch using an oxygen/propane mixture
- the molten glass is wrapped around steel mandrels which have been dipped in bead release to prevent the glass from sticking to the metal
- the beads are then annealed (allowed to cool slowly to prevent cracking) in a kiln
- once cooled the beads are removed from the mandrels, cleaned, sandblasted, drilled and otherwise prepared to be made into jewellery
- many different silversmithing techniques are utilized to combine individual glass rings to create finished jewellery
