FILIGREE

Archaeological finds in ancient Mesopotamia indicate that filigree was incorporated into jewelry since 3,000 BC. Specific to the city of Midyat in Mardin Province in upper Mesopotamia, a form of filigree using silver and gold wires, known as "filigree", was developed in the 15th century. To this day, expert craftsmen in this region continue to produce fine pieces of filigree. The word filigree actually stems from the Latin words filum, which means thread, and granum, meaning seed. Though filigree has become a special branch of jewelry in modern times, it was historically part of the ordinary work of the jeweler. Indeed, all the jewelry of the Mesopotamia, Etruscans and Greeks (other than that intended for the grave, and therefore of an unsubstantial character) was made by soldering together and so building up the gold rather than by chiseling or engraving the material. The art may be said to consist in curling, twisting and plaiting fine pliable threads of metal, and uniting them at their points of contact with each other, and with the ground, by means of flux such as borax, by the help of the blowpipe. When granulated motifs are desired, small beads are made traditionally by using precious metal wire or fine sheet to start with, which is cut up in small pieces mixed with flux and placed in the small holes of a pitted block of charcoal (or any other suitable refractory material) and are then melted with a blowpipe (or today with a blowtorch), after which the bits of wire curl up and take a natural spherical like shape to end up in minuscule grains which slightly differ one from the other. Small grains or beads of the same metals are often set in the eyes of volutes, on the junctions, or at intervals at which they will set off the wirework effectively. The more delicate work is generally protected by a framework of stouter wire. Brooches, crosses, earrings, buttons and other personal ornaments of modern filigree are generally surrounded and subdivided by bands of square or flat metal, giving consistency to the filling up, which would not otherwise keep its proper shape. These days, filigree is considered a special branch of artisan jewelry that is often created using modern technology. This modern technology allows jewelers to mass-produce filigree jewelry quickly and efficiently. If you are a history buff and you love to travel, there are many beautifully designed filigree artifacts stored all over the world today. Places such as the Midyat in Turkiye, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Louvre in Paris, the Vatican Museum in Venice, and the British Museum in London would be great to visit.