Lampworking – The Art of Glass

Lampworking is the technique used to make the glass charms. It is a skilled process that requires months of training, a steady hand and an eye for detail to craft charms with unparalleled depth and beautiful colours.

Lampworking is an ancient technique also known as flameworking. Lampworking
gets its name from the flame of an oil lamp, which was originally used to melt the glass. Today, patterns are created with a blowtorch, but the glasswork technique has not changed and is still done entirely by hand.

1 Glass Rods

A glass rod is heated over a torch flame until it becomes molten glass. The molten glass is then wound around a specially coated steel mandrel.
This process forms the base charm, which can then be decorated using a variety of techniques.

2

The next step is the annealing process. In the annealing process the glass is cooled and heated in an alternating process to ensure durability and to prevent the glass from developing stress points. It is important to avoid these stress points because they could later cause the glass to crack or shatter.

3 Metal Core

Finally, the glass charm is fitted with a hand-finished metal core and is ready for wear on bracelets.

Making a glass charm is an extremely advanced process that demands extraordinary craftsmanship skills.

Glittering Murano

glass and a grooved surface effect created by hand makes every charm unique.

Glass dots are used to create detail. They are layered then shaped into clouds and rainbows using the tip of a tweezer.

Rainbow Glass

The Iridescent Rainbow Glass charm is created with a base of a triple layer of blue, iridescent silver glasses. Colourful dots are layered one on top of the other to create the clouds and the rainbow:
grey, white and grey; and green, blue, yellow, purple and transparent glass, respectively.
The tip of a tweezer is used to shape the clouds, and a flame draws out the rainbow pattern.
After a final top coat of clear glass, a flame shapes the scene into a round bead, ready for a sterling silver core.

Making a glass charm is an extremely advanced process that demands extraordinary craftsmanship skills.