MANUFACTURING
The Res Mirum jewels are made by us, in our workshop, located in Roanne in the Loire.
Here are the different stages of the manufacturing process.
INSPIRATIONS
First of all, we choose a theme, around one of the many sources of inspiration provided by History.
This is the beginning of an important step in the literature search. A work of collecting data, images and information, which will help us to "immerse ourselves" in this theme in order to retranscribe it in our own way.
CROQUIS
We realize the first flat drawings, first sketches of the future jewels which will compose the line..
These are drawings sometimes made in pencil, or often directly with the help of computer tools, via CAD software.
3D MODELLING
We will then model the jewels virtually, on computer, in 3 dimensions, using CAD software..
These are called digital prototypes; they allow us to understand the relief and to develop certain technical aspects: clasp or articulation systems, weights...
PRINTING
Thanks to a 3D printer, we can print in resin the 3D model previously made.
The part is printed with supports, a kind of small pimples that will have to be cut to extract the physical prototype. Delicate and tedious work. The result obtained allows us to appreciate the "real" aspect of the future jewel; fineness of details, proportions...
SILICONE MUSSEL
From this piece of resin, we're going to make a mold.
This mould is made of a soft material, silicone or rubber. The principle is to trap the resin part inside this material, and to cure the whole at 90°; this is called vulcanization. The material then becomes flexible, and the mould is cut in half to extract the prototype, which has therefore left its imprint in the material.
INJECTION
In this mould, we inject wax, which has become liquid after being brought to 60° with an injector.
This wax looks like candle wax; as it cools, it becomes solid again. A few seconds after injection, it is then enough to open the mould to recover our wax, an exact reproduction of our initial resin prototype.
LOST WAX CASTING
A plaster mould of the wax is made, which will "transform" it into a silver cast 925‰.
The wax is placed in a metal cylinder, then plaster is poured all around it; the plaster will then harden, and this cylinder is placed in an oven at 1000° so that the plaster will cook. The wax piece will have evaporated in the operation; in the cavity it will have left, we will come to pour molten silver (liquid, brought to nearly 1000°). Once cooled, the plaster mould is broken to recover the silver piece, which is called a cast iron; the whole process, known since antiquity, is called "lost wax casting" because the wax disappears to make way for the cast iron.
JEWELLERY FINALIZATION
All that remains then is to give this cast iron the appearance of a finished jewel.
Cutting the cast iron tails, sanding, adjusting the different parts that make up certain pieces of jewellery and assembling them, soldering and riveting, assembling chains, clasps, giving the jewellery an antique patina... all these operations that we carry out ourselves, of course, literally transform cast iron into jewellery.
JEWELLERY PRESENTATION
Finally we proudly display it in our curio jewellery cabinet.
At a trade show or on the internet, he will wait for a-·e curious-·comes along and takes it over...
AT THE WORKSHOP
