Raku Ceramics
Our laboratory is the only one in Italy that produces Raku Ceramics for jewellery. Raku means “Enjoyment” and originates from the name of a Japanese Tea Master of tea ceremonies, who lived in Japan in the 16th century and who invented the technique.
A distinctive trait of the technique “production of incandescent pieces from the oven” which became widespread in the West in the beginning of the 900s, involves using heat and shock resistant clays, and enamels containing precious metal and salts, that when in contact with reducing substances produce magnificent colours with a metal lustre finish.
The basic elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, together with the composition of the enamel, the oxygen-less environment and the duration of the procedure, produce items with reflections of surprising beauty and uniqueness.
The jewels are presented in a wide range of colours and metallic lustres, the result of extensive studies and numerous and ongoing experiments. With the use of precious metals the artist gets wonderful effects of gold and silver, extremely hard to imitate, with shimmering colours and superb metallic lustres.
The creation: with soft clay each element is moulded by expert hands with patience and creativity: spheres, cubes, trenchetti, circles, etc., come to life and on each and every one the Company has put the initials ED as a symbol and guarantee of authenticity.
First Firing Stage: The dried clay items are now inserted into a special oven and fired (cooked) at approximately 1000 degrees for several hours.
The Glazing of the ceramics: The items are dipped by hand, using special tongs, one by one into a mixture of silicates and metallic oxides specifically created by our laboratories and whose formulation is a carefully kept secret.
The second firing stage: the glazed elements are inserted into a small oven, designed and created especially by our technicians and fired at a temperature of approximately 980 degrees. During the firing process and without waiting for the oven to cool down; the moment in which the object is glowing, it is extracted from the furnace with long tongs and immersed rapidly into a reducing material.
In this way the reduction takes place (removal of oxygen from an oxide with the release of metal content) which allows to obtain beautiful colours and above all untraceable shades. Immediately after, always with the use of long tongs, the object is immersed in cold water in order to stop the reaction and to set the desired colour.
The assembling: The Raku ceramic items are now shining with their own brightness and are ready to be assembled in aluminium and/or with Silver 925 obtained using the micro casting process (or lost-wax casting)
Experienced hands, working quickly, unite the various elements of Raku Ceramics, following a design that was created earlier on. The more complex pieces of jewelry come to life with the precious hands of a goldsmith, who with patience and precision, applies the Valencian hand-crafted techniques.
From vast experience, new solutions and arrangements to adapt the precious metals to ceramic elements are also found, always of different measurements because they are handmade.
All creations are the result of extensive research into sophisticated techniques and rare raw materials. Silver, 24 carat gold plated or rhodium plated, goes well with baroque pearls, precious stones and semi-precious ones; by enhancing their precious characteristics and merging them together, unique pieces of jewelry are created as a work of art.