" Plique à jour"

"Plique à jour" is an enamelling technique with a stainsless glass effect.

It is a very tricky technique!!

First you need to manufacture the metal piece. It can be done in several ways:

-The metal in drilled and then pierced to the design

-You can follow the design using wires, soldered together.

Then you start enamelling, placing enamel powders in the empty cavities, and fired at high temperature for a very short time. These steps are repeated many times until the holes are completely filled and as thick as the metal, to give strength.

For the final steps, you need to file the whole piece with a diamond file, so the surface is smooth. The last firing is then crucial, to give the brightness of your piece.

Enamel on silver: soldered wires.

Enamel on silver: pierced metal.

Cécile Chancerel - 19, avenue St-Hubert - 44350 La Baule - Tel : 02.40.23.82.89 ou 06.30.61.76.91