THE ART OF OUR CRAFTSMEN
Craftsmen still hand down techniques by word of mouth so that certain procedures like hammering, chiselling, engraving and the treatment of surfaces are, even today, entrusted to the expert hands of our craftsmen who maintain and constantly enrich an enduring heritage of traditions.
On commission our workshops undertake engraving of all types, even the most complex, on cutlery, glasses, boxes and candlesticks, making them unique pieces that will record births, weddings and anniversaries for many years to come.
We are proud to be able to offer hand engraving using special burin which allow the engraver to vary the incision depth on the metal to create clean motifs, as well as light-and-shade effects, all depending on how the expert hand of the master craftsman is angled.
First the engraving is planned with a preparatory drawing showing the characters and their size, then it is engraved freehand on the metal using a specific burin, called ciappola (cited also by Benvenuti Cellini, “making lots of incisions on the aforementioned plate with a ciappola”). This is similar to a small scalpel in tempered steel with a range of triangular tips which vary according to the type of engraving to be done and which incise the surface, completely cutting away the metal.
