The jewellery alchemist
- Andrea creates one-of-a-kind golden jewels and decorative objects
- He masters the techniques used by the Etruscans 3,000 years ago
- His works are the result of years of strenuous study and experimentation
Look closely at any of the jewels made by master goldsmith Andrea Cagnetti and it will take your breath away. Created with the same techniques and tools used by the ancient Etruscans 3,000 years ago, his necklaces, earrings and bracelets, as well as chains, pendants and decorative objects, are made of a myriad of microscopic gold spheres and filigree, so small that you should use a magnifying glass to see them in details. Even more surprisingly, all these tiny elements are joined so invisibly to their background that they don’t seem welded to the surface, but just placed on it. Such perfection was not built in a day: Cagnetti, who is self-taught, spent years studying ancient literary sources to learn the secrets of his goldsmith ancestors, while experimenting to develop his own technique. Nowadays, his jewellery is worn by royals and displayed in museums.
Interview
- When does your love for ancient jewellery date back?
- I grew up close to Viterbo, in the land of the Etruscans, surrounded by ancient ruins that have fascinated me since childhood. Archaeology was my first love. But I’ve always had good hands, too. So I combined my passion and my talent and became what I am today.
- What techniques do you specialise in?
- I use fine dust granulation and filigree in 22 carat gold. Granulation consists in welding gold spheres to a surface, according to a pre-determined design. Filigree is the same, just with wires. The smaller the elements, the more exquisite the result: my spheres are less than 0,07 mm in diameter, my wires between 0,1 and 0,2 mm.
- What is the most difficult part of your craft?
- The hardest part is to weld small parts invisibly to the gold background. For this, I delved into ancient alchemist books and developed my own “secret potion”, a kind of glue, made with natural ingredients, that works much better than any modern one.
- What’s your aim when you design jewellery?
- I want it to be beautiful. Beauty is far too mistreated today: people are getting used to ugliness. My jewels can be “demanding”, even difficult to wear: I don’t expect people to buy them for everyday use. But they will bear witness to my lifelong work and studies.
Andrea Cagnetti is an expert artisan: he began his career in 1985
Where
Andrea Cagnetti
