A Short History of Goldsmiths

Today we live in a wondrous age.
Today we can sit at home (or on the train, or at the doctor’s waiting for an appointment, or in a boring meeting), and browse through a catalog of jewelry and select a beautiful item, well designed and of high quality, just to our taste, and get it delivered to our door. Amazing!
In the past it wasn’t this easy.
Let’s have a peek into by gone days, and discover how the profession of goldsmiths developed from days of yore to today.

Workshops and Tradition Passed Down from Generation to Generation

Historical evidence, such as archeological finds, drawings and manuscripts, are all testimony on the existence of designed and crafted gold jewelry from many years ago, even thousands of years in the past.
For example, in Yemen there was a great tradition of magnificent jewelry based on knowledge acquired over hundreds of years, passed from father to son, from master to apprentice.
This was how people acquired a trade in the past. A person did not to a school or college, but rather to a workshop, and there would work as an assistant anywhere from a few months to a few years until he had acquired the knowledge of this most delicate yet complex of professions.
The vast majority of jewelry was made by hand, or with the use of very delicate tools.

Delicate Techniques

Even today some jewelry is still made by hand. In complex pieces, such as tennis bracelets, the setting of the stones is done by hand.

However, another part of the manufacturing process is done by machine for optimum precision and safety, such as these pendants which are made with a 3-D printer.

The result - a well-designed item of jewelry, beautifully made with the most modern technology and with the finest finish.