Tradition, construction, innovation 

Jewellery-making techniques developed in antiquity are still used today and have continued to exist in goldsmithing in a virtually unaltered form ever since: noble metals are still cast, forged, filed and soldered – and with tools that have also undergone little or no change.

Acknowledgement that the jewellery object was an autonomous artwork has been followed since the 1950s by an influx of new materials, techniques and means of design. Particularly the establishment of sculptural concepts in jewellery has inspired many makers of art jewellery to base designs on botanical structures or architectonic design principles and to experiment with complex constructions.

While these approaches were at first realised with the traditional craft techniques, it was not long before digital methods such as computer-aided design and 3D printing found their way into jewellery design. Yet the advance of digital technologies has not supplanted the traditional techniques. On the contrary, combining traditional techniques with digital technologies has pushed the boundaries of technical feasibility.