What is plique à jour?

Painstakingly crafted using an ancient technique called plique à jour, which means “letting in daylight,” this stunning piece of wearable art mixes traditional, timeless styles with a modern twist. It’s like wearing a tiny, beautiful stained glass window on your ears or neck.

 

It is essentially an ancient technique of creating stained glass using precious metals and glass powder.

 

 It is considered the most advanced and rare enameling technique because of the level of difficulty to achieve this stunning result. By using surface tension, the glass fuses to the metal cells and allows the light to shine through.

Unlike mass market jewelry that falls apart after a few wears, the handcrafted nature of this jewelry makes them an heirloom quality, signature piece.

After sawing out the design shape and inner cut outs from a thick sheet of pure sterling silver,  I fill the open cells with transparent powdered glass (enamel), fire each piece in a kiln to set the enamel, then carefully set the stone in place. 

✦ Capture a ray of sun every time you wear plique à jour jewelry ✦