Jewelry Book Report - Metalcraft and Jewelry by Emil Kronquist
100-Year-old jewelry-making instructions
Reading old jewelry manuals makes me so grateful that I make jewelry in an era where I have regular access to electricity.
Like, how did metalsmiths 100 years ago work in their studio in a manic artsy phase until after midnight without electric light? How many candles did it take to spend all night in that studio? How did Twitter even work then? How did they access YouTube cat videos without a way to charge their phones? This old jewelry textbook that I found doesn’t have all of these answers, but it does have some.
Metalcraft and Jewelry - Emil Kronquist
Reading this jewelry-making textbook Metalcraft and Jewelry by Emil Kronquist from 1926 was like stepping back in time except that now I am allowed to wear pants in public.
When this book was written, electric-powered jewelry tools (think flex shaft, wax pen, work lights) would not have been regular tools in the classroom and monospaced typesetting was still a thing (please note the two spaces after each period).
In fact, a lot of tools that are standard to many jewelry classrooms and studios don’t make an appearance in this book. Everyday convenient tools that most of us take for granted - everything from magnetic pin finishers to digital calipers - aren’t found here.
For instance, check out this section on drilling. Here are instructions for (wait for it) how to make your own drill bit.
Make. Your. Own. Drill. Bit.
Kronquist: In order to drill a hole, first, make a drill bit
Me: NO THANK YOU. HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE INTERNET AND CREDIT CARDS?
Book instructions for how to make your own drill bits
In fact, this is Kronquist’s preferred method. The author doesn’t provide these instructions as an instructional quirk, he recommends this method in favor of purchasing ready-made twist drill bits.
Oh and check out the hand crank drill that preceded the flex shaft or Dremel. Imagine centering your drill bit or burs for fine work using this kind of a hand crank drill. Me: Again, no thank you.
Old-fashioned torches!
Oh, look! Here’s a section on your torch set up that involves gas and foot-operated bellows (these days we use oxygen tanks to add air into our torch mix).
Imagine that as you are delicately soldering a jump ring onto a piece of chain that you also need to be working the bellows with your foot in order to power your torch with oxygen.
It’s the jeweler’s equivalent of patting your head while rubbing your tummy. Or is that rubbing your head while patting your tummy? This is breaking my brain just to think about having such divided attention.
This book is also a peep at popular and common styles in the 1920s. This book has lots of instructions on how to make watch fobs, brooches, and shoe buckles. Not exactly common projects for jewelry classrooms these days, though the steampunk friend in your life would probably appreciate them.
And I absolutely want to make decorative bookends from silver sheet. OK maybe copper instead considering the current cost of silver.
100-year-old “proper jewelry”
Kronquist has some strict definitions about what constitutes proper work. As much as I love some good attention to detail, my own teaching style tends towards the experiential, and making mistakes, or mis-strikes as the case may be, is part of that process for my students. Also, “unpleasant blemishes” are subjective. One jeweler’s unpleasant blemish is another jeweler’s style.
You say unpleasant blemish, I say make it creative. Tomato, tomahto.
Perfectly imperfect jewelry-making
There are times to make sure that you use your hammer to make something look perfect, and other times that striking with the edge gives you other decorative options and creates a piece that is more expressive.
Here’s a sample of some handmade letter openers. Come to think of it, opening letters in the age of a pandemic makes a lot more sense than touching the flap of an envelope that someone may have licked.
OK, you talked me into it - let’s bring back letter openers. Please look forward to my future Tool Talk video about making letter openers and I’ll make it a pay-per-view. (just kidding, unless…)
Here are a few other tidbits - that bronzing lacquer was once known as banana oil was news to me. TheMoreYouKnow.gif
Here is a suggested polishing compound called “cake of crocus” I have no idea what this is. A quick Google search turned up mostly photos of cakes decorated with frosting crocuses. I’m pretty sure that’s not what they mean here. If anyone knows what this is, leave it in the comments below!
Editor’s Note: Thanks to the collective knowledge in the jewelry industry, I was informed by fellow metalsmith Jessica Davies that Crocus Compound is a polishing compound that is still produced by Zam® and is available through companies like Stuller or Grobet.
There are recipes for different patinas, using compounds and elements that you need a degree in chemistry in order to use. I even looked up where to buy platinum chloride and it is apparently no longer available from any metal and tool suppliers - and with good reason.
The Material Safety Data Sheet or MSDS (this is the document that tells you whether or not the chemical you are about to work with causes health problems or death) has a short summary of the dangers of this compound and tells us why this is no longer a commonly used chemical in a jewelers studio. It explicitly states that we DO NOT USE this.
Though interestingly enough, this book lists potassium sulfide or liver of sulfur for oxidizing silver. This is still my go-to for oxidizing silver. It is nice to know that some techniques don’t get lost to history.
This list of essential jewelers tools hasn’t changed that much, except that blowpipes aren’t as standard as using a dual tank system - one tank for gas and one tank for oxygen - unless you are Tura Sugden - seen here using her modern-day blowpipe.
Tura Sugden shown using her blowpipe torch - Some modern-day jewelers still use older methods, sometimes because of preference or because of the tool’s connection to the past.
Back in the day they used a hand drill instead of a flex shaft
There is no flex shaft or drill press instead they list a hand drill. Other tools here would be optional depending on where your interests fall.
For instance, you might only need to use pitch if you wind up doing chasing and repoussé. Otherwise, substances like moldable polymer are more common for projects like stone setting. Borax is still pretty common too, but it is more likely that you’ll buy your flux and fire coat pre-mixed. Oh and charcoal blocks are still in use and still my favorite, but we have thankfully created better alternatives than soldering on asbestos.
Here is some sticker shock for you - like page 180, where this book states that the preceding equipment should cost you $28. I have spent more than $28 on a single pair of pliers. lol sob
It is hilarious to think that tool suppliers used to be shy about sending out their catalogs - anyone who has ever set up an account with Stuller knows that they are extremely unshy about sending them to you at least once a week until you are crushed under the weight of their chain and metals and findings catalogs. And gemstones. And bridal jewelry. And finished jewelry (if you know, you know).
How to unsubscribe from Stuller’s catalogs
Side note: if you’d like to unsubscribe from Stuller’s catalogs, log into your account Go to My Account—>Account Settings—> Preference Center. Scroll down to Printed Marketing Materials and deselect the catalogs and promotional mailings.
And don’t get me started on what metals prices were like back in 1926. $20.67 an ounce for gold? I'll be over here weeping over the 12” of gold wire that I just bought for $300.
I found this book because I got curious about how metalsmiths used to make jewelry and I went in search of older textbooks and instructions to see how they did it. It is so easy to acclimate to modern techniques and forget that lots of complex and beautiful jewelry were once made with more simple hand tools.
Remember when I was going on in this post about institutional memory? It’s these small moments and snippets of information that I am talking about. It is true that many of these products, tools, and solutions are no longer in use because we have better and less dangerous options.
For the record, I am not giving up my flex shaft for a hand-crank drill anytime soon, nor will I be seeking out platinum chloride because I like avoiding kidney failure (I’m not a fan). But I adore the scrappiness and resilience that comes with knowing that all of this work is possible with or without the latest tools or modern convenience.
I think of these videos that I make, and online courses that I teach as a part of a time capsule. Able to be updated with new information, or left here as a marker of our resourcefulness.
This book by Kronquist is out of print, but you can find some of my jewelry book recommendations on Bookshop (head’s up that this is an affiliate link, so if you purchase anything through it, I may receive a small payment. I thank you, and indie book sellers thank you.
