Jewellery engraving, a traditional and historic craft, first appeared 4,000 years ago and has evolved over time from the eventual purely handmade engraving to more efficient methods of engraving. In fact, the changes in jewellery engraving methods have not only changed the jewellery that people wear, but also how the trajectory of people's pursuit of beauty has changed. Today, let's find out what types of jewellery engraving are available!
What is engraving?
Before we start to understand jewellery engraving, we can first understand what is engraving. Engraving is the process of using an engraver to make a special mark on a variety of engraving materials, and this mark can be as simple as a letter or as complex as a pattern. The materials used for engraving have also changed a lot. (In the past, engraving materials were more monolithic, such as wood or metal). By now, you can engrave on glass, on plastic, or even on paper.
Since ancient times, engraving techniques have been seen as a common way used to work with jewellery. As society has progressed, people have become more and more demanding of the efficiency of jewellery processing. Then the way of jewellery engraving has changed naturally in line with the times.
What are the ways of jewellery engraving?
Hand engraving
Of all the methods of jewellery engraving, hand engraving is the most traditional and oldest. However, it is also the most labour-intensive as it requires the craftsman to use hand tools throughout the entire process. What's more, even if the same engraver uses the same engraving tool to engrave the same pattern, there will still be some differences in the jewellery engraved by hand. Therefore, hand-carved jewellery is absolutely no match for the accuracy of computer-controlled carving tools.
But why do so many jewellery brands still use hand engraving as a means of attracting customers? This is because hand-engraved jewellery often has a uniqueness and craftsmanship that cannot be replaced by machine engraving. Furthermore, hand-engraving allows jewellery designers to create engravings that are tailored to each customer's preferences. This kind of personalisation is particularly attractive in the jewellery market.
Rotary machine engraving
In order to know what rotary engraving is, it is important to understand what a rotary machine is. A rotary machine is a high-speed rotary engraving tool, which is usually driven by electric or pneumatic power. The high speed rotary engraving head can easily remove the material under the high speed rotation, and finally leave a beautiful pattern.
So what are the main features of rotary machine engraving? Firstly, rotary machine engraving is superior to hand engraving in terms of engraving accuracy. You can control the precision of the engraving by controlling the rotational speed of the engraving machine, and the depth of the engraving by controlling the strength of the engraving as well. Secondly, rotary machines are generally equipped with a variety of shapes of engraving head, you can change more of your own needs. By replacing different engraving heads, you can quickly change engraving styles. Finally, the rotary machine engraving application is very wide, in addition to jewellery processing, can also be used to carve wood, or some other plastic products.
Laser engraving
Laser engraving can be considered one of the most advanced engraving techniques available. The principle of laser engraving is that when a strong laser beam is shone on a metal, the metal will be evaporated instantly. Laser engraving can be used to engrave not only metal, but also other common engraving materials, such as gemstones, glass and other materials.
The advantages of laser engraving are also obvious. Firstly, the laser engraving machine can adjust the parameters of the laser beam according to the set pattern. For example, by adjusting the width of the laser beam to control the thickness of the engraved lines, adjust the intensity of the laser beam to adjust the depth of the engraved pattern, and ultimately engraved with a rich level of engraving works. Secondly, the efficiency of laser engraving is the highest compared to the above two engraving methods. As long as you will carve the pattern you want to design in the special computer software, and then upload it to the laser engraving machine, you can get the engraving work in a very short time. Last but not least, the engraving precision of laser engraving machine can reach micron level, so you can engrave any complicated pattern on the jewellery as long as you want.
Common categories of jewellery engraving
1. Intaglio
Intaglio is the most common type of jewellery engraving, is to use the engraving tool to remove the excess engraving material in the formation of recessed patterns. Concave carving and relief carving is a relative way of carving. Concave carving this way are generally found in gemstones (such as agate, chalcedony, etc.), semi-precious stones (such as amethyst, tourmaline, etc.) and a variety of precious metals.
2. Decorative carving
The so-called decorative engraving is to engrave some special patterns, words or symbols on the surface of jewellery to enhance its beauty. Generally speaking, it is more common in the ring part of the ring.
3. Inscription Engraving
Inscription engraving is one of the most common types of engraving on rings these days. The content engraved by the inscription is very rich, you can engrave any text on the ring as long as it can be engraved on the ring. It can be a special date, initials, or a special design. There are many different ways to engrave an inscription, and it can be done with laser engraving or by hand.
Jewellery engraving is not only an ancient craft heritage, but also records the history of the development of human civilisation. Different ways of jewellery engraving have different charms. And the addition of emerging technology, so that the traditional method of jewellery engraving has a new modern colour.