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Parent Category: Technical Articles from Journal Back Copies

Category: Technical Articles 2009

Rachel Gogerly

This summer, I had the opportunity to experiment with enamelling on Palladium, a ‘new’ metal to the jewellery industry, which as yet has little technical information recorded on how well or not it enamels.

2009 saw the introduction of Palladium hallmarking in the UK. To commemorate this, the Wardens of Birmingham Assay Office commissioned a new Badge of Office for their Assay Master (Image 7). Designed and made by Silversmith and Palladium expert, Martyn Pugh, it was the first piece marked with the new Palladium hallmark in Birmingham.

The design included various symbolisms, including the depiction of the atomic structure of Palladium and the Anchor, which has been the town mark of the Birmingham Assay Office since it was founded in 1773. Enamelled flames on one section of the badge also represent cupellation, the traditional method of fire assaying items.

I was invited to enamel this section, to create vibrant transparent colours of red, orange and yellow for the flames. Starting with no experience of working with this metal, a number of samples and some experimentation were required to establish how best to proceed.

Initially I did not know if Palladium could be enamelled or to what quality, so the aim of the samples was to establish the following, ‘Can Palladium be enamelled and if so, what preparation is required and can consistent good quality results be achieved? Finally, how does Palladium influence the appearance of transparent enamel?’

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