Fire and water and air and coal

Rp blog for Raol 'Roland' Smith. Moros Mysterium member, professional jeweller and perpetually tired.

[orphic-mysteries]

“The head of Medusa”, Art Nouveau brooch (x) / “Orpheus”, diamond, gold and platinum brooch, circa 1900 (x)

[oldmoonlullaby]

Antique Victorian Moonstone Scorpion Silver Brooch Pin | Edwardian Circa.1900

Source : https://www.lancastrianjewellers.com

[historyarchaeologyartefacts]

Two-faced Memento Mori gold ring, late 17th-century [1125x577]

[grongmake]

A young, tired looking man with rounded glasses and a mop of brown hair had been staring with ill-concealed rapt wonder at the marvels Grong had on display. Judging by small hammered snake bracelet he had around his wrist, either he was familiar with smithing from personal experience, or he was at least an admirer. "Wow, where'd you learn to forge? This is... really good quality, it's beautiful."

Grong grins as the youngster shows such enthusiasm, though his expression dims at the “Where” Question.  “It… far away.  Learned far away.  That your work?”  He points at the bracelet.

[when-the-iron-is-glowing]

Roland squinted at that answer, clearly curious, but if this man didn’t want to divulge where he learned, that was up to him. He held out the wrist with the bracelet for the giant to look at- it was delicate, each scale carefully hammered, looping around his wrist perfectly.

“It’s based on a Greek design- I took some liberties with the scales, they should really have been chased, I know, but I wanted to experiment and- oh- sorry, where are my manners- I’m Roland, it’s nice to meet you.”

He gave a small, formal nod, retracting the wrist after he had the chance to examine it.

[grongmake]

“Gro… uh, Greg Ong.  Good to meet you.”  The big ugly man grins.  “Pretty snake.  Scales are pretty.”

[when-the-iron-is-glowing]

“Thank you,” he ducked his head a little and fiddled with the bracelet.

“I really like how delicate the flowers are on that one-”

He gestured to a knife that split into fragile cherry blossoms.

“How’d you get them so thin?”

[grongmake]

He shrugs. “Real small hammer. Have to hit real careful. Get heat just right.” Is this really a master craftsman? He sounds… barely coherent.

[when-the-iron-is-glowing]

Roland wasn't a stranger to people assuming he was useless because his talents didn't always rest in academia, so simply-spoken as Greg was, he wasn't going to assume this wasn't his work because of it.

"Wow- I'd love to sit in on you making something sometime, maybe see if I could pick up a few things. I don't do a lot of larger work, it'd be useful to see your process, and I could lend a spare pair of hands- sorry, sorry, getting way ahead of myself. How much for the knife?"

[grongmake]

A young, tired looking man with rounded glasses and a mop of brown hair had been staring with ill-concealed rapt wonder at the marvels Grong had on display. Judging by small hammered snake bracelet he had around his wrist, either he was familiar with smithing from personal experience, or he was at least an admirer. "Wow, where'd you learn to forge? This is... really good quality, it's beautiful."

Grong grins as the youngster shows such enthusiasm, though his expression dims at the “Where” Question.  “It… far away.  Learned far away.  That your work?”  He points at the bracelet.

[when-the-iron-is-glowing]

Roland squinted at that answer, clearly curious, but if this man didn’t want to divulge where he learned, that was up to him. He held out the wrist with the bracelet for the giant to look at- it was delicate, each scale carefully hammered, looping around his wrist perfectly.

“It’s based on a Greek design- I took some liberties with the scales, they should really have been chased, I know, but I wanted to experiment and- oh- sorry, where are my manners- I’m Roland, it’s nice to meet you.”

He gave a small, formal nod, retracting the wrist after he had the chance to examine it.

[grongmake]

“Gro… uh, Greg Ong.  Good to meet you.”  The big ugly man grins.  “Pretty snake.  Scales are pretty.”

[when-the-iron-is-glowing]

"Thank you," he ducked his head a little and fiddled with the bracelet.

"I really like how delicate the flowers are on that one-"

He gestured to a knife that split into fragile cherry blossoms.

"How'd you get them so thin?"

[grongmake]

A young, tired looking man with rounded glasses and a mop of brown hair had been staring with ill-concealed rapt wonder at the marvels Grong had on display. Judging by small hammered snake bracelet he had around his wrist, either he was familiar with smithing from personal experience, or he was at least an admirer. "Wow, where'd you learn to forge? This is... really good quality, it's beautiful."

Grong grins as the youngster shows such enthusiasm, though his expression dims at the “Where” Question.  “It… far away.  Learned far away.  That your work?”  He points at the bracelet.

[when-the-iron-is-glowing]

Roland squinted at that answer, clearly curious, but if this man didn't want to divulge where he learned, that was up to him. He held out the wrist with the bracelet for the giant to look at- it was delicate, each scale carefully hammered, looping around his wrist perfectly.

"It's based on a Greek design- I took some liberties with the scales, they should really have been chased, I know, but I wanted to experiment and- oh- sorry, where are my manners- I'm Roland, it's nice to meet you."

He gave a small, formal nod, retracting the wrist after he had the chance to examine it.

[tenderleelee]

Come Live With Me & be My Love ring.

[trulyvincent]

Jewelry by Salvador Dalí

[museum-of-artifacts]

Thor’s hammer amulet found in Ödeshög/Östergötland in Sweden. Viking,  1000 years old

[stimman4000]

.

[wildlyunlikelybabe]

I suddenly understand why jewelry is expensive

[pwntishness]

Hopefully people will start to realize why trades in general are so expensive. You're paying for someone's experience to make a good finished product that takes skill and years of practice.

However there is also a giant gap that needs to be filled in trades. As people are aging out of jobs like tailors, carpenters, bookbinders, leatherworkers, etc, there aren't enough young people going INTO the trades to repopulate the jobs.

Please. Please. Consider going into trades.

[wemblingfool]

These are the kinds of jobs people "fall into," because they aren't visible, and are never talked about.

Kids never grow up telling people they want to be a bookbinder. They don't know they even exist. And schools never ever present them as valid options. And if they do talk about them, they are treated as invalid compaired to NFL Linebacker, President, and Brain Surgeon. After all "jewelry maker" is something people do to supplement their "burger flipping" income, and not an extension of blacksmithing.

But that's the crux of it, isn't it? Crafting and trade skills are an extension of artistic skills, which are often seen as completely invalid, and a total waist of time.