A day as a goldsmith in Tuscany: create your jewel 30 minutes from Florence

Thirty minutes from Florence, there is a laboratory where metal is still worked as it has always been worked: with fire, by hand, one piece at a time.

Starting from raw metal (silver or gold), Dorthe, a goldsmith with 35 years of experience, guides you through all the steps of creating a jewel: the metal is melted in the crucible, then, with its help, it is worked into a jewel: saw, hammer, file, abrasive paper and polishing. Thin it, give it the shape, close the size, smooth the edges, choose the thickness and finish: mirror polished, satin, hammered.

It's the classic way of making a jewel, the same as always, and in four hours you see it happening in its entirety: from the shapeless piece of silver to the ring you have on your finger when you walk out the door. Nothing is hidden, nothing is already done. You don't need any experience: you just need an idea, even a vague one, of what you want to take home.

If you have a family jewel that you no longer wear (your grandmother's ring, a broken chain, an uneven pair of earrings), you can take it with you. It melts and becomes something you will actually wear. It's one of the things that happens here most often, and one of the best to see.

In the middle of the morning, or in the middle of the afternoon, we take a break with local products: we put down the file, we drink something, we watch the piece take shape on the counter.

The laboratory is small and Dorthe works alone: there are two to six people, each at their desk, each with her next to her when needed. We work in Italian, English or German.