HOW DO WE WORK?
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First of all we are artists and crafters creating unique, author's jewelry. We found a separate niche for ourselves – somewhere between three fascinating fields: an art, a traditional goldsmith and a watchmaking. We make our pieces personally. We invent them and create them from scratch. There is no place for mass production in the our atelier. That is why we prefer not to say "products" about our jewelry, because these are rather artistic works, miniature works of art. We create them as a single, unique pieces or in very short series. We would like to show you, how we work.
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The most characteristic of our work are miniatures made of old watch movements. Little works which are between sculpture, bas-relief and model making. Our favourite material and a main inspiration source are different, mostly steel or brass watch parts. Don't think, however, that for the needs of art we destroy valuable watches. We would not allow ourselves to it. We use the so-called watchmaking scrap. These are elements of old watches, loose parts or whole movements, which are useless for watchmakers, because they are either too worn out or come from watches which repair cost exceeds the value of the entire timepiece. We buy this parts from watchmakers, because for us it is a valuable work material, even if they look like run over by a tank at the moment when we get them. We carefully screw out all parts from watch movements, then we wash, dry and sort them. Only after such pre-treatment of these small elements, we can start to plan, what can we use them for. They are beautiful in themselves! And we give them their second life in art, making miniatures, which will became „stones” of our artistic jewelry, when we would close them in transparent resin cabochones. Precision and artistry of watch movements, microscale beauty of engineering, delight us from years.
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We can make unusual, miniature works of art from these parts of movements. Animals portraits, human silhouettes, floral motifs and even entire Solar Systems. It is difficult, because every our work must be aesthetic, proportional and recognizable. It is also necessary to keep the mechanical look of watch parts from which the motif was created. And that complicates the matter. It is much simpler to sculpt something in the material that does not have any representative features that should be exposed. The material, which are elements of old watches, is refractory at work. Watch parts have their specific dimensions and mechanical appearance. They can't be shaped freely. Especially bionic projects require a great artistic sense from us, so these could have this "life" and lightness of form in them. But we're really good at it!
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Are you interested in the creative process itself? I can show you a few pictures that I took while working on a moose pendant on individual order:
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To do really good works of old watches, we need a great patience, a peaceful hands and huge imagination. When I start to work, it doesn't look impressive. But I see it in my mind. I simply know, what kind of effect I am going to achieve.
Some works are simpler, while others contain hundreds of tiny elements. We use perfectly transparent resin which allows us to close our works in transparent cabochons to preserve these subtle compositions. It's a bit like inclusion of an insect in amber. Transparent resin gives a perfect durability to our tiny sculptures. Nothing will fall away from them, nothing will break or bend. Working with resins requires great care not only when measuring ingredients but while applying as well. To get great results, we must take care of some important parameters and first of all, work very, very clean! Any dust is absolutely forbidden here.
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Compositions of watch parts which are going to be secured by resin, can be very delicate and filigree. We can use: wires with diameters thinner than human hair, the smallest cogs, very hard but at the same time brittle axles of gears. Sculpting from such a thin and delicate elements, like these, which I've used to make this dragon's head wouldn't be possible, if this composition was not going to be secured by resin.
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Unusual, recognizable TRYB's design comes from three factors: talent, interdisciplinary skills and perseverance. We know that some people try to make things like we do, but it only makes us keep raising the bar and give our best, to do things better and better, more beautiful and sophisticated, to implement new ideas, create more and more surprising compositions and reach for better materials.
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Because miniature sculptures made of parts of old watch movements are the quintessence of our work, but we also use other valuable materials at work. Silver for instance. Some of our jewelry pieces are made exclusively of silver. These are very visually distinctive items, which we made using traditional goldsmith techniques.
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Working with silver seems to be something about the alchemy. Heat, melting precious metal, crucibles, weighing ingredients down, a fire... Anyone, who is watching this „show” for the first time, is usually very impressed. But for us it's just everyday life. We make sterling silver from pure silver granules by ourselves. It has much better properties, because it is harder than silver unadulterated.
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Isn't it spectacular?
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Pure silver granules on the left. Sterling silver element on the right.
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We use these sterling silver which we've melted before, to make sheets or rods of various thicknesses. Contrary to appearances, it is a lot of work to do...
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Of the silver sheets prepared in this way, we cut out various shapes useful to make settings for our works.
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We make wires of different diameters from rods pulling them through the smaller and smaller dies of the draw plate.
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Next we make ear hooks, studs, jump rings of wires prepared in this way. Thicker wires are used to make bracelets or necklaces.
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Already there is a lot of knowledge: what to melt silver with; how to do it effectively and safely; what sheet thicknesses to prepare for bezel cups settings; which wire diameters will be suitable for ear hooks, and which ones for the avant-garde necklace carrier. And this is just the beginning of work - preparing basic materials. After that we make all the creative work, like making specific silver jewelry pieces. Two things are important in goldsmith's work: firstly, the aesthetics of the item being made, and secondly, its durability. We attach great importance to both these issues. Our works are to be beautiful first and secondly made as solidly as possible considering the small size of jewelry. We create timeless art that is fashion-resistant and is a bit against trends. And such items do not lose their value for years. Therefore, we care about the maximum durability of our jewelry, enabling its many years of trouble-free use. We also emphasize the fact that we are driven by ecological motives. We fully oppose the seasonality and impermanence of mass-produced items and their poor design.
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Silver is a material that allows us to make such durable, timeless settings for our clockwork works of art. It is also a material that we can shape freely and it is truly fascinating at work with this precious metal. We saw, mill, bend and shape all these elements, which we are to join together next by soldering. This is how a shape designed in the head is coming true step by step. Unfortunately, our ideas are rarely drawn on paper, most often "projects" go to the goldsmith's table straight from our heads, where they are changed into real, hard, metal objects. Perhaps we just have to accept that the work of a goldsmith artist has a lot of spontaneity. Creative freedom is a very pleasant thing that stimulates creativity and even children's curiosity and enthusiasm. That is why there is no place for boredom here. Something is always happening, something is being created everyday in TRYB atelier. You can hear the knocking, grinding, scratching nearly all the time here. And the whisper of a torch flame, which we use for soldering various elements which are to became a complete item.
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If you would like to see a little more precisely how sterling silver jewelry settings are made, we had prepared for you a file presenting this process step by step, in a plain shortcut:
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In addition to silver, we also use gold. For example, we make pendants, rings and earrings with it. The techniques of working with gold are almost the same as with silver, although the metal itself behaves a bit differently (different density, other thermal conductivity e.t.c.). We can also offer truly unique jewelry to these clients, who appreciate unique design first and secondly, the elegance of this precious metal. Please consider, that we make jewelry for individual orders too.
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Using silver and gold in combination with manual work and the steampunk style of real watch parts is quite unique on the market. Precious metals add the elegance to our jewelry and make it outstanding. Moreover, we use natural semi-precious and precious stones, mother of pearl or pearls to create new designs. These materials enrich our projects and diversify them with color. TRYB jewelry is elegant and exclusive. Unique to such an extent that it is impossible to find it anywhere else.
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But not only pearls and gemstones adorn our jewelry. Sometimes we find real treasures between old pocketwatch and wristwatch cases. Absolutely all of them need cleaning and refreshing. In addition, some are in such a bad condition that they need full renovation, repair or general modifications, before we would give them a second life as unconventional artistic jewelry settings. Please see below the terryfying condition of the pocket watch case, which we finally repaired to use as a setting of a cabochon with the "Swallow" motif (Cirillas sword from A. Sapkowski books about the Witcher). So destroyed... but worth to save it from melting because of the beautiful, decorative back. We filled the gaps by soldering pieces of silver into the holes, we have also strengthened the ear attachment site to make it strong enough and durable. The effect was worth the effort, because the item that looked completely damaged, gained a second life in the form of artistic jewelry.
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Is there anything more valuable than your and our time? When you write to us, to ask about some custom made work, you can count on our personal commitment from the moment of sending us an inquiry. We respond to each email personally. We also make all arrangements for individual orders by email or phone in person, which avoids misunderstandings. We do this, because we appreciate good contact with our clients. Who, if not us, could provide you with the most complete information and would answer all your questions reliably? Also for orders placed through our online store: each purchase is completed by one of us personally, checked, packed carefully in a jewelry box and then properly secured for shipment.
For us, it's not just a work. This is a passion. We create, craft and construct. We learn and develop and it is fascinating to us. And in every work there is a part of us - the authors. And this delicate thread of understanding between the creator and the recipient who are on the same wavelength.
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