LAIBACH PRINCIPLES » HANDMADE MECHANICS

NO FACTORY MADE PARTS IN A LAIBACH PIECE ...

The dexterity of true goldsmith work can be clearly illustrated through the increasingly rare skill of hand-making intricate mechanisms, chains and other jewellery fittings and fixings; meticulously crafted to suit varying facets of each unique design. The vast majority of jewellers either lack the skills or have no crafting or ethical interest to make these precision pieces themselves. Instead, they are obtained readily machine-manufactured (often in China). These mass-produced parts are called "findings"; they include ring "blanks" (the main band of your so-called hand-made wedding ring), complete earring attachments, closing mechanisms for bracelets and necklaces and all manner of necklace chains. As you can imagine, "findings" can often amount to the bulk of an entire jewellery piece. This raises various moral and ethical questions about the integrity of piece constructed using findings while also claiming it to be handmade.

Morally (craft-wise), the amount of "hand-making" involved in creating a piece using findings is negligible; for example, with earrings or necklaces – gluing a stone or simple facet to a factory made closing mechanism or hooked onto a factory-made chain or simply adding a polish to a pre-cast ring blank – raises clear questions that such jewellery should not be termed "handmade" at all since the constituent precious metal parts are industrially machine-made. The correct description for this type of product should be "hand-finished". This term should also be applied to repetitive pieces of jewellery which are made from factory casting.

Ethically, there is no real ecological provenance that can be associated with factory-made jewellery parts: The carbon footprint relating to all aspects of manufacturing including product miles, and of course the origin of the precious metals are all negative and therefore highly unappealing factors for those wishing to tread a genuine ecological path.
If you are wishing that your old family gold is entirely used for the creation of your new piece of jewellery then the use of findings will clearly not be suitable either.

Kerstin Laibach never uses findings of any kind. She also does not cast for the sake of making repetitious pieces. All pieces, even repeating collection pieces are individually handmade, meaning each piece is essentially unique ... always slightly different.
With upmost precision, Kerstin hand-makes all aspects of her jewellery pieces; ring bands, chains, closing mechanisms, earring clips etc.
This Laibach Principle means that the provenance of the precious metal used throughout the entire piece remains intact … from chain-links to cufflinks; either recycled from Kerstin's local refiner or re-melted in her atelier directly from your own old gold and without hazardous chemicals. Each mechanical aspect of a Laibach jewellery piece is uniquely crafted to blend aesthetically with the jewellery piece and to provide personal comfort.

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