The story about this unique split hinge bracelet is that we were offered the bracelet several months ago. We finally decided on acquiring this unworn 18K Split Hinge Diamond Enamel Bangle Bracelet.

Vintage Estate 18K Gold Basse-Taille Enamel Diamond Bracelet

The bracelet consists of over 2 Carats of prong set diamonds with Blue Basse-Taille Enamel.

So what exactly is Basse -Taille Enamel?

Basse-taille (baiss-taille) is an enamelling technique in which the artist creates a low-relief pattern in metal, usually silver or gold, by engraving or chasing. The entire pattern is created in such a way that its highest point is lower than the surrounding metal. A translucent enamel is then applied to the metal, allowing light to reflect from the relief and creating an artistic effect. It was used in the late Middle Ages, and then again in the 17th century.

The process for creating basse-taille enamel began by marking the outline of the design and the main internal outlines on the gold with a tool called a “tracer”. Then the interior area was worked, either with chasing tools, hammering and punching rather than cutting, or with chisels, to form a shallow recess to hold the enamel.  In many of the recessed areas further decoration was added by either engraving or punching which would show through the translucent enamel, or to facet the background so the reflections change as the viewing angle changes slightly. Most background areas to the enamelled scenes were decorated in the same way. Finally the surfaces were cleaned up, made good and polished, perhaps including scraping off any bumps showing through on the reverse of the metal.^[7]

The enamel lies flush with the gold surfaces; it was a preparation of finely ground glass paste applied with great care to the prepared recessed areas, and then fired. When different colours of enamel meet each other with a neat boundary, this was achieved by firing one colour with a retaining border of gum tragacanth before adding the next.

Reference source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basse-taille

Vintage Estate 18K Gold Blue Basse-Taille Diamond Bracelet

Beautiful Unworn Vintage Estate 18K Gold  Basse-Taille Enamel Diamond Bracelet.

Old Elegance of Traditional  Jewelry Technique to make a keepsake jewelry piece.

Happy Treasure Hunting!

Sandy Watanabe and Craig too!

Aloha Memorabilia Company

Captain Cook Coin Company of Honolulu