What can this Mysterious Paint be?

Hi All,

I've been looking at a very interesting video on the Dior Jewellery website which shows a jeweller making a ring. We see him doing wax carving, casting, assembling the ring and setting the stones. Finally, he applies brightly-coloured paint. At first I though it must be a paint-on enamel which would need to be fired, but it isn't, because he paints it on after setting the stones.

The website is http://www.diorjoaillerie.com/uk/jewelry_uk.html
and to see the video you have to click on "COLLECTIONS", then "Milly Carnivora".

Does anyone have any idea what this mysterious paint might be? I'd love to get my hands on some...

Best regards,

Nina
www.ninagale.weebly.com

Cold enamel I guess - epoxy-based. Makes them look like plastic!

That's a great set of videos - thanks for sharing it! "Oui" suggests lots of alternatives and is quite similar to am Om design I did a few months ago.

I imagine it's some type of enamel, but what a waste - the end result looks like something my 7 year old painted!

Thank you Nina, I've bookmarked the site to look at again.
This is posh labour intensive costume jewellery and for me an uneasy juxtoposition of precious and non precious materials. But as with all new things you could eventually get used to it and like it. Just browse the collection and see how youthful and cheeky it is. The only thing you might never like is the price.
Good of you to post that, Dennis.

Thanks for posting. Very interesting. I agree though, that bright enamel makes them actually look cheap. I would prefer if they left them unpainted.

Sorry, I don't like this item, selling wax modeled ,cast and painted items as quality jewelery is a joke. And to suggest that the process took months is ridiculous. I am an experienced maker of flowers and I make them from sheet and wire, then they are hard fired enameled, a process that shows quality. Making a ring like this would take me no more than a week of labour. I have posted these before on another topic, but take a look at my hard fired enamelled 18ct gold flowers, not jewelery but life size flowers in vases. Does adding the title Dior make items high quality? also watching the video, why keep showing shots of Paris, is this perhaps to suggest that the item is made in France but may not have been, something I do not know of course.
James

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It's interesting to hear the strong views provoked by this video.

Personally, I don't like the piece. I think the paint makes it look tacky and garish. However, I think a small touch of this colour, used on fashion jewellery, could be attractive if tastefully applied.

My interest is mainly in the durability of the finish. Whenever I make something, I think about how much wear the finish will receive, how easy will it be to clean, etc.

Will this paint be durable? It's going to receive lots of wear, on the outside of a ring. If it's not going to last, how can the makers justify finishing a high-value jewellery item in this way?

Best regards,
Nina

I agree, a small amount of tastefully applied enamel wouldn't have done any harm at all. Or maybe more subtle colours could have been used? I suppose the way they think regarding durability is that peaople would pay a hefty price on the ring and it is not going to be worn often or would be worn with extreme care.

James, your pieces are amazing I always admire them. A far cry from those brightly coloured things, that look like costume jewellery at the end.

Yes I know, I know, but if you look at the whole collection again, It might eventually grow on you. Remember that when the impressionist painters first tried to exhibit their work it was rejected by the French Academy of Art as garish and trashy. They had to find their own venue, but now they are not only accepted, but well-loved.

Some of Picasso's work has been described as like the efforts of a disturbed child, but he can transmit to you directly the anguish of Guernica. He is one of my favourite artists.

I am not claiming that this jewellery is of the same calibre, but ignoring the waste of precious materials, the needless use of bench time and the appeal to designer snobbery, I think it is fun to wear. Dennis.