PlatAfrica Free Writing

This was the third year that I had the opportunity to work with platinum and each year I end up loving the process. At first it is always daunting working with platinum because its physical properties are vastly different to those of silver or copper it is much harder than other metals making it difficult to bend and polish as it requires sanding in much higher grades than silver and gold. . It is also much more valuable  and one always has to be extra cautious not to lose  scraps, bits and filings as your loss cannot be greater than 5% of the total metal weight. Because platinum having such a high melting point, It is also very difficult to remelt the metal so you cannot afford to have wrong calculations regarding the metal preparation.  Because of these two factors, a jeweller learns to respect this metal.  

Apart from these fearsome properties, platinum also has many amazing properties that the other metals do not have. I used these properties to my advantage in the creation of my PlatAfrica 2019 Brooch. Platinum has the ability to fuse, which helped me to create a strong branch without having any solder joints to weaken the structure. The twigs and branches were fully fused onto the main branch to create one solid brooch. Platinum also stays shiny after being exposed to heat and this property saved me quite a few steps in the polishing process, I was able to pre-polish each part and assemble each shiny part individually. Platinum's great strength also allowed me to make a brooch pin that does not lose it's tension and I could roll my sheet metal paper thin so that I could cut out my templates using a regular pair of scissors. No filings. 

Regular scissors being used to cut out templates on a 0.15mm sheet

It felt very wrong to use a pair of scissors to cut out my templates, it also felt terrible to roll-mill the surface of the platinum as opposed to having a shiny polished surface, It felt like I was disrespecting Platinum, Almost like wearing takkies to go and see the queen. I also realize that the stereotype in my mind and in the minds of others, must be broken. Platinum or Gold is mostly associated with Shiny BLING BLING, no It does not necessarily have to shine, as I am making contemporary jewellery, I can use contemporary methods in my creation to break away from the norm.