It’s amazing how extremely small objects – just like our beloved micromosaics – enclose so much history, art and skills.
Even the charming ring that we are showing you today is the product of a long tradition and all-Italian technical expertise.
It is an 18-karat gold (750/1000) filigree ring with an oval-cut intense blue sapphire in the center, made in the 1960s-1970s in Valenza, in the Monferrato area, the Piedmontese capital of goldsmithing and jewelry with a century and a half long tradition.
12 thin gold threads arranged in pairs of two, some twisted others completely smooth, sinuously intertwine to form the precious golden link that makes up the ring.
The weaves are perfectly regular, the gold threads are all of the same minimum thickness: this ring can only be the work of a virtuous goldsmith.
The ring bears the goldsmith’s hallmark from Valenza (AL).
In the course of our research we discovered that a competitive event, which first began in 2006, takes place every year in Valenza with the name of “Il Palio del Filo d’Oro” (The Golden Thread Prize), in which three teams of goldsmiths compete to create the longest and thinnest golden thread within sixty minutes.
The thread, starting from a small wire of 5 grams, is pulled by passing through drawing machines with an increasingly smaller hole, and then wound up on a reel. Then it is measured on a long runner lying on the ground.
The video below tells the story of this incredible challenge (it is a 2013 video by Genny Notarianni, through the Associazione Culturale Piemonte Mese):
We hope that also in 2021 this event will take place again.
In the meantime, we are happy to have here in our store such a great small jewel coming from those lands of long tradition and knowledge.
Size: 15/55
Weight: 2 g
Price: SOLD
TERMS OF PURCHASE:
Items are sold as presented: we kindly invite our customers to carefully examine all the descriptions, images and videos relating to each object.
In addition to the information contained therein, Antichità al Ghetto shall provide, upon request, further pictures and details.
PAYMENT is to be carried out by bank transfer.
SHIPPING COSTS through DHL are at the purchaser’s expense (please, find out about our shipping rates here).
Don’t hesitate to contact us for further information.
You can reach us here: info@antichitaalghetto.com, we will answer you back as soon as possible!