Why do finished jade products need to be inlaid?

Most jade jewelry has perfect inlays, which match perfectly with the jade rough stones and show the better appearance of the jade. But some people like the beautification after inlay, while others like natural loose stones. Hobbies vary; just like some people like beauties with makeup, while others like beauties without makeup. It’s all a choice.

Did you know? Why do finished jade products need to be inlaid?

[1] First, let’s talk about the role of jade inlay:

①Protect jade. Because most jade rough stones are very valuable and precious, in order to protect the jade, inlaying the jade is like putting a protective film on it to reduce the damage caused by friction, collision and bumps to the jade. Unless the jadeite is dropped head-on, the metal inlaid jadeite can effectively protect the rough jadeite in most cases.

② Beautiful decoration. Gold and silver are generally used for inlay, with 18k gold and 925 silver being the most commonly used. K gold refers to an alloy made by the fusion of gold and other metals. Its hardness and wear resistance can better fix the jade rough stone. Using these K golds to inlay and match jadeite can make the overall look more shiny, angular, elegant in shape, and with a strong sense of internal light, making it more dazzling and beautiful.

Did you know? Why do finished jade products need to be inlaid?

③Easy to wear. Some jade stones are too small to be worn directly and need to be inlaid before they can be worn. This is also called functional inlay. This kind of inlay can meet the needs of wearing small types of plain jadeite and rings.

④Repair the damage. Some jades, such as jade bracelets, may be accidentally damaged while we wear them. In this case, inlay can be used to repair them. Today's inlay technology can already help you perfectly repair your beloved jadeite, and the restored effect can also reach the level of exquisite perfection, thus giving the jadeite bracelet new vitality.

Did you know? Why do finished jade products need to be inlaid?

【2】So, what is the method of jade inlay? What are the specific steps?

①Design drawings. When you want to set a piece of jadeite, the designer will first design the shape for you.

A design drawing has to be considered and modified many times before it can be designed. Not only the exquisiteness, uniqueness, fashion and atmosphere of the shape must be considered, but also the matching of materials and craftsmanship. More importantly, the needs of the customers must be considered, and the details that the customers want must be expressed. It must also have its own design style and brand concept.

Therefore, it will take at least a few days to produce a design drawing, and it may take ten days, half a month, or even several months to complete the design.

Did you know? Why do finished jade products need to be inlaid?

②Hand-carved wax or computer-drawn 3D printed version.

Before computer graphics and printing were used, people used to carve wax by hand according to the design drawings, that is, carving the designed shape into the wax.

This is a technical job, which requires the carved wax to have a reasonable structure, be smooth and seamless, and the place where the jade rough stone is inlaid must also be accurate in size, which requires very high technical skills.

Up to now, computer drawing and printing have basically replaced manual wax carving. After drawing with CAD software, it can be directly printed by computer spray wax 3D printing.

However, nowadays, for designs that are very valuable or have special shapes, we still choose skilled craftsmen to hand-carve the wax models.

Hand-carved wax

Computer wax spray

③Mold making. The process of casting is to trim the carved wax model, plant the wax tree in a certain arrangement, put it into a steel sleeve and pour high-temperature gypsum slurry into it. The gypsum is then vacuumed, naturally hardened, and dried at a certain temperature rise period. The k gold is then melted and cast to create the inlaid k gold blank.

④Hold the mold. The mold making process is to manually polish and modify the K-gold rough blank to obtain the preliminary finished product shape.

⑤Polishing. Polishing is the process of using a polishing machine to grind the finished product shape out of the mold at high speed to make its surface smooth and shiny.

polishing

⑥ Inlay stone. Stone setting is the process of setting gemstones or jade loose stones on a polished jewelry metal setting.

Stone setting is also a job that tests the craftsman's skills. If the design is simple and elegant, then it is relatively easy. However, if the style is complex and a large number of jade gemstones are used, then the difficulty will be much higher and it will take a long time.

Especially micro-setting, which requires setting tiny diamonds under a magnifying glass that can magnify dozens of times, is an extremely difficult technical job.

Stone setting

⑦Electroplating. Electroplating is to put the polished product into a chemical solution containing precious metals such as platinum or rhodium, so that the surface is coated with one or more layers of precious metals. It is a way to keep the surface smooth and shiny for a long time, but not all jade inlays require this step.

⑧Quality inspection. Quality inspection is the last step, which is to check the quality of the inlaid finished products. If they fail, they will be returned to the previous process and remade, so the quality is also very guaranteed.

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