Kategorie: News
A very special piece of jewellery
Even though the story is not about a journey, it nevertheless begins with one! It was back in the winter of 2020/2021 when we made a last-minute decision to go on a diving safari in the Maldives. Corona was raging all over the world and the Maldives was one of the few countries that was still accessible. Our tour? Deep South to Male and the inevitable stopover in Fuvamulah.
Report by Jan Finsterbusch
Of course, one can debate diving with tiger sharks, especially as it is often done here in Fuvamulah, but that is not the subject of this article! After the dive, with the tiger sharks already retreating back into the open sea, we briefly explore the dive site where we just witnessed the spectacle. Then we see a tooth in the sand right in front of us! Surely it can't belong to a tiger shark? But the shape leaves no room for doubt – it is the genuine tooth of a tiger shark. Shaped like the blade of a chainsaw, it is clearly a tool designed for cutting objects.
The tooth was then forgotten for several years, until...! In any case, it was a reason to contact Stefan Wiessmeyer, known for his jewellery creations, and discuss how to turn the tooth into a high-quality piece of jewellery. And this is where the real story begins:
The most important thing for Stefan was the source of the tooth. He does not want to work with teeth of dubious origin. Under no circumstances should a shark have died for a piece of jewellery!
Convinced of its origin, he expressed his ideas and visualised them using the tooth. Of course, he asks us about our preferences! The pendant should not be too large, but rather a little smaller and more elegant, even if this means grinding down part of the tooth root. As a trained dental technician, he is naturally in his element here.
What sounds so trivial is actually much more complicated than expected and requires a great deal of manual work. First, the root is ground and prepared. This ensures that the root cap will fit perfectly later on. The root is then treated with a separating agent. This is the preparation for modelling the cap with wax. The process is then exactly the same as when a dental technician makes a crown.
This wax model is then the focal point of the work. The pendant model is enclosed in a casting mould in a casting compound, which is then melted in a furnace and burned without leaving any residue. The resulting cavity now provides the perfect mould for our desired pendant. The silver is melted down and then poured into the mould under pressure. After cooling, the raw casting is removed from the mould and cleaned. This blank is then adjusted to the tooth until it fits perfectly. You can imagine how often it has to be reworked with different milling cutters.
Then it's time to smooth the blank and work out the final shape. Finally, the pendant eye is soldered on, the cap is ground, polished and blasted with glass beads to give it a matt finish. Now all that remains is to glue the root cap to the tooth.
A lot of effort for such a small piece of jewellery, but we think it was worth it!
Where is this wonderful piece of art now? That remains our secret. However, you have Stefan's contact details should you have similar ideas.
Information about Stefan Wiessmeyer - scuba collection
https://www.wiessmeyer.de