In the late autumn of 2020, a prospective priest gave bei uns commissioned the first work on a very unique and very personal pectoral: this one Pectoral or pectoral cross should have a core of silver in the form of a latin cross preserved, first of all with a blue sapphire in the center and then gradually complemented over the years with gold fittings and medieval jewels, until finally the whole pectoral is completely covered with gold, filigree and jewels.
For this, our client provided a remarkable collection of medieval gems. In addition, the later gemstone settings and the filigree jewelry as exactly as possible to the models on the extremely famous lothar cross from the Cathedral Treasury in Aachen correspond.
It quickly became clear to us that our exceptional customer, with his well-considered wishes and precise specifications, has a remarkably well-trained and particularly well-trained sense and taste for medieval goldsmith work. After all, it is not for nothing that the Aachen Cross of Lothar is one of the finest goldsmith works and certainly a highlight of the medieval ones that have come down to us to this day gem crosses.
It is therefore not surprising that when selecting the materials to be used, only high-alloy gold and silver came into question. After consultation with our customer, the choice finally fell on 925/– silver for the inner Latin cross and 750/– yellow gold for all gemstone settings and the later filigree fittings for the entire front of the pectoral.
The work on this – also for us – unique order began with the Alloy of 750/– yellow gold for the particularly elaborate ones arcade version of the large blue sapphire in the later center of the pectoral. To do this, the required proportions of pure gold and silver were put into a crucible in order to melt them together, i.e. to “alloy” them:
With the help of a gas burner and at over 1000 degrees, both precious metals were inseparably melted together and finally poured into a prepared mold:
The resulting "raw" gold pin, now made of 750/- yellow gold, could now be further processed into the various decorative elements of the most important central gemstone setting - consisting of gold sheet with pearl wire and arcade arches.
First, a wafer-thin wire was pulled from part of the gold through a so-called "drawing iron" to make the pearl wire arcades of the central sapphire setting:
Then a suitable "gold plate" was rolled out for the later setting of the central sapphire and finally all the individual decorative elements were soldered together:
Soldering the arcades for the central sapphire setting
After the finished setting – as the goldsmith says – “is out of the fire” and thus all the soldering work on the gold setting was complete, the intended medieval charm of this particular gem setting finally emerged:
Here is another detail shot of the finished golden arcade setting:
The socket was now ready to be mounted on the silver base cross, which is intended to accommodate all future decorative elements. For this purpose, the Latin cross shape was sawn out of a 2 mm thick silver sheet made of 925/- silver.
After that, the narrow edge could also be rolled out - and made following the shape of the cross - which will later be soldered to the base cross:
At the request of our customer, a golden eyelet should be attached to the upper edge of the cross, which can be folded back by 90°, so that the cross can be used later, in addition to its function as a pectoral, also lying on the altar and, in a later phase, even together with a Gothic base can be used as a standing cross during the fair. Our pectoral thus fulfills three functions at once and can therefore be used universally.
For use as an altar cross, an additional "slot" was attached to the rear inside of the lower arm of the cross for a holder on the later planned Gothic base of the cross. In this way, the cross can be set up on the altar during church celebrations and presented to the congregation with just a few safe movements. The oval openings of the holder are intended to provide additional light from behind for the subsequent gemstone settings on the front of the pectoral.
Finally, a very special “highlight” was the engraving of a font around the outside of the cross at the special request of our customer in a medieval font. This Latin inscription contains the names of all current or historical personalities who have decisively shaped the life of our customer. This gave the cross a particularly personal “charging” for him.
A milling head that is only slightly larger than a human hair, or to be more precise, only 0,3 millimeters in size, was used to engrave the Gothic circular script. Working with such a tool definitely requires a very steady hand and a lot of patience 😉 :
Finally, the surrounding inscription was blackened and extensively patinated in order to optimize its legibility and to come as close as possible to the effect of comparable circular inscriptions from the Middle Ages.
Now that all the individual elements of the pectoral were completed, the central sapphire setting could be temporarily mounted in the center of the cross. It was designed on the inside in such a way that it can be removed once and later, together with all the gold fittings on the front of the cross arms that will be completed in the future, can be permanently connected to the cross again.
At the request of our customer, the pectoral was heavily patinated, ie artificial signs of aging were applied to all surfaces and the tarnishing of silver was provoked with a special chemical. From our point of view, the resulting pectoral comes astonishingly close to the incomparable charisma of the medieval originals:
The first reaction of our customer was correspondingly clear. Apparently we have once again succeeded in exactly meeting the taste and expectations of this pleasantly demanding customer:
At any rate, in the end we were very touched and inspired by the extraordinary goldsmith objects that can be created when the client and the executing company share such a deep passion for historical goldsmith work and the uncompromising implementation of all details.
We are already very much looking forward to further developing the pectoral cross over the course of the coming years until it is fully completed – from now on the entire front will be gradually supplemented with medieval gemstones on golden fittings with filigree decoration in the style of the Lothar Cross in Aachen.
Today's handover of the pectoral to our customer here in our studio will certainly remain unforgettable for us. This order was and is something completely satisfying and unique for us too.
Many thanks to our "dream customer" ... and to Alesha.
Update from 18.2.2021:
The lower pink sapphire of the pectoral – which is currently still unmounted – has now been given a medieval arcade setting and already fits in wonderfully with the existing ensemble.
The final setting of all gemstones - apart from the central sapphire - takes place after consultation with our customer only when all settings are finally mounted on the later gold fittings of the entire front of the pectoral cross.
Update from 6.3.2021
In the meantime, all the gemstone settings for the sapphires in the cross ends have been completed and have arrived safely at the customer. At the request of our customer, all these sapphires remain unset for the time being.
By the way: Many thanks to our extraordinary client for kindly providing these beautiful update pictures.
Update from 22.3.2021
In the meantime, some gem settings for the smaller sapphires inside the arms of the cross have also been made. This type of bezels are also the most famous”lothar cross” to be found and consist “only” of two parallel, circumferential pearl wires and an inner frame for stable storage of the gemstone in its setting:
