Received in 2010 we a very extensive order from a private collector from Switzerland, who sold his historic Vladimirskayaicon restored and also wanted to have a new, very elaborate precious stone frame made for this icon.
Until then, his valuable icon was “trapped” in an old and poorly preserved frame made of simple brass sheet.
The silver plating of the old brass frame was largely rubbed off and the brass sheet was badly dented and warped. After dismantling the old frame, the hand-painted depiction of the Virgin Mary came to light:
The pearl pillow was also in very poor condition. Entire segments of the small rocaille beads were missing, as were some of the gold tinsel ornaments and entire rows of the poor-quality plastic beads.
We replaced all the missing rocailles, closed the incomplete rows of the old plastic beads with real cultured pearls and made the missing gold tinsel ornaments again individually and true to the original. We needed several days just to sew up the missing rocailles.
In the end, all the flaws were repaired and the overall picture of the pearl edging was uniform and closed again.
The two blue glass stones of the old icon were finally exchanged for real ones Lapislazuli-Cabochons exchanged.
As the icing on the cake, the rocaille bead pillow received a replica of the broken old tiara on the forehead - now made of yellow gold and set with genuine rose diamonds totaling approx. 1,0 ct (carats) occupied.
In many emails and phone calls, the draft of the new gemstone frame (Kerchief and Oklad) coordinated in detail with our Swiss customer. In the end, the frame should be set with medieval-style filigree and real gems - mainly rubies, emeralds and some large rock crystals -cabochons.
After we presented the customer with our suggestions for the selection of gemstones, he decided on rubies and emeralds of particularly high quality. Now the real work could begin:
First, the new frame for the old icon was custom-made. Many meters of the required filigree wire were specially made by hand. From this, the many twisted filigree ornaments were made according to medieval models and partially soldered onto the frame with a tiny ball in the center of the individual ornaments.
The gemstone settings of the large colored rock crystal cabochons were designed according to medieval models and cast individually. The settings for the rubies, emeralds and cultured pearls were also made individually and precisely for each gemstone.
After the old aureole was newly gilded and also set with rubies and emeralds, all parts of the icon could be put together.
In the end, we were able to personally deliver his new magnificent icon to a visibly touched customer in Switzerland and see how happy he was with the end result.
We have fond memories of this very special order because of the diverse technical challenges, the high-quality materials and the numerous wonderful details.
