fine ounce goldsmith collective: I gave gold for iron

By Frieda Lühl

Iron is the most common element (by mass) forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. About 1000 BC iron became accessible to men and was used in many different ways ever since. Because of its inflexible, rigid, strong, robust characteristics it was used for objects like locks & keys, spears, knifes, fittings etc to this day.

Over many centuries iron was developed with different metallurgical properties showing different characteristics. Some alloys are very hard, others suitable for casting or forging and many more.

One way to harden iron/steel in the early ages was Damaszener steel. It is more a technique then an alloy where steel and iron are layered, welded together and then forged together. This process is repeated many times till the piece is made up of very thin layers.

The result it a beautiful layered texture of very high flexibility and hardness used for swards and knifes but also in jewellery.

The first iron became fashionable as jewellery was in the early 1800 as the Berlin Iron Jewellery.

The then Prussian royal family lead by Fredrick William III urged their citizens to hand in their gold and precious metal jewellery to help fund the uprising against Napoleon. In return for their gold, the citizens received iron jewellery inscribed with Gold gab ich für Eisen (I gave gold for iron). This continued for a couple of years, but alongside this patriotic endeavour another trend grew for commissioned iron jewellery and these pieces were as you might imagine quite a bit more intricate. Beautiful – and of course now, quite rightly, collectors items.

Iron still inspires many goldsmiths, including myself, to create new ways of using this grey/blue metal. For me this is just the beginning of the experiment “IRON” and it appears there is so much more to discover.