Jeweler's Saw

The Jeweler’s Saw is part of a small series of jeweler’s tools entitled Fancywork. The Fancywork tools are made with a method called filigree, which in this case makes use of twenty-eight gauge fine silver wire. Filigree is the process of wrapping wire and soldering it together to create an intricate metal design. Fancywork: Jeweler’s Saw is ten inches long, six inches wide, and one inch deep. The handle is extremely sturdy, but the frame lacks in strength due to its size, shape and technical process. When it is picked up and handled the tool is comically, possibly alarmingly, flimsy and unstable. The Fancywork series plays on opposition: fragile-strong, decorative-minimal, masculine-feminine. The use of filigree in the series also gives the objects a history in metalwork found in poorer cultures, such as India and Pakistan. Due to its labor-intensive nature and comparably cheap material, filigree questions the importance of toil cross-culturally.