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The piece to be decorated must be prepared by scratching or chopping.
It consists of removing the surface of its smoothness, and can grasp the gold and silver.
It can be carried out by an acid treatment to save time in the process, or by performing the bite by hand very thoroughly. This is the original technique that has been carried out over the centuries.
Once we have the chopped piece we will burn it with a torch to darken the color of the steel, so we can capture the design and work it more easily.
Then we can begin to work on the geometry and the incrustation of the material, by means of thread and gold and silver plates.
When we have finished design we will proceed to matted the piece, to finish embedding the materials completely.
Mateed its shine to gold and silver, to be able to work with it later.
The next process consists of working the piece with a series of chemical products. The technique is commonly called "Pavonado".
It is essential to give the piece the shine of materials, and at the same time to leave the surface clean, transforming the rough steel into a perfectly homogeneous black color.
The process itself consists of introducing the piece to the fire at a temperature of 600 degrees, with a solution of caustic soda and potassium nitrate.
As we said before, steel will remain black, while gold and silver will remain unchanged.
The last process and, in turn, the most important one is the reworking technique.
It consists of creating different textures to the piece by beating with chisels, and at the same time giving relief, returning to the gold its natural shine.
Each piece we make is unique, leaving in it the story that always accompanies it through out history.
I.Togashi Damasquinos. Toledo (Spain).