Where Did Gold Granulation Jewelry Come from Originally?

Granulation is an ancient form of jewelry-making. When those gold beads are joined in a delicate union, beneath the watchful eye of a skilled artisan familiar with this age-old process, granulation-texturing is born: deep, rich, and dimensional to deepen the beauty and the mystery... turning any piece of jewelry into wearable art.

Just like hand milgrain, hand engraving, fine filigree, and so many others, gold granulation is the art of jewelry – the one that Luna Felix Goldsmith’s artisan, Luna Felix, does best when designing your personalized ring, earrings, pendant, or other piece of fine jewelry.

If you have a need of custom design or custom jewelry with gold granulation, schedule an appointment with our owner, and one of Santa Fe's most distinguished jewelry design and custom jewelers: Luna Felix.

Call us at 505-989-7679 or submit a CONTACT US form at LunaFelixGoldsmith.com.

The Origins of Granulation

Granulation, the technique of soldering minute gold balls to jewelry, originated in the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia around 2500 BCE.

These old jewelers made up complex, breathtaking designs that to this day astound even some of the most skilled of the fine jewelers. Egyptians also were famous (and sometimes infamously) for their granulated jewelry — necklaces, brooches, earrings — made with breathtaking precision, and often accented with religious symbols, such as the Eye of Horus.

With time, granulation began to be adopted by other cultures. Particularly as one of the Etruscans having been the rulers of Italy from the 8th through the 3rd centuries BCE.

Jewelry was adorned by them with animal or floral figures and geometric patterns. It was more than a pretty object; it was a representative of wealth, status, and spiritual beliefs — the Etruscans were firm believers in fate and the will of the gods.

How Granulation Works

Granulation is a fiddly job so it takes real expertise and patience. The skill uses small-sized gold beads, called granules, to decorate the surface of the jewellery with beautiful patterns.

Artisans employ specific tools and techniques to achieve granulation. Tweezers and pliers and hammers are used to position and assemble the granules, heat is applied with care, in techniques including torching or laser fusion.

In the past, granules were soldered with copper salts as a bonding agent that melted at a lower temperature than gold, and fused without completely melting. Contemporary jewellers use soldering or a similar technique such as a laser welder to apply heat to the metal directly and liquefy it.

The granules are typically made by slicing small pieces of gold wire and heating them until the pieces ball up. After the design is set, the granules are bonded to the surface according to the design.

Granulation vs. Milgrain

Granulation vs. Hand Milgrain At first glance, granulation and hand milgrain can seem the same (after all, prehistoric craftsmen worked with each), but they are different forms of ornamentation. Granulation is the art of soldering minute gold beads to the surface of the jewelry in ornate patterns or designs.

The beads are affixed to the piece through heat or a stabilized adhesive — often over a large area to stick the beads to the surface without melting them.

Milgrain, for instance, refers to the process of adding small metal bumps to the edges of a jewelry piece. It involves a beading tool or engraving method to form small, evenly spaced metal bumps around the edges of a piece of jewelry.

The word ‘milgrain’ comes from the French “a thousand grains” and gained popularity in the first half of the 20th century, popular during the Edwardian and Art Deco eras. It is mainly used to accentuate the sides of an item and provide a clean, yet dainty borderline that showcases the

Although both methods create distinct aesthetic features, granulation focuses more on texture and (occasionally) a bit more complexity while milgrain provides a softer, decorative dimension which highlights the lines of the jewelry.

Granulation Techniques and Variations

There were super intricate patterns in ancient Etruscan jewelry — we’re talking teeny, tiny expertly set beads to create geometric designs, flowers and even animals.

As a comparison, Egyptian granulation was a little more organic. They included motifs of nature and the cosmos, and they also combined granulation with other materials (such as lapis lazuli or turquoise) to make the gold beads stand out even more.

The Greeks and Romans borrowed from earlier civilizations like the Etruscans and Egyptians, but hewed granulation use down to simpler, anglicized designs, using granules only in small parts (focusing on certain areas of a composition) rather than throughout a design.

You’ll see it in pieces like earrings or pendants, where a few beads form a pretty, delicate contrast with smooth gold.

Granulation In India and the Islamic world, granulation has been used for thousands of years in filigree jewelry which fuses very thin gold filaments and tiny granules of gold onto a base by a technique that uses sweat soldering. Indian granulated jewelry can be so full of life and light — lacy, tiny detailed work that seems to capture light and shimmy.

Today’s jewelers have reinvented the art of granulation by combining ancient practices with contemporary tools. Some still use traditional techniques — like hand-fusing granules without the use of solder — while others draw on laser technology for greater precision.

Today, jewelry designers are experimenting with bolder, more abstract shapes. You might discover something that plays with texture and light, or even more minimalistic designs where a smattering of granules serves to give just a whisper of effect.

The Advantage of Caked Jewelry

Like fine jewelry with hand engraving, milgrain, and filigree, granulated jewelry is highly valued for being as much a craft as a decorative art.

We never get tired of the hours of tiny beads of gold woven onto a surface, it really is like nobody else and takes hours for each piece to be meticulously crafted. The ancient history and ethnographic significance of the process also contributes to the worth since you are getting a lot of rich cultural history as well.

Luna Felix Goldsmith is custom jeweler and a jewelry store Santa Fe. So, if you want to design custom jewelry that includes granulation, make an appointment on our Santa Fe jewelry store website or visit our jewelry showroom and see what we have to offer.