Guilloche

Guilloche is the decorative engraving of a metal surface, such as watch cases, cufflinks, or the Faberge Egg, with the use of a hand-powered device called a rose engine. This passionately researched book tracks the birth, decline, and revival of this endangered craft and features exclusive information from the world's few living professional guillocheurs, as well as an exploration of the distinction between guilloche; and its forebear, ornamental turning.

The word "guilloche" was first used to describe details of ancient Greek columns, but the rose engine didn't appear until the mid-1700s, near the French-Swiss border. With a basic knowledge of this contraption, and the straight-line machine, aspiring guillocheurs can follow 19 pattern-cutting "recipes" to create several classic designs and discover endless possibilities for new concepts.

Authoritative text, gallery and detail photographs, dynamic illustrations, and precise, hand-drawn renderings will assist and delight adventurous craftspeople, machinists and engineers, and steampunks alike.

About the Author

Calina C. Shevlin earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in metalsmithing and jewelry in the United States. While working towards her MFA, she discovered guilloche; and fell instantly in love. It became her passion and after several sporadic years of learning the art, she moved to Switzerland to work at a watch manufacture creating dials and oscillating weights. After a few years, she realised her desire to disseminate the information as well as give classes to revive a dying art form.

It is through the research of interviewing many existing guillocheurs, and writing a concise history, as told to her by the greats, that this book has become a reality. Calina has great optimism about the longevity of this art because she feels that the time is right for this information to have the most impact with a turn away from technology and an emphasis on the hand made.