Japanese Amita Damascene & Sterling Silver: 2024 Safety Chain Intact (7”x1.10”)

This Damascene bracelet has a clear Japanese aesthetic, employing an exquisite simplicity, contrasting black oxidation with bright silver. The Damascene design is organic, a repeating twisting sinuous vine. The bracelet's links flow with the idesign and are narrow and elongated. They are also finished on the reverse side with classic Japanese floral imagery. It has quite a Zen feel.

The bracelet is hallmarked Amita and sterling. Amita is a famous Japanese Jewelry Design House. Located in Kyoto, Japan, it has been producing quality Damascene jewelry since 1930.

This striking bracelet is an older work made sometime between 1950-1965. It is also in magnificent vintage condition, measures 7”x1.10”, has retained it's original safety chain and has a tight tongue and groove clasp.

Perfect for everyday wear…

About Japanese Damascene:
In Japan, damascene was frequently used to decorate the hilts of weapons. It achieved great popularity in Kyoto during the Edo period (1603 to 1868). During the period which followed, however, swords were banned in Japan, putting an end to the age of the shoguns and samurai. Craftsmen who had applied their skills to the beautification of weapons then turned their skill at damascene work to various accessories and decorative items, including jewelry. The design motifs used in damascene jewelry made in Kyoto typically reflect traditional Japanese subject matter: cherry blossoms and other flowers such as iris, landscape scenes often including Mt. Fuji, butterflies, and birds. By 1936, more than half of the damascene items made in Japan were being exported, mainly to the United States and England.

So what is Damascene?
Sometime around the 1960s, the Amita Jewelry Corporation of Kyoto published an undated brochure advertising the damascene and smoked silver jewelry made by their company. The fabrication process they described was very similar to that of the 1930s in that delicate instruments were used to chisel into a steel foundation a design etched with fine lines which was then inlaid with precious 24 karat gold thread, gold foil, and/or sterling silver thread. The surface of the steel was then corroded with nitric acid and rusted with ammonia. The rusting process was stopped by boiling the piece in green tea before several layers of lacquer were baked onto the entire surface. Polishing with charcoal removed the top layers of lacquer to reveal the gold and silver design. The piece was then finished with finely detailed engraving.

Please review the photos carefully and email with any questions you may have 2024 prior to making a purchase.

Enjoy.