Our Materials & Techniques

In Giampouras Collections, we use Silver 925° usually decorated with 22k gold wire or 24k gold leaf, vitreous enamel, a smooth and durable coating for precious metals like silver and gold, made of melted and fused glass powder at 850° C and titanium.

For our luxury designs, we use 18K gold, titanium, diamonds (certification available upon request), as well as precious & semiprecious stones.
All the silver and titanium we use are tested, and every single item is stamped according to Greek and European law. The enamel we use is heated enamel.

All the items of Giampouras Collections are created elaborately with care and love. It is important to mention that any jewelry is unique; consequently, what is delivered can not be identical to the photo you see but very similar to this, with an estimated deviation of about 20%.

More details about Enamel

The techniques we use with enamel are Cloisonné, Champlevé & Low size.

Cloisonne is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material, held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, generally of gold. The enamel is enclosed within wire cells (cloisons). These wires are usually fired onto a base coat of flux (a clear transparent enamel) and then filled with wet enamel. The vitreous enamel is often applied with a quill in layers, a method known as wet packing. In ancient times they used gemstones or glass, while nowadays, Vitreous enamel is used. We also use 18k gold to stabilize the enamel and demonstrate the design. The name comes from the French word cloisons compartments.

Champleve is a decorative technique with vitreous enamel. An object made by the process in which troughs or cells are carved, etched, die struck, or cast into the surface of a metal object and filled with vitreous enamel. The piece is then placed in the oven at 850°C until the enamel fuses, and thereafter, when it is cooled, the surface of the object, which is not covered and remains visible as a frame for the enamel designs, is polished and sometimes gets gold plated. The name comes from French and gives the idea of “raised field,” where “field” means background.

Low size An extension of champlevé. The recesses are engraved with patterns or carved with a low-relief design, which can be seen as varying densities of color through the transparent enamel. In this technique, the enamel is fired into an open metal framework resembling-stained glass. It is stunning, with light shining through the transparent or translucent enamels.

More details about Titanium

Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Sometimes it is called the “space age metal.” It is a strong metal with low density that is quite ductile (especially in an oxygen-free environment); it is lustrous and corrosion-resistant (including sea water, aqua regia, and chlorine) with a silver color and high strength-to-weight ratio.
Its relatively high melting point (more than 1,650 ° C or 3,000 ° F) makes it worthwhile as a refractory metal. It is paramagnetic and has relatively low electrical and thermal conductivity. It is also biocompatible, non-toxic, and not rejected by the body. This is the reason why it is used in a range of medical applications, including surgical implements and implants.

Titanium has the ability to give great colors when it is anodized. Coloring titanium is possible because of its surface. When adequately prepared, it is highly reactive upon exposure to certain conditions and forms a series of colors due to the development of a tenacious oxide film. Decidedly decorative, this oxide film is also highly resistant to a wide variety of corrosive substances that would affect other metals. Colors are permanent if unabraded, and if the oxide film is thick enough, it will not fade or tarnish. Titanium coloring can be done either by the use of heat, which is more difficult to control or by electrochemistry which, with proper control, allows exact, predictable color results.