Platería Mapuche, Silversmiting

Jaime Rebolledo, Temuco, Chile

Website: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.101592353203858.3466.100000592822229&type=3

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rebolledorupallan
E-mail: arte_alquimia@hotmail.com

Phone: (56)(9) 91461679

Audio Interview 

 

(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/65165954/Jaime.mp3)

Bio: 

    For a Mapuche silversmith, Jaime comes from a surprisingly diverse background.  When recounting his previous jobs, he chuckles “Roasting chickens in Santiago for 10 hours a day was hot, boring, and exhausting.  The bodega I worked at was disorganized and had unrealistically high expectations… and, the lack of safety precautions when running a tattoo parlor in Temuco just didn’t seem right.”   His light-hearted tone downplays the economic difficulties he faced during these times.  Yet another odd-job, helping out around a jewelry studio, first exposed Jaime to his life’s passion: silversmithing.  He now boasts 8 years of experience running his independent studio “partir de cero,” from scratch, and Artesanía features three of his original designs.           

    Even though we literally just met and a voice-recorder sits on the table, Jaime speaks with a refreshing honesty and openness usually reserved for close friends.  Our conversation organically flows from the melting temperature of silver to moral questioning about the inherent vanity of silver jewelry to stone-setting to night-life in Temuco.  All the while, Jaime maintains focus on our work, making sure to emphasize key pointers, gently guiding my hands as I follow along.  His relaxed but attentive teaching makes classes fun and productive.

Temuco, Jaime's Hometown

    I am one of the lucky few who managed to squeeze in a lesson with Jaime: although classes are lucrative, Jaime explains that he gets so engrossed in his own work that teaching, among other activities, simply falls to the back of his mind.  My friends don’t believe me when I tell them I would rather keep working in my studio instead of hanging out sometimes.  Then, he proudly declares, “Amo esto.”  I love my work.  And I believe him.  Both days we meet, Jaime politely declines an invitation to lunch after we finish class to work on pending orders.

Jaime's Silversmithing Studio

    Even though he enjoys staying home, Jaime’s computer reliably sits next to his workbench.  He is always connected and always responsive on Facebook, and describes his relationship with the platform as one of “love and hate.” He originally started using Facebook two years ago, in 2011, to stay in touch with foreign friends and occasionally upload photos of his jewelry.  Now, the site accounts for an impressive 90% of his sales, allowing him to cater to more international clientele and freeing him from the hassle of manning booths at hit-or-miss Chilean craftwork fairs.  Facebook also feeds Jaime’s insatiable interest in foreign culture.  Lately, he is learning French with friends from South Africa, France, Canada, and the United States who tutor each other via chat as we work.  Despite an opportunity to work in Belgium last year, Jaime decided to stay in Chile because he wants to care for his 10-year-old daughter in Santiago, loves the country’s gorgeous landscape, and is bothered by the thought of growing close to people abroad and then having to say goodbye.

    In one classic episode, a customer offered $70 USD for a pair of earrings labeled $140.  Jaime received a new offer for $120 after explaining the hours of work and specialty equipment required to make the earrings and sarcastically admitting, “I have the bad habit of dressing and eating everyday.”  Along these lines, Jaime believes other artisans reinforce an ignorant mentality regarding the handmade by undercutting the value of their craft. Out of desperation for money, weavers in Temuco, for example, will sell textiles for $11 when they really deserve $50.  “When you buy a weaving or jewelry, you are buying luxury.  No one is going to die if they don’t have the extra jacket or earrings.”

    By the end of our first day together, Jaime and I have crafted the tokikurra earrings displayed from mere pellets of raw silver and copper.  Stages included forging a mix of 95% silver and 5% copper, flattening the resulting metal into a sheet, heating and cooling to change the metal’s density, etching the design pattern, hammering stenciled details, sawing, soddering, sanding, polishing, forming hooks, and washing.  “People do not realize how much work goes into one pair of earrings,” Jaime relates, bitter about those who heckle about steep prices. 

Process: 

Forging Metal

95% Silver, 5% Copper at 960° C

Flattening Forged Metal

Re-heating Metal

changes density & allows for further flattening

Stencils Jaime Designed

Tracing the Design

using hammer and punches

using metal pin

Sawing the Design

Uñun Bird Design 

inspired by traditional Mapuche icon (upper left-hand corner)

Flattening with Hammer

Soddering on Earring Loops

Metal Rests on Heat-Transferring Compound

Sanding

Buffing & Polishing on Electric Wheel

Washing

Finished Tokikurra Earrings

Around the Studio

Jaime practices setting stones on scrap metal

Common Tools

Other Jewelry Parts