Hard Fired Cloisonné Enamel

Hard fired enamel is a crushed colored glass. It is crushed to a consistency of a powder somewhat finer than granulated sugar. This powder is delicately applied with tweezers into a metal cavity. Next, the piece of metal is baked in an oven at 1400 °F three times. The ideal metal for this process is gilding metal because it can withstand the high temperatures of the oven it is baked in. The piece is then ground flat creating a flush service. This process creates a beautiful piece with a mirror like finish and outstanding durability.

Hard fired enamel was the original method of adding color into badges, car emblems, pins, etc. It is still used today for these same purposes, however, epoxy resin has become the more popular alternative to this method.

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