Cloisonné

Hola! That’s how we say “hello” in New Mexico!
Our cloisonné lapel pins are high-quality, jewelry-grade products and the best pins we offer. Also called “hard enamel” (see below for why), cloisonné lapel pins are often viewed as collectibles. There is no pin with a greater perceived value then cloisonné hard enamel.

Personally, I really dig knowing how things are made, so I thought you might get a kick out of knowing a little bit about the kind of workmanship that goes into making our fine-quality cloisonné pins. It’s a trip! A trip all the way back to the Ming Dynasty, centuries ago…

Cloisonné is an ancient Chinese metalworking technique. It’s a multi-step enamel process used to produce jewelry, vases, and other decorative items. It’s a lengthy process that begins by our making a die with your design in it and then using that die to strike your design in a copper or brass base metal. Once that’s done, we use a trim tool to carefully cut out the outside shape of your lapel pin.

The next part of the process might introduce you to an awesome term you can impress your friends with: “frit”. Frit is glass crushed to a powder and mixed with water to create a paste. Cloisonné uses frit to fill the recessed areas in your design. Once all the recessed areas are filled with frit, we bake the pin at 1600 degrees, which makes the frit melt, flow smoothly, and fill all voids. “Hard enamel” is the result of the frit hardening during the baking of the pin.

But we’re not done yet! After the pin cools, it still needs to be ground with a series of stones and polished to a smooth finish. After that, it’s electroplated, where all the exposed metal gets coated (plated) in your choice of metal colors.