Filigree

Filigree is a metalworking technique in which fine, twisted or plaited threads of gold, silver, or other malleable metal wire are formed into delicate, lace-like decorative patterns, either soldered onto a metal backing or, in openwork filigree, left unbacked so the design itself forms the whole object. The technique dates to at least the third millennium BC in Mesopotamia and Egypt and was refined further by Etruscan and Greek goldsmiths, whose granulation-and-filigree jewelry remains among the finest surviving examples of the craft from antiquity. Filigree traditions developed with strong regional character across the world, including Indian and Southeast Asian gold filigree, Portuguese and Iberian silver filigree jewelry, and Yemeni and other Middle Eastern silverwork, and the technique remains in active traditional and contemporary use in jewelry making today.