Helmet

The girls all took turns admiring the bracelets, and Selina asked, "Brother Chu, what kind of bracelets are these? They don't look like they were made recently. Could they be antiques?"

Chu Chen replied with a smile, "These bracelets are called a set of seven. They were made using cloisonné techniques. And you're right—they weren't produced recently, but they aren't antiques either. In fact, old cloisonné bracelets like these have basically stopped being produced. This set was old stock from back then..."

Early cloisonné bracelets all had very similar designs. They had no openings, probably inheriting the characteristics of jade bracelets. They were generally made with cylindrical copper bases, decorated with simple enamel paintings using wirework. These cloisonné bracelets looked delicate and refined, as well as very classical.

The reason a set like this was called a set of seven was that it consisted of seven small bracelets.

Modern cloisonné bracelets could generally be divided into two types according to their base material: copper-based and alloy-based. The material applied to the bracelets also came in two types: ordinary enamel glaze and resin.

Copper bases were rarely used for cloisonné bracelets made nowadays. One reason was their high production cost, and another was that they were much more complicated to make. As a result, most copper-based bracelets today were old stock from factories. Like the set of seven Chu Chen had given Mina, they used the old technique, with copper still serving as the base.

Alloy bases, on the other hand, were extremely common, and most were machine-made. They were far more economical in terms of both cost and workmanship. In addition, enamel glaze still had to be fired, while resin cloisonné bracelets eliminated that step. They only needed to be left until the material solidified.

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