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The process of creating a piece of jewelry or a sculpture for The Golden Orchid is known as lost wax casting. Each blossom on the plant is carefully examined. Only the most perfect and beautiful are used to make our creations. The best results are achieved by using fully open blemish-free blooms. Once we have selected the blooms to be cast, we thicken the thinner portions using various techniques. Once the bloom or plant has been thickened where necessary, we attach a sprue, which is a wax pipe which will become the "plumbing" by which the molten metal will flow into the mold.
The blossom is put into a steel cylinder which is then filled with a plaster-like material known as investment. A specially developed vacuum process removes all air bubbles from the plaster, making a clean mold possible. After the plaster has hardened, the steel cylinder is put into a kiln which will heat the mold to 1300 degrees Fahrenheit. The orchid flower disintegrates, leaving a hollow impression in the plaster. While the mold is still hot, it is filled with molten precious metal by centrifugal force. Immediately after the mold is filled, it is cooled and the plaster is broken away. The casting process has been completed. A raw metal orchid is now ready for filing, polishing, and mounting for display. The entire process takes approximately eight hours to achieve. At last, another Golden Orchid has come to life.
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