What is Lost Wax Casting?

Jewelry making is multifaceted drawing upon many applications in the production process including lapidary, metalsmithing and lost wax casting to bring your creations to life.

Some adornments created by Made by Nakita apply the method of lost wax casting - a time honored technique that has been in practice for thousands of years.

This process is attained when you make a wax prototype to form a mold which is then used to cast into metal of your choice. The mold allows duplication when you need to make multiple pieces of jewelry.

Lost wax casting enables you to create jewry with a handmade touch. This method highlights your unique style and offers the opportunity to make jewelry for a collection or craft something customized for your clients setting your work a part from mass produced items.

Wanting to learn more about this technique, I enrolled in a class focused on setting gemstones in wax exploring more intricate forms of jewelry making that complemented my metalsmithing skills.

There’s a sense of stepping through time when making jewelry this way. Each piece mirrors the organic look of the past yet creating a more modern look of the present day.

Here are some steps to lost wax casting:

Sculpting Wax Prototype

In this photo I am sculpting a wax prototype model with specialty tools in preparation for the lost wax casting process.

Refining Wax Model

Refining model into form.

Final Sculpted Wax Models

Final sculpted wax models (prototypes). These will be sent to our caster to get molded and cast into metal.

Wax Mold

This is a wax mold made to replicate the original wax model. Melted wax is placed in the bottom of the mold that reproduces multiples.

Wax Model Tree

Each piece of wax from the mold is meticulously arranged on a stem, forming a “tree-like” structure. This wax tree is then placed in a flask that is filled with a plastering material and positioned in a kiln. The wax is burnout creating an impression of your model (lost wax).

Molten metal (casting grain or recycled metal) is poured in to create your jewelry. The casted jewelry is clipped from the tree sanded and polished - (images sourced from Pinterest).

Lake Necklace & Celeste Ring

Jewelry pieces created from the lost wax casting method.