Canatille is a very old jewelry style. It’s been used in many forms in cultures across the globe for as long as there’s been silver jewelry. It’s essentially a 3D filigree pattern -- so the dome with the raised pieces surrounding it. In all honesty, there are so many things you can do with material. There’s a whole branch of mathematics called topology that explores this problem. So in many ways it’s inevitable that any culture making jewelry out of metals would bend them in the 3rd dimension and presto: cannetille.

But the detail here is interesting. This style became popular during the reign of king George IV of England and is called the Georgian style. I have no idea how it became popular in Mexico, but it was all the rage during the Taxco silver boom. To this day, many rings, earrings, and other jewelry are made using this style. The style specifically is the dome with the surrounding appendages.

What does this mean? Well, I’ve never seen it executed on this scale before! This is a really exciting style by Thomas Charley. It’s a popular style for the same reasons it was popular 200 years ago: It’s really beautiful and a demonstration of mastery. And if I was going to name something human beings appreciate a lot it would probably be “mastery”. We watch the Olympic Games, we attend museums, and we purchase albums by great singers. All of these things are human beings demonstrating mastery. And getting canetille right, with even appendages, no warping, and to scale is master work. No one would look at this and not know that it’s a work of art. Everyone looking at this should know that Thomas Charley is good. Thomas Charley is really good. To take a design 100s of years old, scale it, and bring it into the present is not the work of a novice. Nope. You’re lucky I put this up. I need 4 of these for myself. 😂