Our in-house studio produces drawings, sketches, photos and montages. That is how a medal is born: with the stroke of a pencil! This entire phase will always be carried out in close collaboration with our client.
Once the patterns have been approved, the engraver starts the low relief carvings of each of the patterns. This step towards the realization of the project involves the modeling of the drawing. We use plasticine and plaster to produce the pattern. The final model is molded with a resin to serve as a template for reproducing its shapes on a block of steel.
Depending on the technique used, a block of steel will be positioned on a reducing lathe and the imprint of the sculpture (medal, etc.) will be made by engraving in steel. Then the machining can start. A feeler or touch-probe will follow the entire surface of the sculpture and reproduce the shapes encountered on the block of steel with a cutting tool. This step is long and precise, it is necessary to rough out first and finish with "the finishing pass", to engrave the details in the steel.
At this stage, the engraver removes all traces of the passage of the machine on the die. This step is done with hammered chisels, tabs, stalls, chisels, plotters, masts... He redraws and emphasizes the main lines of the patterns. Thus, the light, the future key partner, will, by its passage, underline the bas-reliefs and the details of the future medal. It is by hand finishing that the engraver gives his "touch" to your future souvenir medal and brings the medal to life.
Thus engraved, the dies are heat treated and become usable for striking. The dies positioned on a 400-ton press will strike each medal. It is only at the end of this long process, and by respecting all these stages, that your medal is truly born.