A Copper Alliance Member
Copper in the Arts
Issue #34: February '10
John S. Brana Designs: Adding a New Sheen to Contemporary Jewelry
Chased Copper Anticlastic Bracelet
Photograph courtesy of John S. Brana
Brana’s jewelry can be found dangling around the necks, wrists and ears of both actors, models, and everyday people, but no two pieces are alike. Inspired by the charm of San Francisco’s most characteristic neighborhoods, each piece is handcrafted, with price ranges from $30 to $20,000.
John Brana working in his studio
Photograph courtesy of John S. Brana
Not many other jewelry designers value the unique abilities of copper the way Brana does. In a contemporary jewelry industry founded on the classic value of semi-precious metals and gemstones, his choice of materials like copper, bronze and aluminum is giving a new sheen to the high end jewelry industry.
“I didn’t want to pursue being a goldsmith,” Brana explains. “Jewelry customers think of copper in the dark brown oxidized way—like an old penny.” But many of Brana’s copper and bronze pieces are exquisitely polished, breaking the customer’s previously held belief about what copper can be and how it is worn. “When they see my red brass pieces, made from 85% copper and 15% zinc, they think it looks like 14k gold!”
Brass Turquoise Patinated Bangle
Photograph courtesy of John S. Brana
“My father developed lung cancer, and I came to the realization that I no longer wanted to pursue a corporate agenda,” he recalls.
One day on television he caught a Carol Duvall demonstration on Precious Metal Clay—a clay form that can be molded into any shape and fired to become pure silver. Intrigued by the process that would marry his interest in ceramics with the new pursuit of wearable art, he began experimenting with jewelry design. Though he soon abandoned PMC as a “hobbyist medium,” it ushered him into the realm of the professionals. From there he went on to perfect his skills in melt casting and fabrication, and hasn’t looked back since.
Fold Formed Copper Flower Earrings
Photograph courtesy of John S. Brana
Brana also uses organic techniques to bring about the natural patination processes, resulting in earrings and pendants of turquoise, magenta, mustard and cauliflower blue with a notable texture.
“There’s probably 300 different colors that you can apply to copper,” he says, referring to his Muir Woods collection of patinated pendants and earrings. That is what is special about copper, he says. “You can’t do that with any other metal.”
To make his patinas, Brana will moisten the copper with ammonia, vinegar or other chemicals and bury it in sawdust, soil or tobacco for three weeks to age. “I like that you get a very in-depth texture,” he says, because all copper that’s patinated goes through a sandblasting process so that the chemicals more easily adhere to the metal.
Everything that Brana sells is handmade, chased or patinated by him, singularly working long hours in the studio. But his bronze rings are truly one-of-a-kind—hand-sculpted precisely to the size, color and weight of a particular gemstone. Brana employs the lost-wax casting method to create the basic bronze ring, casting about 40 at a time. Then each gemstone is individually set, and the ring carefully hand-polished up to 45 minutes before it’s completed.
“I think the strength of my design company is that it hasn’t followed a traditional route,” says Brana. “People like my jewelry not because of the semi-precious metals, but because of the interesting original designs.”
Resources:
John S. Brana Jewelry Design, San Francisco, (415) 664-9737
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Also in this Issue:
- EVENTS:
A listing of upcoming events in the arts featuring copper and related materials, or highlighting artisans who work with the materials.
