Goldsmith's shop 'Mia', Senad Alispahić, goldsmith, filigree

Goldsmith’s shop ‘Mia’, Senad Alispahić, goldsmith, filigree

Since 1995, he has been engaged in goldsmithing and filigree work with master goldsmiths Bruno Lozančić and Mensur Muratbegović. For master Senad, the knowledge of a mechanical technician helped him a lot in learning the goldsmith-filigree craft, and his innate tendency towards beautiful design expression made him excellent in that craft.

His love for filigree gold processing and the goldsmith’s craft appeared in 1995, when he started working as a repairman for the famous deceased Zenica goldsmith Bruno Lozančić. In addition to repairs for the master Bruno, he actively studied filigree and goldsmithing, and in 2007 he and his wife founded their own independent goldsmith’s business “Mia”. Since then, he has been actively working with his wife on the filigree and beautiful design of gold and silver items (jewelry), but also continuously repairs jewelry. Along with master Senad, his wife also learned the basics of filigree and goldsmithing, and she herself can repair jewelry for clients.

The workshop is a small space of 25m2 and is located in the center of the city of Zenica in the craft part of Čaršija (square), where there are various craft shops. Master Senad and his wife still do part of the work at home. Master Senad still performs repair, engraving and other small goldsmith jobs for goldsmith shops in the city of Zenica.

The whole process of filigree-goldsmith work begins with one great love, vision and desire. Although it looks like a delicate and easy job, in fact the process itself is quite “dirty”, with fine metal dust, different potentially dangerous solutions and substances. The first stage is the melting of the metal, followed by the rolling of the same on micro-rolling machines, drawing out wires of different profiles, passing the wire through the so-called Valc machine that makes the flat wire necessary for making jewelry clasps with the help of a template. Small tweezers and fingers are used to bend the wire. Then comes soldering of the wire – connecting the ends of the wire with a soldering iron and a silver/gold solder. Then the frame (desired motif) is filled with thin serrated wire. The serrated wire is obtained by twisting two thin round wires, which are then briefly heated, and then twisted again after cooling. The resulting “braid” is pulled through the rollers of the Valc machine. Filling the frame (the desired motif), i.e. that fine filigree processing, requires imagination and a dexterous hand. When the entire space is filled with tiny spirals, the whole piece is slightly moistened with water, covered with silver/gold solder and welded with a torch. In this part, it is very important to have a good concentration and a dexterous hand, because just a fraction of a second longer with the burner is enough to fry and melt the entire piece. In order for the resulting jewelry to become bright and shiny, it is immersed in acid, heated and allowed to boil for several minutes. After acid soaking, each piece is brushed with a brass brush. At the end, semi-precious, precious stones or pearls, glass beads are added. Everything is according to desire and artistic feeling.

Best-selling products are rings, necklaces, bracelets, pendants.