Whether executed in cufflinks, formal or dress suites, stud sets or detachable collar studs, authentic Vitreous hand-enameled designs have remained a Baade II design signature since its 1988 founding.

Snubbing the dull, drab colors created by the cheaply made, acrylic-epoxy designs now used in most of today’s cufflinks and personal jewelry, Baade II instead relies on the near-vanished, Old World technique of true, Vitreous (vi-tree-es) enamels, a centuries old, artisan jewelry technique descended from ancient Greeks and Egyptians.  Faithful to its artisan legacy, Baade interprets its Vitreous hand-enameled designs in both champleve (shan-le-vae) and cloisonne (kloi-ze-nae) methods.

Oddly, Vitreous hand-enameling won its modern cachet from an unusual mix of style-meisters: the Victorian-era’s renowned dandy, George Bryan "Beau" Brummel and the now near-priceless and elaborately decorated and bejeweled Faberge eggs created between 1885 and 1917 by Peter Carl Faberge’s House of Faberge for Russia’s Alexander III and Nicholas II.  Near-legend for the unrivaled depth and intensity of its bold and vibrantly rich kaleidoscope of colors, Vitreous enamels are meticulously handcrafted by layering, then hand-polishing, layer-after-layer of wafer-thin, molten glass, one atop another.  Each added layer renders a quantum leap in color depth and intensity.

Each layer is painstakingly made by first firing powdered glass to 850 degrees Celsius, or 2800 degrees Fahrenheit.  The celeb chef endorsed, Wolf home rage, by comparison, peaks at a relatively modest, 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the molten lava has cooled to a wafer thin layer of colorfully transparent enameled glass, it’s fastidiously hand polished.  Then, another molten layer is poured atop it.  And again, diligently hand polished.  Over-and-over, the process is repeated until the vibrantly rich depth and intensity of desired color is achieved.

That explains the unrivaled brilliance of the vividly colored designs that signature Baade’s cufflink and personal jewelry collections.  It also stands testament to the company’s allegiance to Old World artisan hand-craftsmanship and its uncompromised commitment to peerless quality.

Depending on the pattern motif, Baade II interprets its Vitreous designs in either the cloisonne or champleve techniques made famous by fine artisans from the art deco and art nouveau periods.  Though the difference in finished designs are subtle, the architectural and formatting differences between cloisonne and champleve are very significant, surprisingly.