Branko Kuzmanovic

Branko Kuzmanovic is a Melbourne based gold leaf gilder, artisan, decorator and iconographer who has been creating his unique gilded and engraved artworks since 2008. Gold Leaf Gilder is an active professional gilding service in the Melbourne area since 2016.

Articles:

Branko Kuzmanovic - Gold Leaf Gilder – Gold Leaf Shop (thegoldleafshop.com)

Special Clocks - Gilded Wall Clocks (canterburyclocks.com.au)

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What is gilding?

Gilding is the laying of leaf of gold, silver and imitation “schlagmetal” gold, copper or aluminium on a chosen surface. The leaf itself is paper thin.

Gold leaf gilding is an ancient art form that has been highly prized for centuries.

Gilding involves a gilder carefully applying thin sheets of gold to a surface.

The gilder must be meticulous in the placement of each sheet, ensuring that no area is missed. The gilder must also apply the gold leaf with an exacting precision in order to create a beautiful and consistent gilded finish. This delicate process requires years of skill and practice, but when done correctly it results in stunning works of art that last for centuries.

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How the gold leaf is made?

Gold beating is the process of hammering gold by hand or machine into an extremely thin unbroken sheet for use in gilding.
Gold leaf is almost practically transparent and it can be thinned to 0.0001 millimeter. One gram of gold can be stretched to 3km.

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The purity of gold is determined by its karat.

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Pure gold is 24 karat and it is used for exterior or interior gilding works. The lesser the karat, the lighter the color of gold (indoor gilt works only). The richer - warmer color is 23k red gold, brighter colors are 18k (lemon gold) and 16k (pale green gold).

12 karat white gold is a fusion of twelve parts of pure gold and twelve parts of silver.

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Silver leaf is used only for interior works and it tarnishes in contact or when exposed to air. The varnish will protect the silver leafed surface from oxidation.

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Palladium leaf is a precious metal of the platinum family and it’s a bit darker then silver leaf. It is a good replacement for silver because it will not oxidize. It is great for interior wall decoration and furnishings.

 

Imitation gold leaf is a leaf of the bronze, aluminium or copper and it is used where the pure gold is needed but where the budget will not allow use of pure gold. It must be varnished to prevent oxidation.