The collected stems are then taken to the heathergem workshops in Pitlochry where they are dried for several months in racks before being brought into the workshops for further drying. They are then put into a sandblasting machine, which fires cold iron shot at them.

This chips away the bark, which is very similar to a tree bark; the cleaned stems are then cut into 9" lengths and made up into bundles ready for dyeing. Natural dyes are used through a vacuum chamber and the use of the vacuum chamber also helps to remove any remaining moisture.

The dye is then introduced into the vacuum chamber and left to soak into the stems overnight. Because the heather stems are so hard and dense this is the only way that the colour can penetrate them, under pressure.

The stems have markings very similar to a tree and once dyed these marking can still be seen. The principle colours used to dye the heather are blue, red, green and yellow. Exact colours are never achieved because of the natural chlorophyll in the heather stems.

The next process is the making of the block of heather stems, and normally these are made with a two-colour combination using a set amount of heather to go into each block. Mixtures of thick and thin stems are used in order to make the block more solid.

The stems are first soaked in resin and then placed between two moulds in a hydraulic press. Once all the heather stems have been packed in, the press is taken up to about 60 tons of pressure and the moulds are brought together compressing the heather between them.

The moulds are then clamped to retain the pressure and removed from the press.

Depending on the designs of the individual pieces of jewellery the heather is cut using different methods. If a round cabochon (domed) piece is required then the block is cut on a band saw into square bars and then turned to a round section on a lathe. The turned rods are then used again on the lathe to form the cabochon.

For oval shapes the block is cut into slices and then a small computer controlled router, which is set to cut the maximum number of designs from a fixed size of slice, is used. Once the individual pieces are shaped they are sanded on a belt linisher (sander) and any holes are filled and sanded before the piece is lacquered.

The finish on the pieces is lacquer and this is applied by brush with each piece getting up to six coats to achieve the final exquisite finish. It takes a considerable time for the crafts workers to get really good at lacquering.

The mounts are normally made of either pewter or silver and the designs are based on CELTIC designs inspired by those in the book of Kells. Others are based on Traditional Scottish designs such as the thistle. Celtic Traditions still flourish in Scotland today and provide many in rural locations with much needed work.

We at CELTIC TRADITIONS are proud to offer these very Scottish pieces of Jewellery to our clients.