Since the eighteenth century, Pforzheim has been famous for its jewelry and watchmaking industries, which for many years were the basis of the city’s prosperity.
In recent years they have diversified considerably, but to this day Pforzheim has a Goldsmith and Watchmaking Vocational School which is said to be the only one of its kind in Europe.
And the city still offers numerous opportunities to buy exquisite and expensive gold jewelry, for those who are in the market for that sort of thing.
Jewelry Worlds, with mineral museum
In a building called the “Jewelry Worlds” (Schmuckwelten) in the center of Pforzheim there are numerous shops and exhibits devoted to these products, along with a small mineral museum in the basement.
Jewelry Museum
A few blocks away there is also a Jewelry Museum, which unfortunately I couldn’t visit because I was there on a Monday, when museums in Germany tend to be closed.
My photos in this post are from 2007. I revised the text in 2021.
See more posts on Pforzheim, Germany.
See also: Operas in Bonn, and scroll down to the opera Cardillac by Paul Hindemith,
a spooky opera about a master goldsmith in 17th century Paris.
I once visited a factory where they made gold rings etc using the lost wax method, and the employees had to be weighed in and vacuumed down and weighed out to be sure they weren’t carrying any specks of gold dust out with them
Wouldn’t they weigh a little less at the end of their working day?
Actually now that I think about it, when they worked they had to sign out a certain amount of gold and they had to return the same weight of gold including all the “waste”. They went through some kind of metal detector and vaccumed off their clothes when leaving.
A timely post. I have my Grandmother’s costume jewelry and have had it for years. We are also in the process of moving my mom into a smaller apartment and are going through some things. More costume jewelry.
Thanks for your visit and comment. My father was in the costume jewelry business for his entire working life. Although I did not follow in his footsteps, I still find it interesting to look at this kind of exhibits.
Thank you too….