Seal of Ermessenda
In the museum of the cathedral of Girona (in the cathedral) the seal of Ermessenda is preserved. It is a blue chalcedony seal with incised engraved inscriptions. The inscriptions are in Latin and Arabic and say Ermesidis and the translation in Arabic. The inscriptions are mirrored so that when the seal is marked they are legible.
Chalcedony is of high quality: blue, translucent, without color bands.; To our knowledge, the chalcedony that looks the most like it is that of Turkey (we don’t know of any other so similar). In reality we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, it could be that the chalcedony in the Ermesenda seal actually comes from Turkey.
On the occasion of the TV3 series we recreated the seal of Ermessenda with chalcedony from Turkey. We have also mounted this seal with silver in the form of a wearable ring.
Cutting proces
The raw material of Turkish Chalcedony cut into sheets is chosen.
The chalcedony is cut to achieve a shape similar to the desired piece.
The chalcedony is cut to achieve a shape similar to the piece that is wanted in cuts that are closer and closer to the final size.
Once we have the pre-shape of the chalcedony, it is passed through the grinding wheels of different degrees of abrasion, giving it the oval shape.
Approximate shape of the final piece. It remains to finish rounding, sharpening and polishing
Approximate shape of the final piece. It remains to finish rounding, sharpening and polishing
Seal already finished, well polished, engraved and with holes on the sides to set it in the ring.
In the cathedral museum you can find the original Ermessenda seal.