In Season Six, Episode 2 of 'The Curse of Oak Island', Dave Blankenship and the
Lagina brothers head to the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary
Alberta. There, they meet with gemologist and master goldsmith Charles Lewton-Brain,
and with his assistant, Axel Bladh. Lewton-Brain examines the gemstone from the
brooch found on Oak Island's Lot 8 the previous season and concludes that
it is indeed a garnet, in accordance with an earlier evaluation. He then examines
the red jewel from the brooch discovered the previous episode on Lot 21 and
concludes that it is made of colored glass. He claims that this ornament was
made by hand and suggests that it could be up to 500 years old. When Rick Lagina
inquires as to the source of the gem's red colour, Axel Bladh explains that
formulas for making red glass were carefully guarded trade secrets which
were repeatedly lost and found throughout history. This allusion to
trade secrets prompts the narrator to remind us of the theory that the Order
of the Rosy Cross- a secret 17th Century fraternity- is behind the Oak Island
mystery. The gem's red colour suggests that the
artifact was probably intended as an imitation ruby or garnet. This
supposition, coupled with the fact that the glass was cut with facets, indicates
that the ornament was probably crafted no earlier than the 1380s.
Although Persian jewelers have been cutting facets on gemstones as early as
the 11th century AD, gems in Europe and the Near East were usually polished
rather than cut prior to the 15th Century. After French and German gem
workers develop advanced facet cutting techniques in the 1380s, jewels like
rubies, emeralds, and sapphires began to be fractured along lines of cleavage.
As the glass jewel in the Lot 21 brooch appears to be a knockoff gemstone with
facets, it seems unlikely that it was crafted prior to these innovations. After
examining the stones, Lewton-Brain turns his attention towards the metal setting
of the Lot 21 brooch. He quickly observes that a wire which encircles the brooch's
bezel bares spiral markings, indicating that it was crafted using an ancient
wire making technique called "block twisting". The
goldsmith tells the treasure hunters that this method of wire-making fell out
of fashion in the 1340s, being replaced by another method involving "drawplates".
When Marty Lagina asks Lewton-Brain whether the artifact was potentially
crafted prior to 1340 A.D., the goldsmith nods his head. Block twisting,
the method by which this wire was fashioned, was employed as early as
Classical Antiquity. This technique involves hammering a metal ingot into a
thin sheet, cutting a narrow ribbon from this sheet, and twisting the ribbon at
both ends as tightly as possible. The twisted cord is then rolled between two
planks of hard wood until it forms a smooth wire. Although the spiral-shaped
grooves resultant of the twisting process can be completely removed during
the rolling process, some vestige of these markings usually remains. During
the Middle Ages, one particular method of wire making eclipsed all others. This
method, called "drawing", involves pulling a metal rod through a series of
cone-shaped holes of steadily decreasing diameter, which are bored through a plank
called a drawplate. In this episode, CharlesLewton-Brain identifies the 1340s
as the decade in which the transition from more primitive wire-making
techniques to the drawplate method was completed. At first glance, the presence
of a block-twisted wire on the Lot 21 brooch presents us with a bit of a
problem, as it indicates that the artifact was crafted prior to the 1340s.
This conflicts with the presence of the glass gem, which, as we have established,
indicates that the brooch was made after the 1380s. The problem resolves itself
when we consider that it would certainly be possible for post-medieval jewelers
to craft their wires using more ancient methods like block twisting.
Resorting to these methods might even have been necessary in cases in which
the wire-maker lacked a drawplate. Although the spiral wire on the Lot 21
brooch may be more consistent with pre-medieval jewelry, it by no means
eliminates the possibility that the artifact was crafted in more recent
times. The opposite cannot be said for the glass jewel, however. Discounting the
possibility that its maker was ahead of his
time, this ornament was probably not made before the 1380s, when the faceted
gemstones of which it appears to be an imitation were uncommon. Thanks for
watching. If you enjoyed this video and would like to read a more in-depth
analysis of Season 6, Episode 2 of 'The Curse of Oak Island', please check out
the link in the description.