Why 11 Of The World's Priciest Items Are So Expensive | So Expensive Season 11 | Insider Business

From natural latex mattresses and custom-made dress shoes to handmade calligraphy ink and Tyrion's ancient purple dye, we travel the

world

to discover the stories behind some of the

world

's most

expensive

items

. Our first stop is New Hampshire in the United States, where a master blacksmith has perfected the art of folding thousands of layers of red-hot steel into a Damascus knife. This is a master Damascus knifemaker Zack Jonas is twisting a fusion of steels to make one. of their characteristic swirl patterns, but these unique swirls are more than just decorative; successfully welding dozens or even thousands of layers of steel create some of the strongest and sharpest knives money can buy.

What starts out as individual layers of two different alloys transforms into a 7-inch chef's knife that sells for $700, some of Zach's knives cost $5,000, and commissions can reach more than $117,000. So how are steel swirl patterns made and why are Damascus knives so

expensive

? What people tend to notice right away when they look at Damascus is that visual pattern and it goes from very, very bold and large layers to very, very thin and shiny layers, and you'll see that pattern jump out at you and you'll see the way it light reflects off it and it will glow and look almost holographic.

The Blad Smithing community sometimes refers to this effect as chatan or the glow of a cat's eye, aside from the striking quality of the pattern. Damascus knives are known to be hard but flexible and capable of maintaining a sharp edge for making Damascus steel. Zach starts by layering two different types of high carbon steel. Handling the layers means more work for the Smith, and while high-end monosteel knives can perform similarly, Damascus knives are coveted for their striking appearance and the craftsmanship required to achieve it after layering together. Zach places the stack in the Forge and heats it to about 2.3 100°F.

He needs an experienced eye to judge when the steel is ready because he risks breaking the handle while the layers are not yet welded. Forge needs to consider the type of pattern he wants to make before he can start forging a bold pattern. It means that fewer layers and a more complex pattern may require several thousand and working with so many layers to achieve the desired design means that many things can go wrong with thousands of hammer blows, a single blow in the wrong place can ruin the pattern even when The pattern is done to perfection Zach has to forge the steel into a knife without distorting the design and if he forges the steel when it's too cold it can crack and he has to start over which for Damascus steel can mean losing weeks of work once Forge welds the steel into a long bar.

Zach can start folding the layers. The number of layers has the greatest effect on the price. The more layers, the more folding and work for Zach, which means a higher price. The pattern of this particular knife called Texas Wind. It has only four 45 layers, which is why Zach sells it for just under $11,000, but his most expensive knives can have 5,000 layers and that can take a month to complete, giving it a higher price, so you can see I'm twisting steel with this. key has to be very hot if it is too cold the layers will want to cut and separate and then the piece is garbage.

I'm tracking the speed at which I'm turning and counting as I go. This technique is specific. Twist Damascus and create star-shaped patterns on the steel. If you twist it too much, the steel will want to cut, but the tighter the twist, the more dramatic the pattern will be and that will make it when Zach is doing a standard Damascus wave pattern, he continues. Work to lengthen and thin the bar using an electric hammer. Zach's largest electric hammer cost him $20,000, but that's just a drop in the bucket. He spent at least $100,000 on specialized machinery, but this large investment allows Zach to produce high-quality Damascus knives once Zach forges them.

The tip of the blade checks it against his jig to make sure the knife looks exactly as it should. He now he needs to undergo a metallurgical change which is called heat treatment and this part is hardening and without doing this, the thing could be shaped like a knife. but it won't behave like a knife, it won't take edge, it won't hold edge, so the heat treatment is really a critical process and determines the metallurgy and therefore the performance of the finished knife, but it is the quenching. that makes or breaks the knife sometimes a blade fails during cooling by cracking or becoming irremediably deformed it seems that the blade went through the hardening process very well it is straight it does not have much deformation um small deformations can be corrected and I can see that the incrustations are have chipped off the surface of the steel here, which tells me that the steel has shrunk and become hard and that's what I was looking for, so now this is ready to finish polishing and then a handle, the polishing operation. polishing is one of the areas where skill is most important and most obvious and this is one of the things that really drives the cost a single can can ruin the piece in an instant the handle is also an important factor when pricing the product Finally some materials like local maple are more affordable for Zach, but this Arizona Ironwood costs him 10 times more.

It is also a harder wood than maple and requires more work to shape. Zach designs the handles to serve the purpose of the knife. He makes the handles of kitchen knives thin but large enough. For the chef to have a firm grip, a hunting knife, on the other hand, requires different properties. May be used with cold or wet hands, which may cause slippery hands. The final step in creating a Damascus knife is engraving which makes the pattern bolder. the eye, once immersed in the engraving mixture, one of the alloys oxidizes and becomes darker while the other alloy refuses to maintain its color now the Damascus pattern is revealed, but Zach is not done yet, he needs evaluate the quality of your creation.

Let's try the edge. and I use paper for this. This is a simple test. It should slide smoothly. This knife is very sharp and needs no adjustments. It is ready to be sold to chefs like Diego Moer. Diego has been a chef for 27 years and focuses on vegetable cooking. I've had some sharp knives, but this one comes out of the door and feels like it slides without any resistance. It's pretty amazing, it basically does exactly what your arm wants it to do, you don't have to do it. fight, he is using a 10-inch chef's knife made by Zach that costs $1200.

I think the experience is effortless. I think you just forget you're using a knife and I think when you forget you're using a knife. and you use your arm to produce the cutting motion which is pure bliss for this type of experience, you have to pay the price. Zach's buyers generally know the work that goes into the knife they purchase and the level of skill required to make a quality Damascus. knife Zach is one of fewer than 200 master knife makers designated by the American Knife Society to earn the title. They must successfully produce a masus dtic sheet with a minimum of 300 layers.

The blade must be strong, hard, sharp and balanced. In Zach's case, he had to take the test twice before earning the teaching title. The knife's performance test includes cutting a 2x4 and even shaving arm hair, but it was the presentation test that set Zach back due to a 10 Dee misalignment in the handle since he became a master. He continued to evolve his skills in Damascus, making one of his current projects could sell for over $100,000 if officially commissioned, so this is a project I've been working on designing for quite some time. This is a very elaborate sword from the Middle East. from Scimitar uh, this is a rough ground blade that I forged with 1500-layer Damascus.

The demand for Damascus knives has created a market for fake Damascus where manufacturers print the swirl patterns on the knife and sell it at a more affordable price. You can get a Damascus Knife for 30 dollars, but it won't cut you anything. There is definitely a growing demand for Damascus steel. When I started making knives it wasn't well known and I've really seen it myself over the last 15 years or so. As cultural awareness has risen and people really understand what they're seeing, this sticky white foam is about to become the core of one of the most expensive mattresses you can buy.

It's made from natural latex hand-harvested from rubber trees in Guatemala, unlike memory foam, natural latex cores are biodegradable and more durable, but those features come at a high price. A king-size mattress made with one of these cores can cost $2,600. A memory foam mattress of the same size costs less than half. How is tree sap turned into a bed and what makes these mattresses so expensive? He wakes up at 3:00 a.m. In Su PES Guatemala most of the country is asleep but that is when latex collectors like Doro Blanco start their day there are more than a million rubber trees in the Guatelinda plantation where D works in the next 4 hours he will extract latex sap from about 700 of them to carve a careful spiral into the back of this tree letting the sap drip down his technique is incredibly precise something he has perfected for over 20 years on the job mm then wait but judge how long that should last brake is a balancing act if you collect the liquid latex too late, it can freeze into less valuable crumb rubber, a good material for things like cars but useless for mattresses during the In the summer off-

season

, an average of 140 liters of natural latex settle slowly in D's buckets each morning, twice as much as in winter, everything the collectors collect goes directly to a nearby processing facility.

Factory workers consolidate the Morning Hall into tanks and let it sit for 12 hours. before processing it in a centrifuge to separate the rubber from the water, then they wait another 45 days for this concentrated latex to stabilize. This will be converted into foam using a method called the Dunlop process, which is based on a 19th century process for converting liquid latex. in foam and is the most energy efficient method. It involves first mixing the liquid latex with a combination of stabilizers. This mixture is then whipped into foam in this machine until it has the preferred density, then workers add a gelling agent and heat the foam with radio waves.

To harden or vulcanize latex, about 40 tons of liquid latex foam are moved from the processing facility to the mattress core each week. Factory, they need about 50 kilos of liquid latex to make a 30 kilo mattress. Once the core is ready, workers wash, dry and flatten the mattress. cors to package this factory produces around 600 mattresses per week, these particular cores will be sent to a facility in Los Angeles where they will be processed into the final mattresses and sold by the avocado company. This central factory centrifuge facility and Plantation are part of Grouo Fora a group dedicated to the sustainable production of liquid latex in southern Guatemala The Christian Close family has run Guatelinda for over 50 years just a decade longer than the average rubber tree that can be exploited the workers take care of guatelinda 2,000 acres of rubber trees we are certified fsse FSE means Forest Stewardship Council basically there should be no child labor, you should only use organic products, you must comply with the law of your country and different things to certify that is sustainable, the facilities are also objective or global.

Standard Certified Organic Latex products that carry the label must be made from 95% or more certified organic latex. These certifications add value to the final product and, consequently, zeros in the price. The rise of the automobile industry in the early 20th century sparked demand for rubber. Exploded and plantations sprung up in places like Southeast Asia and Central and South America, but a rapid increase in production quickly led to a fall in prices that often came at the expense of the indigenous populations forced to work these forests, at times under threat of violence since then. The global natural rubber market has fluctuated a lot, generally moving in tandem with the demand for automobiles.

In 2010, the price was very high, so many people started planting rubber, started buying a lot of land, and started taking on a lot of debt. in the last 10 years. years has been fluctuating and right now it's not at a career low, but I would say they are very low prices right now because of all the war in Russia and Ukraine and all the sanctions that are being imposed onChina and also the lack of production in China. has reduced the price of the natural rubber commodity. In times like these, plantation workers are at greater risk of exploitation, which is what certifications like gos are trying to incentivize companies not to do in 2021.

The global latex mattress market was valued at $9.7 billion by 2030. The figure could double to about 20 billion dollars, but maintaining the high standards that justify the final price of the mattress is not easy. In our history of planting trees, we have been through two or three hurricanes when it rained too much and you couldn't really harvest anything. It cannot be used because all the sap that comes out of the tree is washed away, secondly, it destroys the roads, so nothing can be transported and, thirdly, people suffer a lot when the rivers tend to rise and they cannot go to work because everything floods.

The opposite can also be devastating if there is a drought. If it is too dry, the rubber trees cannot produce enough latex so that we can extract them. The workers in unregulated plantations can be exposed to harsh working conditions such as days of 12 Hours Below Minimum Wage and Toxic Chemicals Because we are interested in getting bonuses, we are generally profitable, so we can keep our workers' jobs. We can continue to take advantage and we can continue to add value to our LS. This is ink. Doit Tsugu Okab needs it until it is as soft as rice. pastels imperative that you be as thorough as possible because a good mix is ​​necessary to make high quality calligraphy ink.

It takes at least 4 years of aging before these solid ink sticks can be sold and even longer for the more expensive ones, a high quality 200g one. Ink sticks from this producer, Cor Byn, cost more than $1,000, and for some other brands, prices can reach almost $2,000, while almost double the amount of commercial liquid India ink can cost less than $9. Dollars. So why are solid ink sticks so sought after and why are they so popular? Expensive it's January in Japan's Nara prefecture Kayen ink producer has been making Japanese calligraphy ink for 450 years This type of ink also known as sui is traditionally sold in the form of hand-made solid ink sticks to use the dry ink calligraphers rub it on an ink.

The stone to mix with water and ink is usually black, but it can also be dyed brown or blue. The ingredients are simple animal glue and perfume, but the quality of these materials and the time-consuming techniques to collect and process them have a big impact. The final price begins in this room illuminated by 100 oil lamps. This workshop has four rooms like this where artisans produce all the St they need to make ink. Two workers are in charge of this stage, each supervising two rooms and 200 oil lamps. Carefully handle the vegetable oil in the lamps and gradually collect S throughout the day in Japan, this process is called trapping smoke every day.

The artists' hands light the 400 lamps and cover each with a lid whose bottom collects S as the oil burns, but they can't leave the lid in the same place for hours because overheating will prevent it from building up. The flame must be off-center. Craftsmen must rotate the lid every 20 minutes for 2 hours. The craftsmen scrape the soot from the top of the lid. They replenish the oil and the process begins again a total of five times a day for each lamp. These lamps contain rapeseed oil, the most common choice for producing high-quality ink sticks. Ink sticks made from even more expensive oils like Celia poonia or sesame can easily cost up to four times as much, but artisans must also consider other details like the containers that hold the oil and the material of the wig to ensure CT quality. .

They use non-porous earthenware containers. The artisans in this workshop even weave the wicks to exacting specifications, the fineness of the S grains determines the final price, then there is the binding agent, animal glue, unlike most of their modern liquid ink counterparts that use shalag sui Inc .usually uses cattle glue for the more expensive ink sticks. Artisans sometimes mix in other types of glue, such as donkey, deer and goat, Gayen says this improves the shine and texture of the ink, the company purchases glue specially made for sui ink that comes in a similar form to a dry board.

Artisans dissolve it by mixing it with water at 70° Celsius, which According to Kayen, it takes more than an hour and a half to slowly dissolve the glue at a low temperature is key to producing quality ink, but animal glue can have a bad smell, so Sui ink makers add fragrances like Boral and musk to counteract it. The next step is to knead the soot glue and fragrance until you get a soft dough, the dough is needed every morning with your hands and feet, be careful to need it well so that the S and glitter are evenly distributed so that The solid bar can eventually dissolve into homogeneous liquid ink once it is properly needs the dough, doid sugu cuts it into bowls and weighs them for consistency, then places the balls into molds and uses a machine to press them into shape.

Incorrectly used mass results in ink sticks that do not produce rich colors. Coren produces around 6,000 of its smallest, highest quality ink sticks a month. It employs a handful of craftsmen for this and those tasked with needing them require the most experience. It takes 5 years to train as sui ink craftsmen, but 10 years before they are allowed to make high quality. Ink Coren produces almost 40,000 of its smaller sui ink sticks between October and April, when cooler winter weather ensures the glue can harden during molding, but the job is not done yet. Drying ink sticks too quickly will cause them to crack and become unsellable.

So craftsmen rely on a traditional technique that uses oak ash to slowly absorb moisture from the rods over a long period of time. They begin by covering the rods with wet ashes every day. They exchange yesterday's ashes for drier ones. They repeat this process for up to 40 days. until ink sticks are about 70% dry after hanging sticks with straw and air drying at home for up to six months Properly drying and maturing an ink stick takes at least 4 years the longer they dry and age the sticks, the better they will work and the more expensive they become, Chorion itself has ink sticks that are hundreds of years old, eventually the artisans polish them and apply the finishing touches to them now that they are ready to be sold to calligraphers like Sha Azakami.

Calligraphers like the program traditionally prefer ink sticks to liquid ink, but in To write with an ink stick sui, you must first transform it into a liquid, this requires an ink stone and water. Shaw adds a small amount of water and rubs the ink stick over the stone, breaking it vigorously, mixing the two to make the liquid. Ink by adding more water or more toner until you get the consistency you need, but not all inks give you the same writing experience. 95% of Japan's Sumi ink is made here in NADA prefecture. It is said that the production of sui ink in Japan began in the 7th century, when monks introduced the methods of making Chinese ink.

By the 14th century, the use of sui ink was flourishing in Japan, although its main use is for calligraphy, it is also often used for ink paintings known as suier and because Coren must age his ink sticks for several years before he can sell them a steady production or else his supply will not meet demand, but that It does not mean that the company wants to increase its production. Basically, Byn strives to continue manufacturing Calligraphy Inc using the same techniques and of the same quality as its founders, this is a rare chicken, I am samani and if everything, down to the beak and tongue, is black, a chicken can be sold for up to $6,000 and their eggs can sell for up to $16 each, they are incredibly hard to find but if you can find a good one then you keep them like gold, that means taking care of these chickens is a full time job but rare. once eaten, so why do people buy IM amanii chickens and why are they so expensive?

The story of amanii chickens begins in Indonesia, but even here in Java, where chickens are native, it still takes work to raise a top-notch all-black chicken. The unique color of IM amanii chickens comes from a genetic mutation called fibromelanosis in other chickens, only certain cells. However, fibromelanosis releases pigmentation causes almost all cells in human chickens to release pigmentation, resulting in dark black feathers, beaks, bones and even or but this requires the right pair of chickens that breeders in the USA like Rachel Stewart have a hard time finding to start a flock. I'll probably have to pay between $5 and $20,000 to get a good group of birds the housing, food, and everything they need for them.

If a chicken does not have two copies of the genetic mutation, it may end up with undesirable characteristics such as white color. lighter feathers, towads or pink mouths that you never want to have like a pink mouth that you want to have at least one oyster mouth that is like a grayish one. While most of her chickens sell for $2 or $33,000, Rachel says a high-quality rooster with a completely black mouth would cost $9 or even $10,000. The I Amani chickens that were not raised at Rachel's Farm came from Indonesia, but not directly because of the governor's restrictions on both sides, breeders in the US can't get these chickens easily, so what?

What you normally have to do is find someone at a different centre, in a different country, who will allow you to import from them, for example, my line was imported from Canada as a result of all the export restrictions, quality and The price of IM Amani chickens outside of Indonesia can vary greatly, which is why chicks from different American farms are listed online for between $35 and $90, but who exactly buys these chickens? I've noticed that the people who bought from us are collectors of rare breeds of different Aven species, do you think? Compared to an Amazon parrot, if you get a parrot it will cost you at least five thousand dollars, so they are rarer and more difficult to create overall than even a high quality period.

In Indonesia, customers come from all over the world surprisingly. Amman eggs are not black despite all the pigmentation on their bodies, the eggs they lay are a standard off-white color. Here Anar sells his best chickens for up to $6,000 sometimes to other breeders, but mainly to Javanese locals like Ari on the island of Java. Chickens have long been kept as pets. Ari has spent 30 million rupees, approximately $2,000, on two IM amanii chickens. Some locals believe that the chicken's jet-black color allows them to travel between the human world and the supernatural world. Another mystical belief is that consuming the first egg. one lay will help you conceive a child, although samani chicken eggs are very valuable, breeders will give these first eggs to needy couples or to healers like foron here in tamang regency faton roasts the egg until it turns into a fine powder despite Sani chickens tend to have weak immune systems, and if a chicken becomes ill, its black color may fade and become dull, but keeping Samani chickens healthy can be difficult, especially when there is no official guide on how to raise them, for example. what breeders rely on their shared knowledge, as well as constant trial and error, to raise healthy, high-quality birds.

Chickens are bathed every week, this helps prevent bacterial infections. Bumps are sprayed for the same reason. The spacious hatches help create a stress-free environment but also help maintain the chicken's genetic lines. Anas also provides the chickens with vitamins and vaccines and adjusts their feed as they develop. The chicken's diet depends on its breeder in New Jersey. Rachel adds special supplements to improve the gut health of her flock one of the things we have here is the crushed chilies they go crazy for them. Chickens don't have the ability to taste spicy, so to them that's like a really delicious additive.

They do better if they have extra protein, they are just a little tough and lay better. You know, more eggs in the form of The protein we use is dried soldier larvae, they're 36% protein and they love them. Oregano leaves are antimicrobial and they're also super good for chicken gut health, so we like to add that in as well, so basically you're just getting something. thatit smells like a huge pizza in Indonesia Anas feeds his chickens a special feed mix twice a day to help them gain weight. He also likes to add papaya and Tarot leaves to his food.

A healthy Omani hen lays about 100 eggs a year, which is only 40% of what most laying hens produce, these eggs can sell for up to 250,000 rupees or about $16; However, breeders prefer to keep most of the eggs because not all of them are guaranteed to hatch, making it more profitable to incubate the eggs and maximize profitability. overall chances of getting healthy chicks, more eggs also means more chances of raising high quality black birds. Roosters are more valuable than hens because they have wider combs, although the co 19 pandemic caused prices to drop, they have now recovered by cutting a millimeter.

Too much leather could ruin the fit of this shoe custom made to make a finished pair. Artisans must hammer carve and sew each detail to the exact specifications of a customer's foot. A double pair can cost more than £5,000; some designs cost more than £12,000. The special thing is how custom dress shoes are made and that is what makes them so expensive. Cannons of London make some of the most expensive bespoke shoes in the world, all by hand using traditional techniques - even the thread the artisans use is hand-woven. You could bring an angry person here. who made our shoes 100 years ago and could probably start working right away.

That's Simon. He has been making shoes for over 15 years. The fit is completely adaptable to each person. A ready-made shoe essentially has a generic shape. It fits either your right foot or your left foot, but it doesn't fit both perfectly. The key difference is that this is the last. It is a wooden mold carved with the exact measurements and characteristics of the client's foot. It is the base of the entire shoe. Determine if the shoe is going to be comfortable, it's also the style: you start by cutting large amounts of wood and then make small adjustments with hand tools, even the smallest half a millimeter can sometimes make a difference, you can undo everything in the easiest way .

What I should do is just make a beautiful last, the challenge is to make it beautiful and actually make it fit the last. Making is Simon's specialty, he inherited this workbench from the shoemaker who trained him, I think he's been in the

business

forever. was in the

business

before he got into it, which was in the 1950s, making a last takes days, it's a constant process of carving wood and checking measurements, but that effort is worth it because a last can be reused for future pairs, saving time and to reduce cost, this shop has thousands of lasts, some over 100 years old, we are lucky to have many famous lasts, we have Franklin D Revelt, Charlie Capellan's really amazing shape, as well like a very high arch, there we also have Fred a.

Stairs are very, very elegant if done right, they have the character of the person, so you can almost see everyone's character. It really is a lot of fun to work in a workshop. The Sho radio manufacturing workshop has a particular smell, it is like the tan of oak. lever almost everyone comments that when they first enter the workshop the most popular material for custom shoes is leather and the more expensive the leather is, the more expensive the shoe. I think our most expensive shoes, well they are always crocodile or alligator, usually cost around 11 or 12,000 before cutting, Reese examines the leather for defects.

As I go over the skin, I lift each section of skin and examine it and what I'm looking for is a blemish-free section so that it doesn't have tick marks. bite, you know the stretch marks because they will appear when the shoe lasts and it will spoil the look of the shoe at this level. anything like that is unacceptable, we have to have a perfect leather, often we only cut one pair per leather, this leather will become the upper part of the shoe. The craftsmen pull it tightly onto the last and carefully shape it to Make sure there is no excess material or wrinkles.

This step alone may take 2 days. It is a constant process of stretching, hammering and scraping. Yasu has been a shoe-in. manufacturer for over 25 years works quickly but every movement is intentional bringing the shoe closer to its final shape Achieving a clean fit is essential for premium custom-made shoes, but the upper is not the only part of the shoe that needs a Clean Fit The bottom of the shoe has two parts: the outer sole that touches the ground and the inner sole that sits under the foot to make the inner sole. Craftsmen cut the leather and meticulously nail it around the last as with the upper part of the shoe.

Artisans shape this material. to perfectly match the client's foot so this client has a very high arch here so we're going to make an insole to provide support and we also have this pocket here where their joint sits and that was added so basically This is going to be molded. completely to the end and this is one of the fundamental things that separates ready-to-wear or factory-made shoes from custom-made shoes, at each step the shoemakers work with the shoe on their lap, it basically just gives you the control that you might like it. change back and forth, you can change the position of this pretty freely, check how it's sitting, you know, check the movement of the leather.

I think if you have it in a held position you just don't have that flexibility to merge all of these together. Shoe makers use a sewing technique called welt, they sew a strip of leather around the shoe to attach the sole to the upper. Some shoe makers use glue to combine all the parts, but Simon says a sewn trim like this makes the shoe easier to sew. Repairing it is actually ideal because, if the top is removed, you can simply take another piece of leather and sew it back through the binding, making it almost infinitely repairable, as long as the top is kept in reasonable condition, the shoe really can last a lifetime, all the time. and the materials needed to make a custom shoe are reflected in the price.

A well-made pair of hair can easily cost 5-10 times more than ready-to-wear shoes. A ready-made shoe would easily be made in a day. It is manufactured in a factory. environment, you can easily tell the difference when you put your feet in the shoe that you will fit in a custom-made shoe, it is because the insole has been locked to the shape of the sole of your foot for Simon to create the perfect fit for a client. all the effort is worth it. I like what it takes to go on a journey with each of these individual people that could last many years, could last your entire career when you do it for centuries.

The United Kingdom was a center for all types of shoe manufacturing, but by the end of the 20th century the industry was struggling to compete with cheaper, mass-produced shoes. Today there is much less demand and many fewer shoe manufacturers. Simon makes about 200 custom pairs each year, but the industry hasn't disappeared. However, over the last decade there has been an increased demand for custom shoes from Japan and the United States. Many bespoke Sho makers in the UK now rely on their international customers and Simon says there has been a rise in young craftsmen looking to learn the trade when I started, the last teacher told me it was a dying trade and, In fact, the opposite has happened.

There are so many young people now entering the trade, learning about it and wanting to get involved and become shoemakers or L-makers. Making authentic Tyrion purple dye starts here with the extraction of a murex snail gland. It takes almost 45 kg of these snails to produce a single gram of pure Tyrion's purple extract. It's a painstaking and spicy process and the result is this single gram of dye that can cost almost $3,000. By comparison, a 5G synthetic version sells for less than $4. Tyrion Purple can be used to dye clothing or create paint. In the ancient world it was so rare that only royalty could afford to wear clothes.

Even today, Tyrion died with him at such an astronomical price. Purple pigment is primarily a collector's item, so what makes true Tyrian purple so difficult to make and why is it so expensive? This is Muhammad rassa. He has been making Tyrion purple dye at his home in Tunisia for 15 years. Gussen is one of the few producers. in the world bringing this ancient to life Dy gussen learned how to make this die through an excruciating process of trial and error because there is no instruction manual. He reconstructed the techniques he uses from first century texts. Oh my god, I must say I'm gone.

Through many failures, historical texts on the purple tan making process are very rare and quite vague, so you have to start everything from scratch and learn everything on your own to make the extract. You must navigate a complex process and it is this extensive work. that represents a large part of the final price the part of the murex snail that contains the pigment is called the hyperbranchial gland the good thing is that the gland is located just below the shell which helps a little in extraction it is the only part of the snail used to make it Tyrion is purple and each gland contains only a few drops of pigment, but before the gland can be extracted, cussin has to wash, exfoliate and sort the snails by size - you really don't want all this mud and aroma to interfere. with the dye When you crush the shell and expose the gland, this is the first step and it's a very important step, you really have to clean the snails very, very well.

Husen can now extract the gland from clean snails if he hammers each shell lightly, it will take too long, but if he hits it too hard he will crush the gland. It took him less than 2 years to learn how to make it efficiently and of course the snail is not wasted and will then be cooked for dinner. Everything is there. It is basically recycled to make the extract. Kusen first macerates the fresh glands in cold water and lets them ferment in an airtight container once the glands release their dye. Cussen gently washes and strains the mixture to separate the dye from the pulp.

This is the first of six. Separate rounds of purification are needed to make a pure extract of Tyrion's Purple. Now H can dry the pigment mixture. He applies it to a sheet of glass and lets it dry in the sun. He uses glass because it won't absorb any of the valuable pigment. the glands have been drying for 3 days, they are very dry now, they are still malleable, as you can tell, this is a pure or more or less pure dye, once the pure dye mixture dries, scrape it off the glass with a razor making sure to get every last bit and the entire process from liquid dye to dry pure powder, the entire mass will have lost at least 98% of its weight, the dry pigment is now purified five times more in one process crushing and cutting to remove any remains. detrus, the nearly 100 pounds of murex snails are eventually transformed into 1 g of pure Tyrion purple extract and acquiring enough snails is another challenge, an expensive one.

Gussen can spend hundreds of dollars to get the snails he needs to dye them, because finding these snails requires experienced fish. One of the fish Russen works with is Saleem B Milad. He collects mure snails from Solomon Beach as Cen Saleem and his team have perfected his technique over time. It may take Saleem 4 hours to find the right snails or he may die for a whole one. day without success, the bloodmouth snail is particularly difficult to catch and requires Saleem to dive to 15M depth, making it more expensive and, if the weather is consistently bad, the price rises even further, sometimes forcing Saleem and his team to go for a whole month. without fishing, but it is out of his control, it is also dangerous for snails, which are very sensitive to climate change.

Since the early 1970s, the MX snail population has decreased drastically due to changes in water temperature and overexploitation, we must be very careful not to do this. Engage in overexploitation to ensure that small specimens are returned to the sea to preserve the species, so it is time-consuming and careful management of the snail population is vital as Ausen and his divers attempt to revive it. The ancient manufacturing tradition D of Tunisia Russen does not use all the fresh snails to make extract, he reserves some to dye the fabric directly, this time he mixes the snail glands with water and a reducing agent and lets them ferment, the mixture goes from being a colorless liquid. to green before it turns purple, finding the right pH balance in this step is crucial.

If it's too acidic, the wall can burn and if it's too basic, it can cause the wall to sit so right now we're just monitoring the BH, it's about 8, which is it. Perfect, this is also the timein which the soluble dye is the most sensitive to light. The gin should cover the vat D immediately to avoid too much exposure to light. Too much light can cause the Dy to turn from purple to blue, destroying a week of work when the material is no longer available. Soaked for the appropriate amount of time, Cussen lifts the lid of the tub exposing the mixture to light and air, this allows the mixture to oxidize and this is how the color will gradually begin to develop, but a round of rat death is not always it will work.

With this silk scarf it took me about 8 months to produce and required about 800 pounds of fresh snails and this is not yet complete and it is not always guaranteed that the color will come out the same shade, historically speaking, there is not a single one. Tyrion Purple shade or tone is a range of shades that ranges from the color of messy blood to purple-red. This range is the result of mixing three different subspecies of snails murex hexaplex trunculus which produces a blue violet color binous brandaris that secretes the color of clotted blood and blood or strong mouth until it releases a rich purple red color.

Tyrion Purple di dates back to the Bronze Age and is named after the Phoenician city of Tier. Some historians believe that it occurred as early as the 21st century BC. Ancient civilizations from Phenicia to the Carthaginian and Roman empires prospered by producing and marketing this die. One of the production sites was on the island of Gerera, which is now an archaeological site. A 4th century text states that a single pound of Tyrion purple dye costs three pounds of gold, but production of this die stopped abruptly in the 15th century after the fall of the Bantine Empire.

Ali says he is grateful that Gan is reviving this culturally valuable die so that Tunisians can reconnect with his ancestors. Gasen learned about the die at the age of 14 and was captivated by the story of it in Carthage, more than a decade later he found a microphone snail on the shore that oozed purple. My old passion for purple red arose from Russia's deep and profound dream of it and I really had this Revelation and that's how my adventure of reviving this legendary die began now. He hopes to increase production of it by offering more shades of pigment.

Well, of course, my dream is to expand this project and want to create an old die factory and produce more, but as I said, the main thing. The concern should always be to preserve the specific because if there is no mix there is no die to make a Paton POA saree. Each section of each silk bundle is meticulously dyed a specific color, but it is only when the threads are woven together and the pattern is revealed that you will know if its mathematical precision worked. Most other sarees are embroidered during weaving, but the intricate designs on patan POA are dyed directly onto the silk, so any mistakes the artisans make are irreversible, risking months of work when complete, which can take over. .

A year, a Patan POA sari can cost more than $8,000, so why does it take so long to make a Patan Basari and what makes it so expensive in the Indian state of Guat? Salie family's p house company is one of the few producers of authentic Bon POA due to the time-consuming process, POA house makes an average of only 15 POA sarees a month, even among the expensive woven textiles, batan poas sarees They are unique, while most textiles are elaborately embroidered on a loom. The POA ban uses what is called a double meal design, WFT. or horizontal and the warp or vertical threads are thoroughly dyed separately only when the weft and warp are woven together will the final design be revealed.

The month long process begins with high quality raw silk purchased for up to $110 a kg, a single SAR requires just under a kilogram of silk, these threads are as fine as hair so artisans must combine them to create a stronger thread that they can use for weaving, they clean the silk and bleach it to a bright white to better absorb the dye, meanwhile, designers like merold suvi create detailed sketches on graph paper for dyers and weavers. follow measurements can be as small as one-hundredth of an inch. It takes up to 10 days to finish a pattern. The sketch is passed to craftsmen like liia PR Asin Kumar, he translates the specifications. to the warp and weft threads, he does this by marking the different sections of the silk with a single thread dipped in charcoal.

Bria says this is the most challenging part of his work. When he is done, Bria prepares the threads to resist death, tightly wrapping the cotton thread. around certain sections of the silk thread according to their markings Bria covers the parts that should not be dyed leaving only the parts that will be dyed exposed multiple layers of tightly wound cotton thread to ensure that the liquid cannot pass through the threads is the part that consumes the most time of the process and takes several months to over a year to complete, depending on the complexity of the design, the background color is usually dyed red first, the yarn must dry completely before another color can be added and ball House says his sars usually have at least five colors that can have more complex designs.

Furthermore, the D sections are wrapped while the parts that need to be colored next are untangled and the cycle is repeated. Once all the colors have been dyed, it can take a team of five people 2 days to untangle the knots and prepare the silk. to knit. The looms used for POA pan are unique, while most looms are held upright and can be operated by a single person with a pedal. The POA patan requires an inclined hanging loom and two workers to operate it. Hanging looms allow more light to pass through so weavers can maintain a Keep an eye on the design to weave only 6 inches, they must work for 2 and a half hours, if the tension on the threads is too tight, the threads will move up and If it is too loose they will move downward compromising the precision of the design. so every 6 in weavers pause to adjust the tension of the threads using ballpoint needles, which takes another 2 and 1 half hours, then they spend the same amount of time making sure the warp and weft match perfectly before continue, that's almost 8 hours of work for just 6. in Patan Poa a Patan POA sari is usually 5.5 m long and a little over a meter wide, but in this process the threads can break during the weaving process It takes about a month to finish a design with many repetitions is easier to do and can be finished in as little as 4 months.

These designs usually cost a little over $1,500, but more complex designs without repeating patterns can take a year and a half and cost over $8,500, but over the years, I say production costs have increased. Here I made three before. coid 19 The Bola house would buy silk for $73 per kilogram but now it pays $110 and the fabrics it uses are not cheap either, some cost $24 per kilogram While others cost more than 120 and imported fabrics such as indigo can cost the company more than $300 the kilo POA The house produces POA bread in the same way it was made centuries ago, by hand and without mechanization, although there are conflicting stories about the origin of the fabric.

It is believed to have gained importance in India between the 11th and 13th centuries. The ronik kav well built in the 11th century in ban represents traditional batan toer designs these sarees were a status symbol worn by aristocrats and royalty even today the high price means they are only worn by those who can afford them but a casa has seen demand for its sarees continue to rise as the fabric receives more attention once a dying artisanal batan Bola has appeared at Lucky Me Fashion Week to meet the demand The Bola house employs over 250 people. You can recognize a piece of Waterford crystal by its appearance.

Sharp cuts. Detailed patterns or maybe even by how it looks. sounds, the queen actually said: I love these clinking glasses. A single glass of wine costs around $150, and limited edition

items

like this globe sell for up to $30,000. Waterford even created the crystal chandeliers that hang in Westminster BBY and the New Year's Eve ball in Times Square. But it's the craftsmanship that makes water-fed crystals so desirable. Artisans must memorize hundreds of patterns, work in extreme heat, and maintain a steady hand to ensure only the highest quality pieces make it to the shelves. Why Waterford Crystal is a cut above other types of glassware and why it is so expensive Evans has worked as a master glassblower at Waterford Crystal for 39 years.

Started when I was 15, I left school on a Friday and at Crystal on a Monday, he is one of approximately 70 artisans working at the company's headquarters in Waterford, Ireland, many of whom follow in their fathers' footsteps. . I had brothers, uncles, dad was here, so you always want to follow your family's work, but becoming a master craftsman is not an easy task. Candidates must first graduate from Waterford's. 8-year apprenticeship program, learning and working directly with certified artisans on site. A single handmade piece of Waterford crystal will pass through the hands of approximately 10 artisans like Edgar before it can be shipped and sold.

It is handmade from start to finish, so it is your own breath your own hands until the end, even the initial design is analog each piece begins its life as a hand drawn sketch. I still go back to the old pencil and paper at the beginning, you have to do it because that's how you capture your ideas. Quick Matt kho, a senior designer, has worked in Waterford for 30 years. I choose Warford because I am a Wford man. I was born and grew up. I'm always proud to be from Wford and the fact that we had a luxury brand on our doorstep.

Waterford has released hundreds of designs since its founding in 1783, the most iconic being the Lismore pattern, which debuted in 1952, but the most popular design today, according to Matt, is this Irish lace, a modern design inspired by traditional needlework. Irish that probably took a year and a half to develop because we knew the shape but we didn't realize we didn't know the shape at the time a pair of red wine glasses with Irish lace costs 3 $80 a bowl with the design costs $675 Matt works working closely with the rest of the team throughout the production process to ensure designs fit your vision.

It took several 3D modeling packages to bring it to life. He helps me see even though from experience I know what it will look like. But it helps me to let other people see what it's going to look like before I make a prototype, they have to be able to get into their head and I have to be able to get into their head and how they can work and different blowers will produce different colors. different things in different ways, so, for example, if you had to design a beast radius part, you would probably go to a particular cutter once you have finalized the design and shape.

Your first stop is the mold room. I start molding and I give the mold maker a template of let's say this for example is the Irish lace um then he will take that he will make the mold and prepare it for the blow there are two types of molds made of wood and steel the wood molds only They can be used 10 to 15 times because the extreme heat of the molten glass breaks them down once the mold is ready, the next stop is the blower that brings Matt's designs to life, it is a pull stem and is usually It is done with a machine, but here in Wford it is done by hand and it is a team of four people, one of those four people is Edgar.

He is usually accompanied by a master destemmer and two apprentices who help with tasks such as creating the glass ball that the master blower will use for the piece. There are no individuals here. It is teamwork at all times. but we often even socialize together we kill each other we put on makeup again Crystal contains a small percentage of minerals which often make it more durable than crystal Waterford recently switched from lead-based Crystal to a new recyclable lead-free formula which contains barium oxide which the company claims is twice as durable and more heat resistant, says both formulas are periodically tested and safe for use before they can begin blowing the mixture.

The craftsmen heat it to around 1100° in a Kil and when I take it to the mold it's probably 4 or 500° Edgar says staying safe when working with such high temperatures comes down to years of experience and careful teamwork. Edgar estimates that he blows between 300 and 350 pieces of glasses per day when he works on large pieces, like vases, blowing between 50 and 60 after blowing the pieces. They undergo a special kneeling process that gradually cools the glass over 24 hours. Cooling the glass slowly is essential to prevent it from breaking. The edges are then polished and the excess pieces are cut off, broken and melted again into the war mixture after the blown side.

Of the stuff, we'll take it to The Cutting Shop and mark the pattern on the glass. Generally, if it is a prototype,I frame the glass. I mark the pattern and give it to the cutter and we talk. with the cutter and discuss exactly what you would like, although these markings serve as a basic guide, each cutter is expected to memorize over 100 designs and the designs are far from simple, some of the pieces could have up to 96 cuts. David Boyce is a master cutter who has worked for Waterford for 37 years. He was initially part of a group of seven apprentices accepted into the program in 1986.

Throughout the factory we were called The Magnificent Seven, as Edgar's father David also worked in Waterford. He interested me a lot. the glass, so one day he took me on a factory tour and while I was on the factory tour I said to dad, this is what I want. Antibiosis cutting requires careful concentration and a steady hand. Craftsmen must apply sufficient pressure. to make the cut without breaking the piece, we're nervous, uh, cutting the pieces, uh, but after making hundreds of these pieces over the years, you're so used to them now that you can actually cut them with your eyes closed.

Use diamond tipped wheels for speed and precision, the wheel stays wet at all times with a constant flow of water. The reason the water is in the wheel is to keep the wheel from heating up, not to burn the glass. If the wheel gets too hot if you don't have enough water in the wheel, the glass can break in the wheel in a single day. The cutters can withstand up to 120 pieces of shank wear. It is important to say that all of those processes we perform, from hand carving to mold making to mouth blowing, branding and then hand cutting using diamond tipped wheels, are ancient craft techniques that have been used for centuries, so while we evolve in terms of some materials we can use, we are still leaning towards the ancient craft of Crystal making prototypes.

Matt makes sure they match his vision and live up to his standard. I review each piece when it is captured to see if it is what I want and if it is not. we will go back to the drawing board, in addition to the cutters working on the table. Waterford employs sculptors and engravers who can create custom art pieces like this ocean sculpture which costs around $33,000 for the finished product. Waterford in-house store or ships worldwide Waterford says the largest buyer of its crystal is the United States and one of the most notable pieces Waterford has made there is the Time Square ball in New York City, it has approx. 12 feet in diameter and consists of 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles.

Waterford also makes custom pieces for high-profile institutions such as the British royal family. We had none other than Prince Charles, now King Charles of England, and Camilla, come to visit us here in Waterford, so it was an exciting time. Visit to welcome royalty and again they are very familiar with watermarks, but it's not just royalty who are fans of crystal, many of the artisans are also helpful collectors. I have many pieces that go back through the years to Mor. I constantly use them at home H too. I think all I drink at home is water. I don't drink anything else and Matt says he can't imagine going anywhere else anytime soon and I don't see myself working for it either. any other company I think designing for wford is something special.

This swampy mush is about to become one of the most expensive papers in the world. At first, Hani is barely visible and once it comes out of this bath it is delicate, but after it dries, Korean paper can last for thousands of years. years the most expensive single-leaf version of this size costs more than $22 so what makes hanji so durable and why is it so expensive? Kong ksok has been making kanji for 45 years the fibers he is washing were once the bark of a mury paper tree Hani is a versatile material prized in Korea today, it is used for everything from calligraphy to clothing and because To his resistance, institutions such as the Library of Congress and Lou have used Hani to restore century-old books.

The secret to its strength, these long gossamer fibers and the traditional method of forming sheets after each fiber is thoroughly boiled, bleached and cleaned, it's time to get inside. Kung uses this machine to transform the hard fibers into a soft pulp, now it is time to convert the pulp into paper. The fibers flow through the bamboo frame and settle in transparent layers. It's almost invisible to the naked eye, but Kung sees what we can't. He knows the exact moment a sheet is fully formed after decades of papermaking. He is capable of producing 350 sheets per day. The number of fibers in a sheet and their direction determines the The force of the paper by moving the frame in one direction aligns the fiber, but more expensive paper is made by shaking the fibers in multiple directions.

This is slower but even distributes the fibers, producing a stronger paper. Each paper weight requires a different amount of p and Kung's experience is the key to good results. Careful sheet formation is important because the fiber structure determines how a paper holds up over time, especially if it is folded. Kung says that this process can take 4 years to learn and he has to be careful because at this time. Hani stage is still delicate, it uses an automated pump to speed up the process, but it still requires a lot of attention despite Han's versatility, the ingredients are simple water fiber and premium conservation grade gloss.

Hani uses a natural gloss made from hibiscus root that disperses the fibers in a The sheet of this type of Hani has a neutral pH which is one of the requirements to be classified as permanent paper and is ideal for restoring old documents. In fact, one study found that Hani aged 2 to three times slower than the less expensive medieval European paper Hani Kung uses a chemical glue while Kung is immersed in running water. The other side of the workshop is dedicated to drying the newly formed leaves. Yun Chung plucks the clean, crisp Hani from a hot plate at 88°C who has been Working with Hani for 40 years, draws waste paper for preservation at a lower temperature, around 40 to 50°C, after a lifetime Working with Hani, this process has become muscle memory.

His mane brush is an extension of his hand that he uses to smooth Hani without scratching. This shop used to be filled with dozens of employees, but Kung says he has had to downsize because demand has decreased. Artisans sell the more expensive Hani to institutions and museums that use it for conservation, such as repairing book pages or even fixing sculptures, but Kung says there is demand. for this type of Hani it is not as high, it is also more expensive and labor intensive as he has to beat the fibers by hand instead of pulverizing them in this machine in Korea.

Hani has been used for over a thousand years, but in the West conservationists often train with washi paper from Japan, and although some Western institutions have recognized the quality of hani, its widespread use abroad is not common. Kang says he stopped exporting Hani and only sells domestically. In recent years, the South Korean government has initiated initiatives to increase demand for Hani, but it will be time before artisans feel the benefits of these programs and, despite Hani's uncertain future, artisans like Kung continue maintaining this ancient craft and many are working tirelessly to provide new uses and raise awareness in the hope that the Hani industry can last as long as the paper itself.

A pair of professional hair scissors costs almost $2200 when further customized, they can reach almost $3000 compared to a standard pair of hair scissors that cost less than $10. The main reason for this huge difference is a Specialized design ensures that the blades do not wear out. and can last for decades Artisans spend hours shaping, hammering and adjusting two blades by hand to create scissors that rarely need sharpening, so how do they create a pair of scissors that stay so sharp for so long and what makes them so expensive ? A professional hairdresser for 10 years, during this time she has invested thousands of dollars in high-end hair scissors, but those made by Naruto Scissors in the Japanese prefecture of Hogo stand out.

When selecting scissors, professional stylists look for three qualities: sharpness, longevity, and ergonomic fit of the scissors. They need precision to allow for various techniques such as blending or blunt cuts while making the experience comfortable for the stylist and should not require frequent maintenance. Producers of high-end hair scissors like Naruto have solved all three problems by ensuring that the blades have an exact single point of contact. Location where the user wants to make a cut when he uses a standard pair of scissors. The hinge that connects the two flat blades can wear over time, throwing off the alignment, meaning the user sometimes has to grind the blades against each other to achieve a clean cut.

Constant metal-to-metal contact wears down the edge of the blade over time, a damaged edge must be sharpened more frequently, further thinning the blade and eventually rendering the scissors useless to prevent this type of damage. Producers of high quality hair scissors ensure that the blades only have a touch where they need to make a cut one way to achieve this Precision is by deforming the blades building blades with the correct deformation and twist requires careful shaping Craftsmen give shapes the outer blade at a fixed 45° angle from base to tip. The angle is the same throughout the blade, allowing for consistent cuts without deviations or snags, as occurs with the entire manufacturing process of these scissors. .

The artisans judge when they are ready. After the first round of shaping, the blades are polished and polished and then ready to be deformed by adjusting the deformation. The deformation requires mathematical precision and all the attention the deformation is achieved by delicate hammer blows on the inner side of the blade. High quality Naruto uses a special Martin cytic alloy It is strong but elastic, allowing the craftsmen to deform the blades as needed The curve of each blade is approximately 03mm, small enough to catch a single hair, but the craftsmen They do not use any measuring instruments, but rely solely on experience.

The blade is then sharpened in increments in the first round. The craftsmen sharpen the edge to 70% and repeat it two or three times. times until the blade reaches its optimal sharpness, but this can alter the deformation of the blade, so they must continually address any defects with careful hammer blows between rounds of sharpening. My shintaro has been working on nuto for 19 years, 18 of which he has spent in the The adjustment department works on warping the blades, even with all this experience, Shino does not consider himself an expert, but his ability to warp the blades blades contributes directly to the high price of the scissors it produces;

In fact, labor cost accounts for up to 40% of Naruto's expenses. This is where the mechanism that connects the blades is made. It is a crucial part of the scissors design that also ensures a single point of contact while cutting. In the case of Naruto, the mechanism is called a three-dimensional circular walk when the roid. is installed Craftsmen prepare to test the scissors, all this meticulous attention pays off not only in the cutting performance of the scissors but also in their longevity because the Naruto design applies less force to the blades, the scissors do not need to be sharpened as frequently and last longer.

Longer compared to common scissors. Naruto says well-designed scissors last so long that some customers still bring in maintenance scissors that are decades old, but homi sharpness and longevity aren't the only reasons professional scissors are worth the price stylists ask for. and shapes tailored to your specific needs and ergonomics are paramount, some producers even adjust the handles to the exact measurements of their customers' hands and cutting style, while Naruto's most expensive base model costs around $22,000. Homi requested an arabesque pattern that takes more time to design and brought the price of his scissors to almost $33,000, but there is no shortage of customers willing to pay the price.

Naruto sells about 6,000 of his scissors a year and sales are increasing; In fact, the global hair scissors market will increase at a compound annual growth rate. 5.5% between now and 2030, but the biggest threat to the professional hair stock industry is imitations, but these fakes do not work as well as the originals and producers of professional hair scissors know that their buyers appreciate the difference. This is not a real baby. It is a hyper-realistic doll based on silicone, but just like a baby, it can move its eyes, change facial expressions and even breathe. The producers ofHyper-realistic dolls like Baby Clon spend months making convincing look-alike dolls like these, they sell for a minimum of 700, the most expensive.

The models can reach more than 15,000, every detail from the skin texture to the hair on the doll's head is made by hand. These dolls are often collector's items, but are also used in medical settings such as midwife training and therapy. So what makes these dolls babies? so realistic and why they are so expensive in Catalonia Spain Christina Eaus and a small team of artisans at Baby Clon are making some of the most realistic and expensive dolls in the world. Christina Drew drew on her nearly two decades of experience creating hyper-realistic effects for zombies. and Fant moved Baby Clone a decade ago, also known as Reborn Dolls, these dolls have a laughably realistic quality that allows the company to sell them for the best price.

The basic model for newborns from Baby Clon's most popular line starts at just under €2,000 and adding more features can significantly increase the price, but Baby Clon not only works with human dolls, they also sell children's versions of beloved characters such as ET or the na'vi of Avatar. The creation of these lifelike dolls is a 4 month long process and it all begins with sculpting the prototype. This prototype will be used to create a mold for the final silicone doll. Standard models already have molds that are reused, but any doll with customizations must be designed from scratch today.

The Baby Clone team is sculpting their ET doll when finished. It will sell for €650 like most of their dolls. This one is being sculpted in plasticine clay. People refine skin folds and even skin texture. These details are transferred directly to the mold so it is imperative that every last square mm be hyper detailed that is why this step requires the greatest skill without extreme attention to realism here the subsequent mold is useless in the process of making the mold the sculpture is destroyed so it is important Eugeni works carefully as any error in the mold means that the sculpture will have to be redone, one of the main reasons for the high price of the Baby Clone doll is the silicon with which they are made, its medical grade platinum silicon which is often used in implants and prosthetics.

According to Christina, this silicon provides the greatest possible durability and realism, which is why the company is willing to spend €300 on silicone alone for each baby; in fact, the cost of materials can reach €450 per doll. Eugeni uses a special formulation for the silicone blend to achieve the most realistic skin weight and texture with this extreme attention to detail. represents up to 80% of the value of the doll's cloned baby cells, more than half of the price of the product is attributed solely to the cost of labor, once the injection is completed, Eugeni lets the silicon dry for 24 hours and carefully open the mold to reveal the doll inside, but the molds do not include all parts of the doll, such as hands or feet, which are assembled here, joining the body and limbs of the dolls is the most important part. challenging process.

The artisans carefully remove excess silicone making sure they do not cut too deeply and damage the doll's skin, the realism of the doll's physical structure depends on how perfect they can make the joints look once this is achieved, The doll is ready to come to life in the paint and hair department here. Craftsmanship People meticulously work on cosmetic details, from the texture of the skin to the gloss of the nails and the color variation in the mouth, various changes are painted in the complexion and veins of the body so that each strand of hair is inserted individually on the doll's head until the artisans achieve the desired Look: Many of Baby Clone's customers, as with other Reborn dolls, are collectors and enthusiasts.

However, these hyper-realistic dolls are also used in other settings, such as therapy for grieving parents and medical training such as that provided by Michelle Beacock. The exam I teach is an mfy specialty. exam that all students now have to do if, as a midwife, we need to learn how to do a neonatal exam. I feel like we need to do it on a really realistic baby because it's a really important thing that we're seeing this. baby and try to confirm normality or not, so if you are learning normal in an adult baby that doesn't look normal, how are you going to know if it is normal?

I think it's really, really important that we have dolls like this so you know it's normal. is almost as good as the real-life baby in front of you Michelle worked closely with the Clone baby to design male and female dolls that are as anatomically accurate as possible, including collarbones and pelvic bones, which they named Olivia and John because they arrived that day. that Olivia Newton John died and I think our technician was very funny, although Olivia and John cost around €1,000 together, these dolls offer the most realistic experience that Michelle could find on the market and even in this you can see how difficult it is to make Hip testing instead is much more realistic, students who train with a stiffer, less precise wrist won't know exactly what to look for until they do their first test on a real baby, which is a great teaching opportunity. to the midwives and it's a gamble every time because you're lovely, but no, the more realistic the doll, the more prepared the midwives will be to thoroughly assess the health of the baby, so basically all babies have what we call lines of suture and fontanels, small spaces in the scalp.

Basically, you can feel there and you can feel the suture lines there and there's a larger fontanelle in the front that doesn't normally close until about 18 months. Students should be accustomed to feeling that fontanel if it is smaller, fused, or closed. It could indicate that there is a problem with the brain that cannot grow because the spaces in the heads are not there, but the hyperrealism does not end with the appearance of the doll. Clone also offers animatronic dolls at prices of just under 5,000, these dolls can imitate breathing, sucking and eye movements and, for a few hundred additional buyers, can also add a drinking and wet system or eating and defecating such just like a real baby would.

Clone is even experimenting with AI saying she could encourage a more realistic appearance. The interaction between the doll and the human being as technology evolves, the life of the dolls and the uses that their customers devise will also evolve. I just didn't think I would ever get a doll like this to show and I am absolutely delighted that we have her. Do you think we have gone from that to that in my teaching time? The difference is simply incredible.