Portugal's jewelry art, what is it like?

Portugal's jewelry art, what is it like? It turns out that in this sunny country there are not many jewelers who create jewelry from the "jewelry art" category. There are some recognizable names among those who consider the creation of jewelry as a truly creative process, and the pieces issued under these brands are no less recognizable. But I would like to pay some attention to the history! Once upon a time, a very interesting jewelry art was born in the East, or rather, its variety. It is about filigree. It exists up to now. But if you ask where filigree is so valuable and famous, that it is glorified even as a souvenir, glorifying the country, you will be told, that in Portugal. So, Portuguese filigree. Filigree. Etruscan earring. Fifth century BC. It is a very unusual technique. Its use was found in ancient excavations up to 2 thousand years B.C. And today, all this production of unique jewelry continues, in the same places. These are such cities as Porto, Braga, Gondomar. I think this is magic! Producing filigree requires precision and experience of the master, optical instruments and a long painstaking work. Most often silver and gold wire is used. First they create beautiful silver branches, leaves, and flowers, and then cover them with gold. In other cases, gold itself is taken as the basic material. Portuguese jewelry often uses in its design famous symbols of Portugal or patterns important to religion or history of the country. For example, in northern Portugal, jewelry with the "Viana heart" pattern is very popular. It consists of a heart and a fire above it. This pattern means great love, making the heart blaze with fire. Indeed - isn't that romantic? Girls with jewelry. You can see the "heart of Viana!" Some jewelry stores in Portugal that sell this kind of jewelry are over 80-90 years old, and the demand for their pieces hasn't gone down.