Craftsmanship at Capolavoro: Insights into the manufactory on Lake Ammersee

Capolavoro presents the processes and types of craftsmanship used to create beautiful, high-quality jewelry at their workshop on Lake Ammersee. The tour through the various departments reveals how many factors and important tasks come together to ultimately produce a product that brings joy.

INHORGENTA Main Theme: Craftsmanship

INHORGENTA has declared "Craftsmanship" its theme for the coming year. Everything revolves around the craftsmanship that lends quality to jewelry and watches, yet often remains hidden like a magical, secret ingredient. Therefore, it is fitting to highlight the exceptional precision and care with which these treasures are created. They embody tradition, history, talent, passion, attention, and patience, giving our cherished everyday companions their beauty and uniqueness.

The Fritsch family, who produce the jewelry for their fine jewelry brand Capolavoro in their workshop on Lake Ammersee, offer special insights into the design and craftsmanship process. Those who would like to see for themselves can even visit the workshop in Inning am Ammersee by prior arrangement. 

The Cabinet – the nerve center of the factory

At Capolavoro, the workshop is where organization, planning, and control come together. Here, experts handle material procurement—for example, diamonds, colored gemstones, and precious metals—the coordination of work processes, and the timely completion of jewelry pieces. This is especially important for special occasions or during peak seasons like Christmas.

Quality control is a key component at Capolavoro: everything is checked, from the arrival of the materials to the cut, color, and clarity of the stones used, right through to the final inspection of the finished jewelry pieces. This requires a trained eye, experience, and precision from the employees.

Colored gemstones are always inspected at the factory with a focus on cut, color nuances, and individual customer requests. Capolavoro works exclusively with certified and fairly traded stones and with long-standing suppliers.

The department combines expertise in goldsmithing, jewelry design, business administration, and logistics. Experience and meticulous attention to detail make all the difference here – from planning to the final inspection.

Hands-on design – model making at Capolavoro

The model maker is the interface between the idea and the finished piece of jewelry. They develop the master design, create sketches and CAD models, produce 3D prints and prototypes, and accompany each new piece from inspiration to series production.

Besides creativity, this task demands a great deal of technical know-how, spatial awareness, organizational talent, and above all, a passion for problem-solving. Many designs originate from customer requests or team ideas and are implemented in close consultation with management.

The work encompasses not only design, but also cost calculation and ensuring technical feasibility. This ranges from quick custom orders that can be implemented in seven to ten days, to complex projects like "Billion Dreams," which can take up to four years to complete.

Whether it's "Memory Lock" or "Billion Dreams"—digital techniques like CAD and rendering are now indispensable in the world of jewelry design. Ultimately, a design is only ready for production when it works technically, is economically viable, and convinces everyone involved.

All handmade – the goldsmiths at Capolavoro

In Capolavoro's goldsmithing department, which is predominantly staffed by women, every piece of jewelry is crafted with passion and meticulous precision. The goldsmithing process encompasses a wide range of areas and careful work steps, from working with different gold alloys and testing and processing freshly cast pieces to assembly, engraving, and preparation for setting.

Besides classic tools like files, hammers, and saws, production at Capolavoro also requires specialized expertise: for example, working on the waterproof "Dream Globes" or the delicate turning technique of the "Memory Lock" models. Routine and experience are crucial, but particularly special pieces of jewelry sometimes challenge the goldsmiths for many hours.

Incredibly precise – the fibers at Capolavoro

Gemstone setting is a highly specialized craft requiring the utmost precision. Setters carefully place diamonds and colored gemstones into prepared pieces of jewelry under a microscope – a responsible task, as the stones must neither be damaged nor loose.

The work of the stone setters begins as early as the model-making stage, when the position and type of setting are determined. Whether prong, bezel, or pavé setting – each piece requires individual preparation and meticulous craftsmanship. A typical feature of Capolavoro is the use of split prongs, where a single prong holds two stones.

Patience is the most important quality: depending on the size and type of stones, setting them can take several hours. But in the end, the unmistakable brilliance that distinguishes Capolavoro jewelry is created.

Enough is not enough – the polishing

Polishing is a time-honored craft, performed with the utmost care by experienced specialists at Capolavoro. Although a piece of jewelry often already appears "finished," it is the elaborate polishing process that creates the incomparable shine that makes gold and precious stones appear even more radiant.

Using polishing pastes, motors, and fine tools, the polishers work even in hard-to-reach areas – sometimes the work on a small ring takes just as long as on a large piece. After polishing, each piece of jewelry is cleaned ultrasonically and then approved by quality control.

Particularly challenging are thin areas or the repolishing of worn jewelry: Here, a delicate touch is needed to restore shine without compromising stability.