I’m very lucky to have a “day job” that is usually full of interesting and challenging projects – some unsung, others prestigious, but all remarkable additions to my portfolio.  This time Michael Schmidt asked me to fabricate a crown for Madonna for the opening scene of her MDNA world tour.

Michael Schmidt’s crown design had over 450 large Swarovski crystals, which would make any crown heavy.  Part of my job was to engineer the pattern for the lightest and most durable way to fabricate the crown.  I created two prototypes for fittings and rehearsals and two final crowns for the tour.  Each crown took about 160 hours to fabricate from start to finish and I was given, on average, two weeks per crown.

 

The structure was fabricated from 1/8” hollow brass square tubing, each piece cut, numbered and notched at a specific angle to my very precise pattern.  The pieces fit together at their fixed angles in a lincoln-log fashion.  The joints were then soldered so the entire crown was one hollow form; very strong and very light.  The strength of the crown was incredibly vital, as the crown is dramatically dropped at the beginning of each show and each rehearsal for one year.

I soldered the bezels onto the hollow tube and vented the structure behind every stone.  I also installed an inner lattice into the crown that the lace veil is sewn to (very important to protect Madonna’s up-do)

Special thanks to Jay Yu, Lisa Kim, Kristina Moore, Les Bryant and Andrea Kennington for support and assistance!

 Photo credit: Dennis Benson

Follow me on Twitter @AficionadoGuise

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Replies to This Discussion

Absolutely stunning!!

You are an amazing metalsmith! It was an honor and loads of fun to get to participate in a small part of that project!!!!

Love seeing all your planning. The grid looks great! Very nicely done, Angelina.

Most impressive!

Super interesting. Thank you for sharing.

Harriete

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