How a Florentine Workshop Keeps the Art of Gold Leaf Alive
Beneath the shadow of the Duomo, the Manetti family has been beating gold into leaf since 1820.
Daniel Hurst · 2026-05-26
Craft
Artisanal traditions, maker culture, and the handmade.
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Showing 101–120 of 167 articles
The Glassblower Working Twelve-Hour Days for a Single Decanter
At the Moser glassworks in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, a master glassblower begins his shift at five in the morning when the furnace has reached twelve hundred degrees Celsius.
Thomas Nakamura · 2026-05-26
The Case for Handmade Ceramics Over Mass Production
A handmade ceramic bowl by a skilled potter costs perhaps forty pounds.
Marcus Wei · 2026-05-25
How a Boot Gets Resoled and Why It Should
At the Red Wing Heritage repair shop in Red Wing, Minnesota, a pair of Iron Rangers arrives with soles worn through.
William Ashford · 2026-05-25
The Art of Cigar Rolling by Hand
In the Partagas factory on Calle Industria in Havana, a torcedor assembles a Lusitania double corona from five different tobacco leaves.
James Alderton · 2026-05-25
Inside a German Optical Lens Workshop
At the Leica factory in Wetzlar, optical glass blanks from Schott AG are transformed into precision lenses through grinding, polishing, centring, and coating operations taking up to three months per element.
James Alderton · 2026-05-25
How Traditional Basket Weaving Informs Modern Design
The Nantucket lightship basket, woven on a wooden mould from rattan, has been produced since the 1850s when lightship crews passed long watches by weaving.
Marcus Wei · 2026-05-25
The Craft of Making Paper by Hand
At the Amalfi Paper Mill on Italy's coast, a vatman dips a mould and deckle into cotton rag pulp.
James Alderton · 2026-05-25
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Why Hand-Stitched Leather Outlasts Machine-Sewn
The saddle stitch uses two needles passing through the same hole from opposite directions.
Daniel Hurst · 2026-05-25
Inside a Sheffield Steel Forge
At Taylor's Eye Witness in Sheffield, a drop forge stamps a blade blank from high-carbon steel with several hundred tons of force.
William Ashford · 2026-05-25
How Maple Syrup Is Actually Made
In early March, when Vermont daytime temperatures rise above freezing while nights remain below, sugar maples begin pumping sap from roots to branches.
Catherine Avery · 2026-05-25
The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian Houses
In 1936, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a modest house for Herbert Jacobs in Madison, Wisconsin, costing five thousand five hundred dollars.
Thomas Nakamura · 2026-05-25
The Revival of Terrazzo and Its Ancient Origins
Terrazzo, the composite flooring of marble or stone chips set in a binder and ground to a polished surface, has experienced remarkable revival after decades of institutional association.
Sebastian Cole · 2026-05-25
The Last Hatmakers of the Western World
At Lock and Co.
Sebastian Cole · 2026-05-24
Why Some Fabrics Last Decades While Others Fall Apart in Months
A Harris Tweed jacket purchased in 1970 remains wearable today.
James Alderton · 2026-05-24
How to Tell Real Craftsmanship from Marketing Copy
The word handcrafted appears on products from seven-thousand-pound watches to seven-pound candles.
Daniel Hurst · 2026-05-24
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The Science of Aging: Leather, Denim, and Wood
A new pair of raw selvedge denim is stiff, dark, and unforgiving.
Thomas Nakamura · 2026-05-24
Inside a Steinway Piano Factory
At the Steinway factory in Astoria, Queens, a piano rim is bent from eighteen layers of maple by six workers in twenty minutes before the adhesive sets.
Marcus Wei · 2026-05-24
How a Proper Leather Sole Is Made
At the Rendenbach tannery in Trier, Germany, cowhides are tanned in oak bark extract pits for fourteen months.
Sebastian Cole · 2026-05-24
The Art of Hand-Painting Watch Dials
At Anita Porchet's atelier in Lausanne, the world's most celebrated enamel painter applies mineral pigments to a coin-sized watch dial under a microscope.
Thomas Nakamura · 2026-05-24