Meet the Maker:Master jewel setter Wilhelm Kling

If Wilhelm Kling wants to check whether the gemstone he has just set has found its place in the piece of jewelry, he holds it up to the light and squints. If the trapezoidal table of the diamond reflects the light evenly, he has done a good job. He nods. "Just craftsmanship," he says when one shows astonishment at how precisely he has worked.

For Kling is a true craftsman through and through. Just like his father was. Also a Kling, also a master gem setter. The rocky work runs in the family. One should bring a few prerequisites if one wants to enter the craft, he says. A steady hand and some skill are certainly advantageous. But as Kling portrays it, the dazzling craft with the sparkling stones is one that leaves no room for vanity. What does not come into play in his description is how intricate and labor-intensive working with diamonds is, a true art in itself. Just having the patience to find a suitable place for the stone in the piece of jewelry – let it be said: This work demands much more than just a bit of skill and a steady hand.

Kling works in the home office. He has his workshop in the basement of his family home. His two dogs drag themselves wearily across the room and, stretched out on all fours, drop to the floor. There are four workstations down here. Each equipped with a microscope and various drills, hammers and pliers, Kling lovingly presents his instruments, each rare pieces, state of the art, with which he works true miracles. Also at each station: a leather cloth to collect the rubbish. Because everything that is left over here can and will be recycled..

And gently, as if a patient were before him, Kling gets to work. He looks through the lens of the microscope. His concentration fills the room. For a moment, it even seems as if the rock music from the radio is slowing down, becoming calmer. For very gently, "Brilli Willi," as he calls himself on the internet, lets a ReMind Mini Solitaire Ring run through his fingers.

No stone is sitting on the VerlobungsringBut that is about to change. Kling laughs when he explains his tools, like professionals laugh when they have to simplify their art for laypeople. "You can imagine it like a tiny circular saw," he says, as he mills a small groove into the claw. A groove is a notch into which the stone that Kling is holding must fit perfectly. A claw refers to the prongs that hold the diamond like little fingers. It is only logical that this setting is called a claw setting. So Kling mills a groove into each claw. And watching him do it is truly something special: For him, working with the tiny, fragile claws almost looks playful.

“So, now we want to insert the stone.” He adjusts the struts again and checks the alignment. Then he places the synth. eco diamonds slant into the claws. "We just have to click the stone in now," he says.

In addition, a device is used that he refers to with a laugh as a jewelry pneumatic hammer. "Click, click, click," the machine goes. Kling looks up. "You heard it: The stone told me it's not sitting right." He takes another scrutinizing look through the microscope. "I need to work on it again." And once again, the drill sings. The groove in the claw needs to be sharpened more. But that's how it is with masters: The material takes on a life of its own. You no longer just work on it; it speaks, it sings, it lives. The second time, the stone clicks in without any problems. Now follows the polishing of the setting, where small unevenness or dirt and dust are removed from the setting.

When asked if he could imagine another life, one without the sparkling stones, Kling pauses for a moment. Yes, he says, he would have liked to become a pilot, to learn how to fly. But he doesn't sound remorseful about it. After all: When you watch him at work with his diamonds, you can get the feeling that your feet no longer touch the ground. Because there is only what lies before him and under the magnifying glass. Together, you take off and embark on a journey defined by beauty, but guided by the pure concentration of the pilot, Wilhelm Kling.

Kling gets up from his workstation and lifts the ReMind Mini Solitaire Ring into the light. The light catches itself on the plateau of the synth. eco diamond, the gold shines richly and fully and it is no longer difficult to understand why Kling does not regret becoming a gem setter: because this result of his work is the epitome of beauty .