What is "mokume-gane"

n. A mixed-metal laminate with distinctive layered patterns.

is a Japanese metalworking procedure which produces a mixed-metal laminate with distinctive layered patterns. Mokume gane translates closely to "wood grain metal" or "wood eye metal", describing the way the metal takes on the appearance of natural wood grain.

Mokume-gane has been used to create many artistic objects. Though the technique was first created to decorate swords, the art survives today mostly in the form of jewelry and hollowware.

Mokume-gane is a product made by fusing several layers of different coloured precious metals together to form a sandwich of alloys called a billet. The billet is then manipulated in such a way that a pattern resembling wood grain emerges over the surface.

There are many ways of working the mokume metal to create different patterns. Once the metal has been rolled in to sheet metal or bar, several techniques are used to produce a variety of effects.