Size of face: 15.8mm

 

Weight (Silver): Approx 16g (varies with size)

 

Material: .925 Sterling Silver

 

Enamel: EFCOLOR Transparent Red

 

Come in smart Red Leatherette Box with a Certificate from the Malta Crafts Council and a leaflet (shown) explaining the history of the cross.

All our items are individually hand crafted and will therefore be unique. As such they may vary slightly from the picture shown.

Not all lengths/sizes of the same item are stocked and that it may not be possible to post the next day. So, if necessary, please allow an extra 7 days for these items to be hand crafted for you.

All weights are extrapolated.

Also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, this was a monastic order created in 1120 for the protection of Christian pilgrims who were routinely slaughtered, sometimes by the hundreds, as they attempted to make the journey from the coastline at Jaffa through to the interior of the Holy Land.

 

The Templars’ headquarters was in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount in the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque above what was believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon. From this location the new order took the name of Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, or "Templar" knights.

 

The red cross that the Templars wore on their robes was a symbol of martyrdom, and to die in combat was considered a great honour that assured a place in heaven.

 

It is thought that the cross was most probably added to their robes at the launch of the Second Crusade in 1147, when Pope Eugenius III, attended a meeting of the French Templars at their headquarters near Paris.

 

Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were amongst the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades.The Templars became a favored charity throughout Christendom, and grew rapidly in membership and power.

 

They were also prominent in Christian finance. Non-combatant members of the order, as much as 90%, managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom. They developed innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking, building a network of nearly 1,000 commanderies and fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land, and forming the world's first multinational corporation.

• Negative of  Cross pattern is laser printed on blue PnP paper.
• The negative is then heat transferred onto a polished silver sheet.
• Silver sheet is suspended upside down in Ferric Nitrate Solution.
• Exposed areas of the pattern are etched away over a period of hours.
• When the desired depth is reached the patterns are punched out.
• Item is constructed, sanded down, cleaned and polished.
• Colour is added by applying EFCOLOR enamel to the etched areas.
• Enameling is repeated 2 or 3 times to get desired depth.
• Item is cleaned of excess enamel and given a final thorough polish.