To an outsider, metal clay is like magic. Start with a lump of clay and end with piece of fine metal jewelry. The material emerged in the 1990s as an alternative to traditional metal working, but has since grown into its own craft jewelry discipline.

Monica Moses got the scoop on metal clay’s origins from jeweler Tim McCreight in our upcoming October/November 2015 issue. In this companion video, watch jeweler Laura Juul walk through the process of metal clay’s amazing transformation.