G. Venkatesh carefully picks up the 0.7 cm tall and 1.1 cm wide miniature cycle made of 180 mg gold. He lifts it up gingerly with a metal holder, from the jewel box. “I can even make it ride,” he declares. He rotates the tiny wheels and moves the handle bars too!
Venkatesh, who is a goldsmith, decided to try his hand at making miniature gold show pieces, in 2009.
“My friend informed me about a man who broke a record by designing a miniature piece in 2 gm gold. I was determined to make mine lighter.”
So he set to work on a silver cycle first, which weighed 180 mg. It was not easy. Venkatesh realised that this required more precision and focus than his usual creations. One wrong move could spoil the entire piece. “You need to do it slowly to get all the details right”, he explains.
Soon, guitar, lotus, gun and chariot followed. Now he has eight such miniature items in his collection. His gun has a trigger that actually moves!
Harmony and pride
In 2011, when the Indian cricket team bagged world cup, Venkatesh paid a tribute to them by designing a miniature world cup trophy, weighing 150 mg. His latest work is that of the three religious symbols combined together —a cross, an Om and a crescent moon and star. Made of 40 mg of gold, this is the lightest piece in his collection.
He takes nearly 10 hours to make each of these miniatures, says Venkatesh. “But that is only when you do it fast and without a break. But, I never do that. It is risky. I take short intervals and do the work at a slow pace. So it takes at least a day to finish one piece.”
The 28-year-old from Vellalore wants to break the existing Limca Book of Records and enter the Guinness World Records. But he does not know how to go about it and wishes there was a group or support system he could approach for help.
Meanwhile, Venkatesh is planning to work on his next miniature — a tiny replica of Gandhi kannadis .
