Guilloché is a decorative technique in which fine, intricate repeating patterns of lines are engraved into a surface using a machine known as a rose engine or straight-line engine. The term is also used in architecture and ornament for a pattern of interlacing bands or ribbons that form a continuous chain of circles, a motif derived from classical design.
Machine guilloché, also called engine turning, became widespread in the eighteenth century on gold and silver boxes, watch cases and dials, and was later applied to a great range of objects, including cigarette cases, compacts, frames, pens and clock dials. Its most celebrated use is beneath translucent enamel, where the engraved pattern catches the light through the colour, a technique perfected by Fabergé and widely used in Edwardian and Art Deco silver and jewellery. In furniture and architecture, the interlaced guilloche motif appears as carved friezes, mouldings and inlaid bands, particularly on Elizabethan oak and Neo-Classical work. Collectors examine guilloché for crisp, even cutting and, on enamelled pieces, for chips and losses, which are expensive to repair. Hand-operated rose engine work is generally regarded more highly than later mechanical imitations.
