The process begins when wire is cut into short lengths and melted into round granules that are placed on the jewelry in the desired pattern. They’re held in place with a temporary glue made from plant sap. In the best examples, the balls are attached permanently with heating (which evaporates the glue), not soldering. However, granulation is a tricky and difficult process because the temperature has to be hot enough to fuse the ball to the surface, but not enough to melt the ball into an amorphous puddle. It only works with pure silver or 22k gold, which doesn’t oxidize when heated. Oxidation would interfere with the fusing process.