The essay documents and comments on the production of an "Iférouane cross" (silver pendant) using the lost wax process ("cire perdu"). The focus is on the Touareg silversmith Hamid Kumama working in his simple workshop in Agadez in 1973. The original workshop equipment, the simple tools, the traditional typical Touareg jewellery can hardly be found in the Sahel region today – machines and modern trends and designs have partly made the old techniques disappear.