Hand creating a custom ring, start to finish.

[arjunajane]

This thread is a supplement to the one showing my new OEC custom ring, made by RDG - link.

As my jeweller, Mike Robinson, was kind enough to take an album of photos of the hand creation process from start to finish whilst working on my ring, I thought it may be fun/interesting to share them on here.
On PS we very often get to see pieces develop through the CAD/cast process, but it is more rare to see 'behind the scenes' and the techniques of a goldsmith's bench...

So, please find pics to follow - I hope other folks find it intriguing or educational, as I did
(pics & narration posted with vendor's permission).

First, the design process:

 

[arjunajane]

the earliest stages:

 

[arjunajane]

...

 

[arjunajane]

still early days - creating plat under-bezel for head of ring:

 

[arjunajane]

finishing off the head..

 

[arjunajane]

making the shank/band:

 

[arjunajane]

okay, Fi just home from work so I will come back to post the rest later

 

[susimoo]

AJ

I love this! Thank you!

It is a passion of mine to see how jewellery is made. I adore seeing an amazingly skilled person at work.

This is wonderful morning entertainment. More please!!!

 

[Lislis89]

Love seeing the raw materials being turned into something even more beautiful! Congratulations, stunning design!

 

[yssie]

This is amazing, watching the ring come to life!

Thank you for posting this - I'm really looking forward to the rest of it!

 

[Rae~]

Great thread, thanks for posting it, aj!

 

[yennyfire]

That is really cool to see, thanks for sharing! Can't wait for the rest of the "story"!

 

[Aoife]

Thanks for taking the time to post this, it's fascinating.

Do you know what is done with the waste gold and platinum?

 

[arjunajane]

Ok, I'm back

I'm really glad to read you guys are enjoying the pics - more to come!

Susimoo - me too, it was such a treat to have this process recorded to keep as a memento with my ring.

Aoife - my pleasure. I would guess the waste metals are smelted back or perhaps sold back to a refinery - but I will ask Mike for sure. There does seem to be quite a bit of waste!

__________________

middle stages, on to some of the more detailed work:

 

[Cachette]

Really, really cool! Thanks for sharing!

Cachette

 

[arjunajane]

This is one of my fave details, the pierced platinum design that sits underneath the cushion bezel:

 

[arjunajane]

finishing stages:

 

[gemgirl]

That was fascinating to see in steps. Wow is all I can say. Custom goldsmiths are really talented people (who must have very steady hands and a lot of patience with the process). Thanks AJ!

 

[Upgradable]

Truly amazing!!!! And what a talent these craftsmen have. I'm so glad you found him and he was able to create your dream from chunks of metal. Thank you for sharing the process with us! I find it fascinating.

 

[Cinna]

I've just been patiently (somewhat) sitting here trying not to refresh the page every two seconds as you post more pictures in real time! I am loving the process and am always so intrigued by going into more depth on how things are made! There's more pics to come right??? The ring isn't done yet!

I can't wait! Such a beauty!

 

[arjunajane]

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the diamonds actually being set...but this is because it is done by
tiny New Zealand elves who can't have their photos taken

 

[missydebby]

thank you so much for posting this.... beyond awesome!

 

[Kismet]

That was awesome. I loved seeing the process from lump of metal to gorgeous ring. Thanks for sharing!

 

[luv2sparkle]

Arjunajane, I am hooked! I can't wait to see the finished piece! I love it!!!!

 

[arjunajane]

And, finito!

A very long week and half later I received my ring in its glamorous packaging, and love every bit of it.

Total creation time: around 45 hours, not including design time.

Final stats:
10.76grams of 18k rose gold & platinum
0.29cts, F-G VS1 step cut trapz
0.35cts, D-E VS1 grain-set melee, 46 total

(1.53ct, L SI1 OEC centre)

a couple glamour shots of the end product, see original thread for many more!

Thank you everyone who has commented so far, its great to know others are intrigued and impressed by the process too.
I'll look forward to catching up on the thread tomorrow, but goodnight for now from me

Cheers!

 

[E B]

This was SO COOL to see! Thank you for sharing!

 

[yssie]

Well, what a journey! And what a truly lovely keepsake




It's actually a bit surreal - my dad has bits of metal that look *just like* the stuff in first two or three slides you posted lying all over his workbench.. noone's going to be making masterpiece rings out of those though, sadly!

 

[Miss Sparkly]

That is so cool to see the photos! And the ring is stunning

 

[flurrsprite]

oh wow! that was amazing, i loved seeing all those pictures!!

 

[slg47]

thanks so much for sharing-that was really cool to see the whole process!