I get to enjoy challenging myself making jewelry for the show case sometimes. This one was pretty fun. I started with carving two identical bands, cast them up in 14 karat yellow gold and micro bead set 1.3mm diamonds. The assembly of the different length bars came next. Each one was cut to length and soldered in place. Lastly, the bezel set 3/4 carat round brilliant cut diamond was set then laser welded in place.
I was just going to refinish and rhodium plate the three rings.
I suggested that I solder them all together.
I noticed that the thin band would be perfect to act as spacer/shim to fill the gap created by the base of heads holding the princess cut diamonds.
The marked area was cut out to create a flat surface for the diamond band to fit flush.
Here is the cut band fit into place, soldered and polished.
The beauty of this wedding set is the history of the parts but I didn’t learn of all the history and meaning and story behind these rings until after I completed the work.
I think it is awesome to keep and use sentimental jewelry. This has quite a progression. As she put it:
“…We upgraded to the larger center stone (when we could afford a bigger and nicer set than my original one). I kept the band from that set and I wore it with the the solitare for quite a few years.
When our first son passed away, hubby bought me one of the smaller stones in honor/remebrance of our little one we lost, and to remind me that I was as strong, unbreakable and beautiful as what the diamond represented. Once Peyton was born he bought me another stone in honor of him!
On our 10th anniversary we had the three diamonds all set into one ring. It symbolizes the family bond.
On our 15th anniversary he bought me the diamond band. I could never part with the thin band because that was what he placed on my finger when we said ‘I do ‘.”
Like the age rings of a growing tree, this wedding set shows the triumphs and tribulations of what life brings walking hand in hand with the ones you love.
The issue with this ring was that the halo was sharp and catching. The solution that we came up with was to add a wire frame to the halo. The stones would be more protected (a few missing) and the edge would be smooth.
I laser welded 20 gauge white gold wire from the bottom which kept clean lines from the top view. I made the bottom seamless where the ring looks like it was made this way to begin with.
Here is another cool custom snare drum wedding ring. It all started when I saw his Drum Workshop shirt and asked him if he has one of those awesome drum sets. He does. (I’m so jealous).
I showed him my drum ring and the next thing you know, his wife says that he has to have one. Lucky guy. We got to work on his drum ring.
This 14k yellow and white gold ring is made up of 28 parts. The shell and rims were milled in wax. I did them in different color waxes just to help us in the shop keep straight the color of metal each were to be cast in.
Shown here is the shell, rims and lugs assembled after casting. The lugs were fabricated from a rod of white gold, cut into little slabs. Each was concave to have as much contact with the shell as possible . It took about an hour just to space out the 8 lugs and to laser tacked them in place. Then I soldered them on at the bench with a torch.
The 14k white gold 20 gauge wire used for the tension rods were laser welded in place.
A florentine graver was randomly used to give a wood grain effect.
This custom remount pretty much kept the same classic design as the original (not pictured) but the goal was to do a more lighter, feminine version in white gold. The micro prong set diamonds helped lightening up the feel of the ring from the original bulky 3 channel design. We also opened up the shoulders of the ring to make it more airy. We did a cool square shank and cast it in super white 14k gold alloy that does not need rhodium plating.
We refinish rings to like new condition all the time. But I always love refinishing an engagement ring right before the wedding day. It is rewarding to make it look it’s best for that special day.
This classic platinum ring required some prong work and needed to be totally repolished for the big day. Instead of sanding out the light scratches and small dings, I used a tungsten burnisher to move and manipulate the malleable metal back into the dents. Much less material is removed. And the best part, the surface becomes harder when you work the surface with the burnisher, which makes it more scratch resistant.
Refined
We made a rose gold wedding band to match the white gold engagement ring. I had done a post on the band. I did not post pictures of the set together.
