A Weekend's Work

New ideas for rings keep coming to mind, so I started today by making several ring blanks with different profiles, widths, and depths.  I thought it would be nice to create stackables--rings you can wear alone or pile one on top of the other. 

For the first ring I used sterling half round wire and drilled seats for gold balls to sit in.  After soldering, I lightly hammered the balls to soften the edges and make it more comfortable to wear.  It has a high polish that accentuates the gold against the silver. 

 

As you can see the gold balls go around the entire band in a varied pattern. 

The next ring shank I worked with was 1cm wide, low dome profile in silver.  I selected an 8mm square tourmaline in yellow.  It's a lovely color and looks beautiful with the silver and gold metals.  It is bezeled in 18k and I've added 2 strips of hammered 18k gold.  The gold is highly polished, but the silver shank is brushed and creates a lovely softness to the overall design.

After taking some time to weed in the garden, take a walk and enjoy the beautiful weather, I came back to the studio to continue working on a few more pieces.  I always find if things are going well in there, keep working!  So, that's what I did. 

The next ring I worked on was a smaller low dome shank that I wanted to experiment with a metal inlay technique.  I carved out six hollows and filled them with 14k gold solder.  I filed and sanded down the overflow and polished the surface.  I added several file carved lines to enhance the overall design.  I wish the gold showed up more against the silver, but I think (hope) that as it wears, it will.

  

I finished the evening with this carnelian cabochon band.  The five stones are 3mm rounds and spaced evenly around the shank.  It has a brushed finish which allows the translucent red to really glow. It's super comfortable and is awaiting a companion with different stones to sit above or below.  I guess that will be my next project.