Grasshopper Cufflinks

Seriously, how damn cute are these? They are simple Sterling Silver... and adorable! That's really all I have to say about them! They are just damn cute!

Calla Lily Engagement Ring Wax

It's been a few rough weeks of life getting in the way of life. BUT I'm finally back in the shop!!!

To kick off my holiday season of long shop days, I started with a custom calla lily engagement ring. This is for a client in the UK (love the fact that international clients are finding me!) If you scroll back a few entries, you can see the sketches that we began with.

Right when I started carving this wax, I knew it was the perfect first project to get me back to the bench. It is more of an 'artistic' project, which I have not had the opportunity to work on lately. I feel it is a mini sculpture first and an engagement ring second (which is a good thing)... and I must say, I have loved carving this wax.

But I thought it would be fun to share my carving process so far. I started off with a wax ring and scratched in the general pattern and started carving away...





And after a few hours, this is what I have completed so far...



So far the client is happy with what he's seeing. Of course I am thrilled with that fact, but even more so with the fact that he told me to run with it and let my creative juices flow.

Updating a Family Heirloom

I was approached by a bride-to-be to make something special for her husband-to-be. He had a family ring that they wanted to turn into a pair of cufflinks but let it slide. So, she 'borrowed' it from him (and would change the subject whenever he would mention it or start to look for it) and handed it over to me.





It was his grandfather's ring. A hand carved Tiger's Eye set in a low carat Yellow Gold 1/2 bezel/wide prong ring. Basically, the groom-to-be doesn't wear Yellow Gold and also wouldn't wear a ring of that size.

We decided on cufflinks set in Sterling in a similar manner (to be reminiscent of the original.) Also, because the Tiger's Eye was hand cut, we went with a plain cabachon stone of the same material and exterior shape.




Not knowing how difficult it would be to find a nice Tiger's Eye in the same size/shape, I bought a slightly larger stone from Thailand and had it re-cut in Boston to match. I have photos of the final cut stone somewhere, but I cannot find them at the moment... if I come across them, I will update!

The final touch was completing the pieces with an antique finish, just to add a little age to the cufflinks.






And our final piece, which was presented on their wedding day, was a hit.

Been a few insane weeks (UPDATE)

So I have gotten one response to my sketches so far. That would be the flower/swirl engagement ring. I got the feedback that one of the designs was headed in the right direction, the wrap calla lily ring.

Now we're at the point of playing around with the sketch (to elaborate a bit more), figure out the metal and the stone. I'm tossing around ideas of white or champagne diamonds, tourmaline or tsavorite. Then the metal would be either white gold or possibly a red gold flower with a white gold stem? Who knows!

We'll see what direction we head!

Been a few insane weeks...

So sorry I have been slacking again. But I have had an insane run of life getting in the way of life. All culminating with me getting sick. Nothing bad, just a head cold, but sick enough to spend my day on the couch.

But maybe it's a blessing in disguise? Because by planting my tooshie on the couch I actually got lots of sketching done for clients. Sketching that I have been attempting to work on for nearly 3 weeks now.

I am working on designs for an anniversary band using birthstones and an original engagement ring diamond, a swirly hippy-like flower engagement ring, diamond wedding band to match an engagement ring I recently fabricated and a few other things. No sketches have been approved as of yet (just the beginning phase to see if we're heading in the right direction) but why not show the randomness that comes out of a sick day on the couch.






Some days, just like anybody, my job drives me insane. But other days, like today, I remember how random and creative it can be.

If I didn't have such interesting people coming to me with such different (and sometimes outrageous) ideas, I wouldn't be able to come up with many of these designs. Because sometimes I forget, I'm not only inspired by everything around me... but by my clients and what surrounds them.

What a difference a photograph makes!

Since I have been in business, only twice has my engagements not resulted in weddings. And both times I was assured it was not because of my rings (yes, I take EVERYTHING personally.)

So, even though I do not take returns for broken engagements, I always try my hardest to help out a client. I am putting this amazing platinum and natural color change sapphire in the Concord Museum for a retrospective show of the past 125 years of the North Bennet Street School. For details, click here.

While the jewelry is not for sale, my hopes are that somebody will see my contact information on the ring and maybe, just maybe, somebody will want to buy a beautiful estate ring.

But... the whole point of this blog post was to show (once again) how amazing the camera is that Sal bought for my birthday 2 years ago. Plus... it's good to know how to take a decent jewelry photograph.

Before...


After...




Before...



After...




And just one last photo to boot...




If you would happen to like any information on this piece, it is a contemporary platinum ring size 7.5 with a diamond cut round 2.15 untreated color change sapphire (blue in natural light and purple in man made light.) Drop me a note through the website if you are interested!

Double Wave Ring

If you remember from a post about a month ago, this ring was fabricated to replace a long lost wedding band. We worked from descriptions and from his wife's ring (which has been worn for a few years.)

The wax that I showed images of in the last post died in the casting process (which is, unfortunately, somewhat common when casting in palladium.) So I made another wax, this time with deeper engraved lines, etc. The reason for engraving in the wax and not the metal is because engraving into palladium is like engraving into a rock... it is approximately 16% harder than platinum.

But all of the hard work paid off, and the ring came out beautifully.