Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Helping a couple make their wedding rings

I had the honor to help a sweet young couple to make their very own wedding bands - and not just simple bands, mokume wedding bands.


Mokume gane is a Japanese technique. Different metals are stacked in layers, fused or soldered together, and then forged or rolled down to compress the layers together. The stack is split, the two halves are stacked, soldered and compressed again. This is repeated several times, and each time it multiplies the layers of metal. When the metal is later twisted, punched, forged and/or ground, it reveals the layers of metal in a pattern that often resembles wood grain or burls.

Cindy and Erwin came to the studio for the day and they had never made any jewelry before this class. They personally made each other's rings - every step! The first thing we did is to use our rolling mill to roll their mokume rod, composed of alternating layers of 22kt gold and sterling, from 1/4"x 2" pieces down to smaller square rods for the rings. The rolling mill compresses and elongates the thick billet down to a slender, smooth square rod.


Here you can see the layers of gold and silver in the rod.


Once the rod was a more manageable thickness, we twisted them in a vice to make the pattern for the ring, twisting the layers of metal.


The rod was then annealed and forged back to round, and then rolled into rectangular ring stock. In the picture below, you can see how the once straight layers of silver and gold are now twisted into beautiful angles.


Cindy and Erwin next formed their rings and soldered them closed.


Then I helped them to make the rings round with a ring mandrel and mallet. They had carefully measured their ring blanks, so after soldering and reshaping, and just a little stretching, they were exactly the right sizes.


After all the fabrication was done, I showed them how to file their rings to make them half round, for a more comfortable fit on the inside and to reveal more of the layers and pattern of the mokume.


To bring out more of the pattern, we etched the rings in a dilute solution of nitric acid, which etched the silver faster than the gold, leaving raised lines of gold around their bands. Then we increased the contrast by applying a patina of liver of sulphur, which darkened the silver, but left the gold untouched. A little polishing to relieve the highlights and leave the recesses antiqued, made for a great pair of mokume rings and a very sweet picture.


Cindy and Erwin were great students and did a fantastic job making each other's wedding rings. I'm proud of their work and it was a lot of fun to help them. Thanks to both of them for not only signing up to make their rings, but also bringing not just one, but two cameras to record the whole process, and for sharing those photos with me. Thank you!

If you're interested in booking your own private lesson or in making your own wedding rings, visit my website: SilveraJewelry.com. Follow the links to email me or call the studio to find out more about how I can help you make your own rings.

If you like these rings and want one of your own, Cindy and Erwin have some left over mokume stock that I think they'd be willing to sell. Get in contact with me and let me know. I can make it for you or help you make it into a ring, too.

29 comments:

BLanaSteele said...

COOL LOOC

mahesh thatikonda said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Diamond rings are always shows good time and good source of cosmic energy, I love to wear diamond as they are fashionable too at this time.couple rings

benilhalk said...

This is amazing information on wedding rings. However, I am trying to find affordable DC wedding venues for my friend’s wedding. He asked me to help him find a good venue without stretching his budget a lot.

David Roy said...

I have been looking at a couple of your stories and i can state really well done. I will bookmark your website charleston wedding bands

Diamond Ring said...

This is the ideal truly needs to get some answers concerning this point its difficult to contend with you. You unquestionably put a fresh out of the box new turn on a
Wedding Ring Malaysia
subject that has been composed about for a long time. Magnificent stuff, simply extraordinary!

RockRushIndia said...

Nice post. Engagement rings are made to be special as they are directly linked to the dreams of any girls. Choosing engagement rings for a girl is always special.The ring that you have shown here is really beautiful.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Naksh Kaloo said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Diamond Ring said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sean Kemery said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
An jewelry collection said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
silver shine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
silver shine said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Divaparneet said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
swissoffer said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Express Wig Braids said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Diamond Ring said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Pam Jensen said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sheran said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Diamond Ring said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Diamond Ring said...

Hey, Your post is really so interesting because nowadays diamond has become the best jewelry for men and women. Especially for men, Michael Trio has the best mens rings which are made of pure diamonds and gold in a great cut to give a royal look. To buy the rings visit Michael Trio now.

Amy Watson said...

Are you want to buy a wedding ring to give as a gift to your wife? Well, there have several choices when it comes to buying a wedding ring. But if you want to buy the best wedding ring, you should visit our site because we are providing the best wedding ring with the best design.

Indianazales said...

Thanks for sharing the best and informative article.

Gemstone Solitaire Rings Online

Nilam Ray said...

Thanks for sharing this informative information about gold couple rings with us. It's very helpful. Keep it up!

Acetech said...

I proposed to my partner with Aviant Jewelers Zirconia Engagement rings for women a year ago and she was absolutely over the moon, loved that it was different from others she had got so many compliments on it. The quality of Engagement Rings for Women is too good. The rate of this Engagement Rings for Women really surprised her at all. Just go with this Engagement Rings for Women without second thought if you really want some good stuff in good price.