This is actually the first ring I ever made. I was asked to make something substantial but simple, with a stone as the focal point, but not set in a manner that would catch on things. The gold is 22kt which lends a very rich look and heavy weight to the ring. Of the stones I had at the time the choice of the almandine garnet was sort of a no brainer - it's intense red plays off the the gold beautifully - a lighter toned stone would probably not have held its own against the 22kt.
I did not document the steps as carefully as I should have so this posting really just shows the wax modeling portion of the project.
Step 1: This was another project that lacked advance plans. But seeing as it was a ring I figured getting the band right was a good start. To make the band I used a round section of Wolf Wax attached to the flex shaft. With the round section spinning I then used a metal graver to carve a symmetrical band. Essentially the setup is that of a lathe.
During this process it is important to keep in mind the comfort of the wearer. With a wide band you need to increase the desired ring size by about a half size because more of the finger is being compressed under the ring metal. Also, for comfort, the inside of the ring should be beveled with no sharp edges.
The final band was about 1mm thick at the center and slightly thinner at the edges. Since only one edge can be finished on the machine the other side has to be cut to match by hand after taking it off the flex shaft.
Step 2: Carving a stone setting. I wanted the stone setting to roughly match the contour of the pavilion of the stone - which would be a hard shape to form out of metal so I opted to carve it out of wax. Since the stone was flawless I took a short cut and heated it and then melted it down into a piece of wax. If the stone had had any imperfections heating it would have been to risky as fractures could run or inclusions could create cracks. Once the stone was melted into the wax up to its girdle I removed it and then carved the wax from the outside in until the I got the shape I wanted.
Step 3: I attached the setting to the top of the band. This is done by using a heated wax pen to touch the seem where the two pieces of wax come together. The wax melts and the crystal structure reforms as if it were one contiguous piece of wax.
Step 4: As you can see from the pictures the stone sits pretty high and would definitely catch on things. To remedy that I decided to add three granules to each side of the setting. The granules added a decorative element but also shield the setting. Granules are an ancient decorative feature frequently seen in gold and fine silver works.
Step 5: This is clearly where I stopped taking step by step pictures. The wax model was cast in 22kt and then polished. The stone was set by pressing in the four mini prongs on the setting. If I were to make this ring again i would probably change the face up portion of the setting. Overall though, it turned out quite well and the wearer tells me it is very comfortable.
Robert Diamante photographed this ring on a piece of slate that he picked up from the shore path on Mount Desert Island in Maine. The rough edges and texture of the stone were a great contrast to the smooth metal of the ring.