One of my highest priority goals as a jewelry-maker is to improve my stone-setting ability. Stone-setting is one of the most important foundational skills for jewelers in order to create high-quality, interesting pieces.
I am designing projects that challenge my skills and push me to use different techniques that result in different visual styles.
My latest rings are proof to me of progress. Made in sterling silver, these rings necessitated a range of skills including wax modeling, fabricating, and setting cabochon and faceted stones. The opal pinky ring is meant to have a more organic, “imperfect” look while the large flower ring to be crisper.
I learned a lot from making these rings and feel encouraged seeing two pieces I would not have been able to make just a few months ago. Progress!
New rings
My bold flower ring featuring a blue lab-grown sapphire is by far my most technically difficult project to date (as an aside, I prefer natural stones but for economic reasons I used a lab-grown sapphire this time!). I made the flower base in wax and then fabricated the prong setting.
A few factors made this ring challenging:
Five-prong design. When you don’t have symmetrical/even number of prongs, you have to solder each prong individually as opposed to in pairs connected as one piece in a U-shape.
It is easier to solder prongs on if they are connected as a U. You later trim off the excess. Basket setting. This required many soldering points, which increased the risk of melting other elements. I soldered each prong in two places (bezel seat under the stone’s girdle; basket base; base to the flower’s center).
Thinness of the flower petals. I had to be very careful not to melt the petals as I soldered the setting. The shape of the flower also made it difficult to access the prongs when setting the stone and polishing (but serves well to protect the stone in the finished piece).
I made plenty of mistakes along the way (off-center soldering, too-long of prongs initially) which offered great opportunities to learn how to correct pieces. Overall I’m very proud of this ring and it gives me more confidence to push my stone setting projects further.
Particularly relative to the other ring, this cute opal pinky ring was much easier. In general, I believe that it is much easier to set stones with flat backs; you can just set it on a flat seat and don’t have to worry about creating a proportional setting (in terms of height) as much. The central element is flatter and easier to incorporate.
A design element I enjoy for this piece is hidden under the opal. The twisting band opens into the opal’s seat, which brings a bit more uniqueness and fun to the ring.
I love the color variation with opals and want to keep working with them. However, opals are quite delicate so the tough part of using them is that you have to be very careful when setting the stone not to crack it. As a tip, if you own opal jewelry treat it gently (i.e. don’t wash the dishes with an opal ring on, shower with it, swim, etc.).
Current projects
I started working on two orders of my Sunbeam Hoops for two very lovely ladies. I absolutely love the streaming texture of these chunky earrings; bringing out the richest radiance of the 18 karat gold requires a lot of time carefully polishing.
These hoops were originally made using mitsuro wax (a traditional Japanese beeswax and pine resin mix). I’ve learned over the months that polishing mitsuro is best done using either a metal tumbler or a metal wire brush as part of the early steps in order to really get in between the ribboning lines.
I’m extremely excited to keep working on these and eventually see them worn out in the world!
Recent inspirations
My mentors at ileava jewelry recently celebrated their brand’s 20th anniversary (well, a 2-year late 20th anniversary - so they have actually been creating for 22 years!). They gifted me a copy of their limited edition book showcasing their decades-spanning collection. Either at their Omotesando studio location or online, check them out for handcrafted pieces ranging from playful everyday to unique engagement and wedding bands. They also incorporate a lot of rough-cut diamonds and colorful gemstones in their pieces which I particularly love!