Natural ruby engagement ring from recycled gold

I have been very remiss in my posts here lately, but rather than start from where I left off I intend to jump forward in time and tell you about a recent engagement ring remodel that is now adorning one happily engaged finger.

Nuala and Caolan approached me before Christmas to see whether I could take some of their old gold and turn it into their wedding rings and also source them a ruby for Nuala's engagement ring. Happily they were in no rush so I suggested I would source the stone in Germany while at the Inhorgenta trade fair in February - the selection of stones there is second to none and as it was important to them that the stone be ethically sourced this allowed for a more vigorous questioning of suppliers!

Initially I was tasked with finding a deep red ruby similar in size and shape to that of my own emerald cut diamond engagement ring, however finding said stone proved more difficult than imagined and so we widened the search to include larger oval rubies too! There was a bit of toing and froing before we settled on a real beauty from Tanzania weighing in at a hefty 1.82cts.

A spot of wax carving

The change in shape and size of stone meant a slight rejig of the overall ring design making it curvy rather than angular and indeed quite a bit heavier than originally anticipated. When I got back to the workshop I set about melting enough metal to make the ring and started to forge out the shape using the rolling mills.

However, as is sometimes the case with remelted metal, the resulting nugget was incredibly hard and unbending so having enlisted Dave's help in a vain attempt to bend it I had no choice but to reconsider how it would be made and start carving a wax model from which to cast the ring instead.

The trick to creating a symmetrical design in wax is to lay out guidelines before removing any wax and thereafter to reestablish the guidelines as you go. Wax is much faster to work than metal so it is very easy to go too far and remove too much material, but I'd recommend giving it a whirl if you're at all crafty.

Ruby solitaire engagement ring

The blue wax master was then sprued before undergoing a lost wax casting process during which the old gold was melted and poured into the ring shaped cavity left by burning out the wax. It's always necessary to use more metal than required and you can see a big nugget of additional metal on the side of the ring which has since become a matching wedding band.

There followed a spot of assaying, sprue removal, emerying and polishing before the ruby was ultimately set across the finger to create a lovely contemporary ruby engagement ring.

If you have a project you'd like to explore please feel free to drop me a line here or pick up the phone and give me a bell on 0877956321.

Bespoke and remodelled gold and diamond jewellery

It has been such a hectic month with collections reaching fever pitch in the last few days! I'm off  to Croatia for a little holiday this morning, but fear not, my good buddy Carol will be manning the store while I'm gone and I've created a little collage of the gorgeous jobs I've been working on just to whet your appetite for when I return!

Engagement rings, pendant, torc, bangle and cufflinks made from new and recycled materials

Handmade wedding and engagement rings from recycled metal

The original rings

Congrats to Suzanne and Andrew who are 25 years married today!

Now technically they already had wedding bands (pictured here), but 25 years later they felt like a change. Andrew never really wore his original wedding ring and was looking to have something a little more substantial and unusual made, meantime Suzanne had her heart set on a contemporary diamond solitaire.

Recycled yellow gold wedding and engagement rings

Asymmetrical wedding ring, diamond solitaire and matching wedding band

They had quite a lot of metal so initially I melted it all down and through a happy accident the pour split into two ingots. The larger became Andrew's band while Suzanne's engagement ring was made from the smaller.

The design of his ring is simple and contemporary with flat sides rising asymmetrically rather than to the midpoint. To achieve this the large ingot was first made into a heavy flat gold band before some careful marking out and some even more careful filing transformed it into the ring you see here.

I sourced a lovely baguette diamond for Suzanne which was bar set across the top of this modern engagement ring and all the gold dust filings from Andrew's ring were remelted into a further ingot to create her wedding band.

Just a spot of hand engraving and these three recycled gold rings were ready for collection!

If you have a remodelling job you'd like to discuss please feel free to drop a line to evadorney@gmail.com or to give me a bell on 0877956321

Sapphire cluster engagement ring

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In February 2012 when Eoghan called me to say that he was going to propose to my best friend my emotions were all over the place. Delight at the good news, fear at the responsibility of making the ring and more than a little nerves about keeping this secret -  I'm not usually yacking away on the phone to my customer's intended! Our exploratory wander through the jewellers in town revealed one thing - that neither of us had a clue of the kind of ring Neidra would want. We looked at modern, at antique, at classic and at contemporary but soon realised we'd have to call on Neidra herself if we were ever to get it right.

Eoghan proposed later that year and having tried on a multitude of styles they came back to me to make this vintage inspired, but really rather modern sapphire engagement ring.

Making a platinum, diamond and blue sapphire engagement ring

Quite simply it never rains, but it pours and at the time I was making Neidra's ring I was also making Louise's so these two girls are forever linked in my mind. As an aside they have both had their first babies in the last couple of months so more congratulations are in order.

Down to the making - The first task was to order enough material for both rings and then lay out the setting on the large flat piece of platinum. I used the round wire to turn up the bezels for both rings and pierced our a gap within which the belly of the stones would fit. Next I made the swaged shanks on which the settings would sit. The rough ring was cleaned back to a nice tapering, but flat surface and then a groove cut to accommodate the belly of each stone. At this point every thing was given a good polish and then soldered together. Then came the small matter of setting the sapphire and the diamond before sending both rings to be pavé set with tiny diamonds.

If you'd like to discuss a custom project please feel free to drop me a line, meantime you can see more handmade engagement rings here.

Palladium emerald cut diamond solitaire

This has to have been one of my favourite projects, not least because Aileen chose to model her engagement ring on my own! She'd spotted my ring a few years back on the old website and when Derek proposed I got a little email to see whether we could meet. She tried mine and was smitten from the first, but to be 100% sure I sent them off for a little potter round town to try some other styles. It's a risky business, but you only get to choose your engagement ring once and in my opinion it's important to get it right. Happily they came back more certain than ever that this was the ring and so I sourced this lovely spready emerald cut diamond for them.

Handmaking a palladium solitaire engagement ring

This ring is remarkably simple being made from just the one bar of metal, but as is often the way, simple designs are terribly unforgiving of inaccuracy. The palladium bar was initially rolled slimmer at the ends leaving a good centimeter untouched in the middle where the diamond was to fit. With the ring turned up, the crude join was cut through and soldered before hammering the ring round. It was then run through the mill again spreading the metal and creating the required depth for the setting. Next the sides were filed flat and the tapering profile established. Metal was removed to create a seat for the diamond and the mount polished before finally setting the stone.

And there you have it, a palladium emerald cut diamond solitaire engagement ring with room for a wedding ring to sit flush against it.

Three and a half years later I still get a thrill when I look down at my finger and see my little emerald cut twinkling back up at me - I hope Aileen does too!

Handmade 18ct yellow gold sapphire engagement ring

I first met Dervla and Denis back in February of this year when they approached me about making their engagement ring. They were looking for a simple yet confident ring, suited to architect Dervla's aesthetic. Having done a little homework she had her heart set on a nice big deep blue sapphire and as luck would have it I was headed to one of the biggest jewellery trade fairs of the year in a matter of days. No better place to find just the stone!

With a budget in mind I spent quite a while seeking out a sapphire with the perfect balance of colour, sparkle and scale. There were phone calls to and fro describing the three front runners and numerous return visits to all three. I had mistakenly thought I could take snaps on my smart phone to help inform the decision, but flourescent lighting is no friend to photography and the results were mixed at best! Nonetheless we came to a decision between us and I returned to Ireland with nerves in my belly hoping that Dervla would love her new sapphire - happily she did and on her next trip back from London there was a silver sample ring to try. With that viewed and agreed it was time to order the metal and start work on the engagement ring proper.

Making a sapphire engagement ring

As you can see it started out with just three elements, the sapphire, a length of 18ct yellow gold bar for the shank and piece of sheet from which to make the setting. First of all I made up a tapering round setting from the sheet and formed it in to an oval to match the curve of the sapphire. Next I made the 2.5mm wide shank and removed a section where the solder seam was to accommodate the oval setting - no point having more seams than necessary. The two elements were then soldered together and dropped to the assay office in Dublin city to be tested and stamped. With that accomplished it was time to clean up the ring, remove any scratches and prepolish the inside of the setting. I then created a seat for the sapphire by removing metal from the inside of the bezel and pushed the yellow gold down onto the stone to hold it. A last polish and a little directional emery applied to the shank and that was that!

Hand made sapphire engagement ring

Dervla and Denis were back in town last weekend and came to collect. Impressively Denis had refused to see a picture of the ring before the big day preferring to "wait until I see it on Dearbhla's finger". I'm pleased to report that they left a very happy couple and that there may or may not have been tears!

Handmade peridot engagement ring

First things first...Yvette and Jay live in London and ordered their engagement ring via correspondence! You have no idea how impressed I am with them for taking such a leap of faith. They had come across my work over on One Fab Day and picked up the phone to place their order.

In the absense of a face to face meeting Yvette and I chatted about the shape of her hand, about skin tone and about the kind of work she does. That last one may seem strange, but lifestyle can really impact your choice of metal and stone. As she didn't intend to wear her engagement ring every day the whole range of gemstones was available to her including this relatively soft peridot which just so happens to be Jay's birth stone.

Handmaking a peridot engagement ring

The top left image details the raw materials - two pieces of gold, one long for the shank and one wide for the setting and the lovely green peridot. First the wider piece was turned up into a conical bezel setting and then the longer length of gold into a ring. The two pieces were then fitted together via a series of cutting, filing and offering up the setting to the gap in the ring. When they fit perfectly they were soldered together with a little excess setting protruding. This excess was filed away before emerying and cleaning up the ring to take the peridot.

Handmade peridot engagement ring

And here we have the finished ring which the guys flew in to collect one Monday morning. They are planning their wedding here in Dublin later this year and I wish them both the very best!

Handmade platinum diamond solitaire engagement ring

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love making rings - especially engagement and wedding rings - something about the personal connection and the promise of forever gets me every time -  which is why I'm always chuffed to be involved with couples at such a happy time in their lives.

Handmaking a platinum solitaire diamond engagement ring

Joanne had been a follower of my "how it's made" posts over on facebook so when she and Dave decided to get engaged she had a fair idea of where to come. At the time I rarely made up collages of pieces that were made from scratch as opposed to recycled, but Dave put in a word and I kept this little photo diary of Joanne's engagement ring.

It started with a piece of square platinum bar which was forged using the rolling mill into a graduated shank. As you can see it's a bit bockety, but that roughness was easily removed. Next I made a round bezel setting and cut a groove in the shank to accommodate the belly of the diamond, before giving everything a good pre-polish. The bezel was positioned on top of the shank and soldered in place before the diamond was set (the two little silver bars pictured were purely to support the setting while pushing the metal over the stone).

Bezel set platinum solitaire engagement ring

One last buff on the polishing motor was followed by a covert call to Dave...

Before you know it this little engagement ring was winging its way to Germany in Dave's breast pocket, where he proposed to an unsuspecting Joanne at the Christmas markets...

...she said YES!

Remodelling an 18ct yellow and white gold illusion set diamond engagement ring - Part One

This is the first of two entries involving an 18ct yellow and white gold illusion set diamond engagement ring. The diamond was given to Geraldine by her mum and she called me to see what might be done. We took a look at all of her current jewellery including her own wedding and engagement rings and devised a plan....

Platinum halo engagement and wedding ring set - Diamond pendant

I made up a new platinum mount to take the round brilliant cut diamond - a pave set halo design with clearance underneath for a wedding band to sit flush. Next I cut the diamond out of her engagement ring with the setting intact and with a little additional platinum used the shank to make a new plain band to sit next to the cluster. I added a bale to the engagement diamond setting and transformed it into an everyday diamond pendant and in the meantime the existing diamond set wedding ring made it's way to the left hand as an eternity ring.

This project worked out a treat with everything in use and all the metal used up except for the old gold mount... more of which to follow.