Unusual job on the bench today
Discussion
HIS LM said:
I know nothing about making jewellery but your work looks fantastic - when making a ring how do you secure the setting to the shank ?
If securing a platinum setting to an 18ct yellow gold shank we would use 18ct yellow gold solder as platinum solder has too high a melting point. All joints are made using solder of an appropriate carat for the ring or piece in question. The lower the carat the lower the melting point, but solders must match the ring material where possible. longshot said:
Great work.
How does your "new build" jewellery get hallmarked?
Its up to the customer really. They can choose two options: Having the item stamped by us (J&R375, J&R750, J&R950PLAT etc....J&R is our company name), trusting that we use the correct materials for the job. Or they can opt to have it assayed by one of the 3 assay offices in the UK, where materials are tested and then hallmarked. This has an additional cost so that's why we let the customer choose. 99% are happy to have us stamp it.How does your "new build" jewellery get hallmarked?
In this case we stamped the ring J&R750 and Plat
Fantastic work! I really liked the engagement ring/ wedding band/opal & emerald eternity ring and I bet your customer was pleased as punch!
I've only ever had one ring made, to a design drawn out onto the back of an envelope. It worked out better value than off the peg retail, and the result was superb - I'd have loved to have seen photos of the process.
I shall have to just live vicariously through this thread instead! Thankyou so much for posting - it really is interesting, especially for a paper-pushing desk waller like me.
I've only ever had one ring made, to a design drawn out onto the back of an envelope. It worked out better value than off the peg retail, and the result was superb - I'd have loved to have seen photos of the process.
I shall have to just live vicariously through this thread instead! Thankyou so much for posting - it really is interesting, especially for a paper-pushing desk waller like me.
Agrilla said:
Fantastic work! I really liked the engagement ring/ wedding band/opal & emerald eternity ring and I bet your customer was pleased as punch!
I've only ever had one ring made, to a design drawn out onto the back of an envelope. It worked out better value than off the peg retail, and the result was superb - I'd have loved to have seen photos of the process.
I shall have to just live vicariously through this thread instead! Thankyou so much for posting - it really is interesting, especially for a paper-pushing desk waller like me.
Many thanks for the kind words. I'm glad its appreciated and you all seem to be enjoying it. I've only ever had one ring made, to a design drawn out onto the back of an envelope. It worked out better value than off the peg retail, and the result was superb - I'd have loved to have seen photos of the process.
I shall have to just live vicariously through this thread instead! Thankyou so much for posting - it really is interesting, especially for a paper-pushing desk waller like me.
Oddly its not a job i hugely enjoy (well, i enjoy having happy smiling customers) but seem to be half decent at it. Given its one of those jobs not everyone has an aptitude for i feet the need to keep at it and as a result seem to be making a decent business of it. The updates will continue so keep your eyes peeled.
Fantastic stuff, thanks for sharing! I'm a big fan of custom jewellery, we have had a couple of pieces made and it's great knowing its unique.
The experience of designing and following the process was great fun too. We went with palladium for the last piece (my wife's eternity ring) which saved us a few quid over platinum and allowed us a bigger budget for the diamonds she wanted. She designed it to fit perfectly against her existing rings.
I'd highly recommend the experience to anyone and if you find the right jeweller where you're not paying for shiny counters and orange saleswomen you won't pay any more for it.
The experience of designing and following the process was great fun too. We went with palladium for the last piece (my wife's eternity ring) which saved us a few quid over platinum and allowed us a bigger budget for the diamonds she wanted. She designed it to fit perfectly against her existing rings.
I'd highly recommend the experience to anyone and if you find the right jeweller where you're not paying for shiny counters and orange saleswomen you won't pay any more for it.
MrBig said:
The experience of designing and following the process was great fun too. We went with palladium for the last piece (my wife's eternity ring) which saved us a few quid over platinum and allowed us a bigger budget for the diamonds she wanted. She designed it to fit perfectly against her existing rings.
Hi there. Out of interest who advised you to go with palladium? I don't want to dampen the experience but it's a metal we work hard to avoid because of its fragile nature. Cannot be rhodium plated, it's easily cracked after exposure to heat and bends very easily. Be sure your wife is easy going on it.Sorry for another long delay between posts. The ongoing chemo has whacked me fairly hard the past couple of sessions so I've been doing the easy stuff such as sizing's and refurbs to keep myself busy and letting Joe (father in-law and my teacher) do the bigger jobs. You'd be amazed what these nasty chemicals do to your hands (well, whole body really).
Anyway, after only an hours sleep on Thursday night I did manage to get a decent job out of the way on Friday. One of my favorite ladies had come in last November with her daughter to ask if we could make a pair of earrings to match a ring she had. She's had loads of stuff done with us in the past and with her daughters wedding anniversary looming at the beginning of February I had an obligation to get myself up and on the case.
Here is the ring in question: 18ct white gold set with sapphires and diamonds.
The plan was to make a pair of earrings to match a section of the ring.
So, we start with a 6mm x 6mm bar of 18ct white gold fresh from the dealer. 6mm x 6mm is a good size as it means we can roll it down as we need it and dont have to stock different gauges.
A piece is cut from the bar and rolled to produce enough for 2 x 8mm sqaures, just over 1.5mm thick. It has to be thick enough to allow stone setting. Note ive scribed the rough locations for the stones.
Next I rolled down a bit more gold to produce a 3mm wide strip about 0.75mm thick. This will be used to form the frame for the back of the earrings:
Some sapphires from the supplier:
The strips are soldered to the underside of the plates. Flat ones first:
Then the curved ones, which once cleaned show the box frame complete.
I grooved the sides of the earrings to give a little decoration. It also helps to hide any solder lines when polishing:
First the diamonds are set. Usual technique of drilling a tapered hole and then pressing the edges of the setting over the edge of the stones making them neat and secure:
All diamonds set and a comparison to the ring:
The next job is to set the sapphires. A simple square is cut from the centre of the plate and the inner edges angled to allow the stone to sit snug up against it. Because the sapphires are square its very risky to try to hand set them by pressing the edges of the setting over the stone. In my experience the corners of princess cut and square cut stones are very weak and can easily fracture if too much pressure is applied by the tools, so we opted to grain set at the corners. This is simply soldering tiny balls of gold over the corners of the stone, securing the stone in place. Sapphires can take a lot of heat so there is far less risk with this method. Another advantage in this method is that the stones can be easily unset should the earrings need maintenance or the customer fancy a colour change. The sapphires in the ring are machine set which allows for much more accurate application of pressure around the stone.
And job done. Polished up, post and butterflies fitted and then rhodium plated:
More soon,
Eddie
Anyway, after only an hours sleep on Thursday night I did manage to get a decent job out of the way on Friday. One of my favorite ladies had come in last November with her daughter to ask if we could make a pair of earrings to match a ring she had. She's had loads of stuff done with us in the past and with her daughters wedding anniversary looming at the beginning of February I had an obligation to get myself up and on the case.
Here is the ring in question: 18ct white gold set with sapphires and diamonds.
The plan was to make a pair of earrings to match a section of the ring.
So, we start with a 6mm x 6mm bar of 18ct white gold fresh from the dealer. 6mm x 6mm is a good size as it means we can roll it down as we need it and dont have to stock different gauges.
A piece is cut from the bar and rolled to produce enough for 2 x 8mm sqaures, just over 1.5mm thick. It has to be thick enough to allow stone setting. Note ive scribed the rough locations for the stones.
Next I rolled down a bit more gold to produce a 3mm wide strip about 0.75mm thick. This will be used to form the frame for the back of the earrings:
Some sapphires from the supplier:
The strips are soldered to the underside of the plates. Flat ones first:
Then the curved ones, which once cleaned show the box frame complete.
I grooved the sides of the earrings to give a little decoration. It also helps to hide any solder lines when polishing:
First the diamonds are set. Usual technique of drilling a tapered hole and then pressing the edges of the setting over the edge of the stones making them neat and secure:
All diamonds set and a comparison to the ring:
The next job is to set the sapphires. A simple square is cut from the centre of the plate and the inner edges angled to allow the stone to sit snug up against it. Because the sapphires are square its very risky to try to hand set them by pressing the edges of the setting over the stone. In my experience the corners of princess cut and square cut stones are very weak and can easily fracture if too much pressure is applied by the tools, so we opted to grain set at the corners. This is simply soldering tiny balls of gold over the corners of the stone, securing the stone in place. Sapphires can take a lot of heat so there is far less risk with this method. Another advantage in this method is that the stones can be easily unset should the earrings need maintenance or the customer fancy a colour change. The sapphires in the ring are machine set which allows for much more accurate application of pressure around the stone.
And job done. Polished up, post and butterflies fitted and then rhodium plated:
More soon,
Eddie
Edited by ecain63 on Tuesday 28th January 19:50
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