Making a ring with scrap and treasure
5th July 2024 - Customer location: Cairns
An heirloom gem and two old unused rings.
A customer came to me wanting to use a large amount of old jewellery to set three gems. As most of the scrap jewellery was 9ct gold but some a higher carat value I suggested we make the best stone in the highest purity gold as possible.
The ring to the left is 18 carat gold and the one on the right 14ct. I alloyed the 18ct down to 14ct and once combined with the other ring we now had enough gold to work with.
Article: Recycling jewellery: Cost benefit analysis
What design to make the new ring?
The initially chosen design.
My customer had seen several designs that she liked and wanted to explore how they would work with her materials. In the end she chose this ring design to the right to get an idea of cost and how it would look.
With that design we did not have a diamond that size at the end of the band but rather 8 smaller ones to work with. My next step was to lay out the design showing how we would use 3 of her smaller gems to add the diamond feature to the gold arm.
Added to that difference would be that her gem at 9.2mm in diameter was larger than the one shown in the photo. This would mean that the gold would have to curve more around a larger gem or pass under it more, changing the top view either way .
A rough layout of the design applied to her materials.
After viewing the above image and quote to create the ring she decided to proceed. Before we did that I wanted to show her one more design that she had chosen that also suited her materials and would cost about the same to make.
A second design option.
After she viewed this second mockup she decided to have it made rather than the first. As most of this part of the process was done via email my next step was to meet with her again to unset diamonds and sort through her old jewellery to be used.
The 8 diamonds I had to work with.
The six smaller diamonds were set in a way that did not allow me to measure them perfectly when I first inspected them for the quote. Once unset I discovered that they were 1.75mm in diameter when I had thought they might be closer to 1.6mm. This was a good thing.
The only down side with them was that coming from jewellery I expect was purchased in jewellery chain stores they were not the whitest diamonds you will see and certainly not the quality I would supply.
With the two larger diamonds I had concerns over one when I saw it set. It really was quite off in colour and that was confirmed once unset and cleaned further. As we had a choice the two larger diamonds would not be used and returned to the customer.
The all important draft ring.
With the gems sizes and the design confirmed it was time to create the draft. The draft is the final step that allows me to refine how I am going to make a ring. It also allows the customer to give a final check to the design and for me to use that draft to resize it to the perfect size for her finger.
The finished ring.
With all the preparation done it was a matter of days after the meeting to view the draft that the ring was made to the perfect finger size.
The ring was created in 14ct yellow gold. The side diamonds come to a total diamond weight of .12 carats. We did not send the heirloom gem off to be tested in a gem lab prior to setting but it appears to be either a zircon or topaz. To this customer it matters not as it is all about the person who gave her the gemstone.
A classic double rail setting form the side.
For the side of the ring a classic double rail was used. The unused gold and diamonds were returned to the customer with the new ring.
The unused gold and diamonds returned to the customer.