Forged Gold Ring - Reticulated

This is really the first ring I have ever made - for me.

It was a long, laborious and complicated process:

Gold is super expensive.  It always has been, but somehow I decided to become a jeweler at a point that coincided with the 400 year high (adjusted for inflation) price of gold.   Bummer.

But if you have enough patience and learn how to look and judge, you can get gold really cheaply:

This is a clearly labeled 14k gold chain that I bought at a yard sale for a dollar.  The people had a big fancy house and were selling everything to move to a retirement condo in Arizona.  So, I didn't feel too bad.  This was about $450 at melt value that day.

So, the really hard part is that I can't bring myself to melt good stuff.  You can't un-stir the coffee so to speak.  I always think of the craftsman who made it.  I did not melt that chain.

But anything broken, or just of awful design.....gets the torch.

For example:

Extra Special Friend.   Hmm.... who would I give this to?  Really kinda creepy.

But it is marked 14k.  One other important thing, if you melt the clasps, there is a steel spring inside.  Once the gold has melted, you can just push it out of the puddle with tweezers.  Steel has a higher melting point than gold.

The necklace was marked 585 (the percentage of gold in 14k alloy) and 14k.



Here is me figuring out the math to determine what karat the end product will be.  

One other hard part is that sometimes, pretty rare with gold more common with silver, the stuff is either not what it is marked, or is not marked at all.

Jelly Opal Ring

This is a Mexican Jelly Opal and silver ring.

 The ring shank is from a 1840's fine silver spoon that I got at a yard sale.  Fine silver is really soft and someone used the spoon as a hammer.  It couldn't be repaired, so I'm trying to get 3 pieces of jewelry from it.

Here is some of the process:

316 brass belt buckle

 This was the first piece I ever cast.  It is a belt buckle depicting the logo and number of a masonic lodge in Seattle, Esoterika #316.

It came out okay, for a first attempt.  I did my design and layout in excel.  That really confused my professor, but - hey  - I am an accountant by trade.  Whadda expect.  I gave it to a friend and member of the lodge.

orange and blue enameled pendant

This was just a fun project while I was learning about forming.  It was a disc of copper hammered into a dome.  Then I flipped it over and hammered the dimple in.  Lot's o' enamel.  That is what gives the depth of colour to the orange, it is built up from a bunch of different opaque and transparent enamels.  Sort of like french cooking, building on variations.

looks sort of like 1967 to me.  But then again, I was born in '70, so what do I know.

White gold and sapphire ring

White gold and sapphire ring for my wife.  It was supposed to look all gnarled, really, that was my plan.

Here are some pictures during the shaping phase of construction:

At this point the white gold is flat and smooth (those are two other ring shanks in yellow)

I kept the yellow smooth and let the white gold wander.  It is a much harder alloy, which seemed to help this process.

gold and silver ring with circles

This one was fun.

And I got to show one of the guys in the class how to use the hammer and anvil:

Yep, I showed him alright.  Ouch.


Here are some pictures of the process.  The gold was from a bracelet that I bought for a quarter at a yard sale.

first hammered gold ring

I have a bunch more to say about this process (link to another ring construction page) now that I have made a bunch of these, but it is a lot harder than it seems.

Not that it couldn't be done by anyone, you just need lots of time, and a torch and some of these:

Uhmmm...  Hot.

crooked silver ring

So this was about the point that I decided that rings are much more interesting to look at if they are not all perfectly round and symmetrical.  This one isn't done here, I plan to finish it with rings of embedded enamel.