Marquise Diamond Ring
The Marquise Diamond Ring was an interesting commission.
The customer supplied me with many images including several derived from nature. All had a common feeling of entanglement or of something entwined. The image that inspired me the most was of a tree branch tightly wrapped with heavy roots or vines.
For greatest visual clarity, we decided to wrap yellow gold around a central wire of white gold. This contrast also pleased me from the standpoint that the wires had to be assembled — as nature would have done. The ring could never have been cast or poured in a mold.
The following process series clearly illustrates how this ring was built.
The raw materials, and a drawing showing how the wires will wrap around one another.
The white gold wire is now shaped into a band of the required size.
The shaping of the first piece of yellow gold has begun, and it has been soldered onto the band.
The first length of yellow gold wire has been trimmed, and a second piece is shown shaped and soldered in place. These two yellow gold wires will form the edge of the stone-setting.
The second yellow gold wire has been trimmed. A much longer third gold wire has been carefully pre-shaped and soldered right around the band. Where this third wire wraps over the band, the white gold was carved to receive it.
Two more yellow gold wires have been shaped and soldered in place to complete the pattern. The areas where these wires crossed over previous wires were carved (grooved) to receive them.
A seat for the marquise diamond has been carved into the metal. Care is taken to remove any pressure points or pivot points so that the stone contacts and is supported perfectly flush.
The finished ring. The stone has been set, tool marks removed, and all surfaces have been smoothed and polished.